What is the relationship between ethnic diversity and conflict? Are ethnic identities themselves a source of division within societies, or is ethnic identity a tool used by leaders for their own purposes? What does your assessment tell us about the prospects for solving existing conflicts and/or avoiding future ones? Your essay should discuss at least one recent ethnic conflict (i.e. within the last 30 years).

The purpose of the essay outline is to ensure you are prepared to write the essay, and to provide you with constructive feedback. Ideally, the topic you choose now will ultimately be your essay topic, so choose accordingly. You will use the two assigned readings, plus find ONE additional reading, which must be an article from a recognized scholarly journal. This means your outline and eventual essay will require only three sources. Your outline will be 1-2 pages long and contain a preliminary argument (a thesis) and some supporting arguments. It must be written in paragraph form (not point form), double spaced, use Times New Roman 12 font, use proper spelling and grammar, and have proper citations and a bibliography. Essays with no citations, and/or essays with no bibliography, will automatically lose 20%.
Option 1:
What is the relationship between ethnic diversity and conflict? Are ethnic identities themselves a source of division within societies, or is ethnic identity a tool used by leaders for their own purposes? What does your assessment tell us about the prospects for solving existing conflicts and/or avoiding future ones? Your essay should discuss at least one recent ethnic conflict (i.e. within the last 30 years).
Harff, Barbara, and Ted Robert Gurr. “Ethnopolitical Conflict and the Changing World Order.” Ethnic Conflict in World Politics. Routledge, 2004. 1-17.
Mueller, John. “The Banality of ‘Ethnic War.’” International Security 25, no. 1 (2000): 42–70.
Option 2:
How durable is the “chemical weapons taboo?” What does the international community’s reaction to the use of chemical weapons in Syria tell us about the norm and violations of it? Does the perpetuation of this norm help us achieve a more secure world? Why/why not?
Price, Richard. “Syria and the Chemical Weapons Taboo.” Journal of Global Security Studies 4, no. 1 (2019): 37-52.
Bentley, Michelle. “The Problem with the Chemical Weapons Taboo.” Peace Review 27, no. 2 (2018): 228-236.
Option 3:
Is the Westphalian state system under threat from “Eastphalia?” Is there an Asian view of state sovereignty that differs from the prevailing one, or is the coming Eastphalianism in fact a return to true Westphalianism?
Ginsburg, Tom. “Eastphalia as the Perfection of Westphalia.” Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 17, no. 1 (2010): 27-45.
Coleman, Andrew, and Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto. “‘Westphalian’ meets ‘Eastphalian’ Sovereignty: China in a Globalized World.” Asian Journal of International Law 3 (2013): 237-269.

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