How did early-twentieth century statesmen define Great Power status?
Why did the First World War become deadlocked by 1917?
Make a list of the causes of the war in 1914 – which were proximate or long-term, which were necessary?
How did a Balkan conflict expand into a long, total conflict?
Why did the Concert of Europe break down after 1848?
Among the criteria used by statesmen in 1900 for measuring state power, which do you find the best gauge of power?
Assess the responsibilities of the Great Powers for the outbreak of war in 1914.
Did war break out in 1914 as a result of errors by statesmen, or was war intended?
How important was overseas imperial expansion to the maintenance of peace in Europe?
How did arms races influence European diplomacy in the years before 1914?
Exam questions
Germany was responsible for the outbreak of war in 1914. Discuss.
Was the war in 1914 caused more by the immediate causes, or by long-term causes?
‘Had the assassination of an archduke not occurred in June 1914, a general European war would still have broken out within the next few years.’ Discuss.
Why did the United States seek a larger role in the world in the late-nineteenth century?
What national interests were at stake in American policies towards Latin America?
Why didn’t Wilson’s moralist approach lead to different US policies in Latin America?
How did the US translate economic strength into political power in Latin America in the 1920s?
Why was US investment so important to Latin American economies?
Was the ‘Good Neighbor’ policy a real reversal of American policies?
‘The Spanish-American War made the US a great power.’ Discuss.
‘United States policy towards Latin America reflected the priorities of different presidential administrations rather than commonly-held national interests.’ Discuss.
How did the UN Charter address tensions between internationalist aspirations and the Monroe Doctrine?
How has US policy toward Latin America conflicted with US foreign policy beyond the western hemisphere?
Exam question
How did American regionalism conflict with internationalism?
How did American policy towards Latin America reflect other United States interests from 1898 to 1945?
How did European tensions influence American policy towards Latin America?
Did the flag follow commerce or did commerce follow the flag in United States’ policy towards Latin America?
Why and how did the Soviet Union take control of Eastern Europe?
What concerns underlay Soviet expansion in the East?
How did the US hope to learn from the mistakes of the 1919 settlement in its post-1945 policies?
How did the US convince an isolationist public to accept a broader role in Europe and heavier military expenditures after 1945?
How did technological progress influence Cold War policies of the US and the Soviet Union?
How useful was propaganda in the early Cold War to 1960?
What role did Germany play in the early Cold War?
How did American and Soviet perceptions of each other’s actions influence the early Cold War?
What major milestones locked the superpowers in mutual hostility, and what opportunities for a thaw in relations occurred before 1960?
How did nuclear weapons alter rivalry in the Cold War?
Exam questions
How did East–West competition influence patterns of European integration?
How did competition evolve between West and East, and what forms did it take in Europe to 1961?
Was the beginning of the Cold War more the fault of one side or the other?
The vacuum in Europe created by the collapse of Germany, rather than ideological differences, lay at the heart of superpower rivalry in the Cold War. Discuss.
How was emerging superpower détente evidenced in the 1960s, and how could arms buildups contribute to the peace?
Why did Europe shift away from the US in the 1960s, and how was this shift manifested?
What influence did de Gaulle’s policies have on East–West European relations?
How did tensions in the Eastern bloc differ from those in the West?
How did European détente differ from the superpower détente?
Why did détente break down, and how did each side perceive the actions of the other?
How did the arms race and arms control reflect the relationship between the superpowers?
How did the Vietnam War contribute to détente policies?
Explore the steps in the 1970s that led to the breakdown of détente. Were Soviet actions more important than shifts within domestic American politics in how each step undermined détente?
Exam questions
Was détente doomed to failure given diverging interests and perceptions by the superpowers?
Did détente arise more from superpower initiatives or events in the world beyond superpower control?
Why didn’t détente end the Cold War?
Why didn’t either the western or eastern blocs disintegrate during détente?
How did security interests lead to different Russian and Chinese policies?
What were the concrete accomplishments of the opening of China?
How did the ‘Four Modernizations’ influence Chinese relations with Japan, the US, and Great Britain?
How has China’s rise influenced other regional powers since 1989?
How did China react to the fall of the Soviet Union?
How has the North Korean experience differed from that of China and the Asian tigers since 1953?
Assess the domestic and international causes of the Sino-Soviet split. Which causes were more important in causing the divide, and could they have been avoided?
In what ways has post-Maoist Chinese domestic policy been consistent with policies pursued under Mao? In what ways have they differed?
Compare and contrast the routes towards modernization taken by China, North Korea and Japan.
How has the division of Korea influenced the East Asian relations of China, Russia, Japan and the United States?
Exam questions
How did Chinese policies differ from Soviet policies in the Third World?
Were Chinese relations with the world driven more by domestic circumstances or its relations with Russia?
Have North Korean policies been more influenced by irrational leadership, ideology, or foreign threats?
To what extent has Chinese foreign policy been influenced by Communist ideology, and to what extent has it been driven by nationalism?
Explore the Latin American relationship with the US after 1945, and other options for Latin American trade.
How did the US role in the Guatemalan coup influence Latin American views of the US?
How did the Guatemalan intervention influence Cuban and American decision-making after the 1959 revolution?
Why didn’t the Alliance for Progress meet its development goals?
South America has prospered under the Washington Consensus, with higher exports and less reliance on the US. Discuss.
To what extent was Latin America a field for Cold War competition?
Compare and contrast the US role in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Chile and Cuba since 1945.
Revolution and reform in Latin America after 1945 was driven more by local dynamics and tensions than by opposition to the US regional role. Discuss.
How have changes in economic fortunes influenced relations between the US and Latin America?
Exam questions
How did the US square its regional role in Latin America with internationalist policies?
Only unpopular American intervention in Latin American domestic politics could have brought the conditions necessary for real reform and growth. Discuss.
How did the end of the Cold War influence conflicts in Central America?
How did Iranian modernizing reforms bring together a coalition against the Shah?
How did the Iranian revolution and subsequent Iranian foreign policy compare and contrast with that of the early Soviet Union in the 1920s?
Detail one movement that reacted to modernization and westernization, and how it fared in achieving development needs of people.
How did Taliban rule differ from Iranian revolutionary rule?
Compare and contrast Hizb’allah, Hamas and Laskar Jihad.
Exam questions
How have the different aims of political Islam been reflected in different states and different movements?
How was political Islam a response to Western nationalism?
How did the Cold War contribute to global Islam?
Trace the roots of Political Islam. How are the origins of the movement unique to Islam, and what do they have in common with Western political philosophies?
Compare and contrast the exercise of Political Islam in Afghanistan, Iran, and within the Hamas movement.
The Afghani Taliban movement owes more to the Cold War than to Political Islam. Discuss.
How effective have attempts at exporting Islamic revolution been?
What role has Political Islam played in the Syrian civil war?
How did Soviet policies and the situation in Afghanistan compare and contrast with that of the US in Vietnam?
Why did the Soviet Union collapse?
Gorbachev’s actions, rather than Western pressure, led to the end of the Cold War. Discuss.
How did Hussein miscalculate so starkly in invading Kuwait?
Did the west miss an opportunity to integrate Russia in the 1990s?
Did the US ‘win’ the Cold War?
Is 1989 a better ending date for the Cold War than 1991? Why or why not?
Assess the causes and outcomes of conflicts in the 1990s in Ireland, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Israel and Iraq. How did the end of the Cold War influence these conflicts?
How and why did the US reshape or revitalize international institutions after the end of the Cold War?
After the Cold War, US foreign policy shifted away from collective security to unilateral goals. Discuss.
Exam questions
Did the end of the Cold War create more conflicts, or did it merely keep them from being obscured by superpower politics?
To what extent did the end of the Cold War lead to greater US actions in the world in the 1990s?
What was the decisive shift leading to the end of the Cold War?
Reagan’s policies merely revitalized long-standing containment policies rather than creating new methods of countering the Soviet Union. Discuss.
