8/22 For a discussion of how to frame research questions, click here. For a guide to using declassified documents, click here. For a redacted document, click here.
8/29 For FDR's 1944 State of the Union address, click here. For a projection on reliable sources of newspaper information, click here. For a projection on inaccuracy in newspapers, click here.
8/31 For a promotional video on psychological operations by the military, "PsyWar," click here. For a declassified document on Operation Northwoods, click here.
9/5 For the projection on how to interpret controversy in the newspapers and the media, click here.
9/7 On courtroom standards of evidence, click here. For a projection on controversies regarding the CIA, click here. For Freudian slips, click here. For claims regarding the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, click here. For fallacy by appeal to authority, also known as fallacy ad vericundium, click here. For an exercise on valid and invalid appeals to authority, click here. For Smedley Butler's speech on U.S. intervention, click here.
9/12 For a projection, a New York Times article on Russia, click here. For UA Library website, click here.
9/13 For key dates of the Cold War, click here. For a projection on Occam's Razor and conspiracy theories, click here.
9/19 On the Korean war, click here. For the essay, "What are the Connections between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein?" click here. Rules for writing papers, click here. On students' writing mistakes, click here. Obfuscation and book titles, click here and here. How not to write: "Show, Don't Tell."
9/26 For a video on Zelensky in Canada, click here. Timeline for 1991 Gulf War, click here. Link to video on propaganda pertaining to the First Gulf War, click here. For a link to a documentary on war propaganda by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, click here. For a fictionalized version of this episode, click here. Map of Gulf states, click here.
9/28 For a 1997 video from CBS' 60 Minutes, click here. For a video on Russian interference, click here.
10/5 For a recent NYT article on Russian disinformation, click here. For the video of Eisenhower's Farewell Address, click here (start at 6:50). For a guide on how to cite, click here. On citing primary source documents, click here.
10/10 For a map of Israel and the occupied territories after 1967, click here.
10/12 For a guide on how to cite, click here. On citing primary source documents, click here.
Here is the first midterm
Midterm, Hist 498
October 12, 2023
Since 1945, the United States has clearly held a dominant world position. During the 1946-89 period, the US was hegemonic throughout most of the noncommunist world. Since 1989, this hegemony has been extended globally. A widespread view holds that US hegemony has had a basically benign character. First with regard to intent, the United States has consistently acted in a defensive manner. During the Cold War, the US used force reluctantly, in response to Soviet provocation. Since the end of the Cold War, the US has again assumed a defensive stance, acting to restrain new aggressor states, such as Putin's Russia, Gaddafi's Libya, and Saddam's Iraq. With regard to the effects of US hegemony: Defenders claim that hegemony has usually promoted democracy and human rights, while it has restrained tyrants who oppress their own people.
Your paper should assess how various authors that we have read in this class would criticize the above arguments. You should discuss the views of at least three of the following sources: Dube, Kaplan, and Naidu; Layne; Petras and Vieux, Gibbs; and Robinson. Substantively, you could focus your answer on either US policy during the Cold War or US policy after the end of the Cold War (do not analyze both periods). You should also provide your own assessment. In analyzing Layne's views of the Cold War, for example, discuss how convincing (or unconvincing) you find his arguments. Provide specific reasons why you find Layne to be convincing or unconvincing.
The completed papers should be 5-8 pages long, double-spaced, and should be placed in my mailbox (Chavez 415) by 5:00pm, Thursday, October 19. Please use standard margins and type fonts.
10/17 For the projection on the Western agreement with the USSR on NATO expansion, click here. For a 1995 petition against NATO expansion, click here. For a 1996 cartoon of Boris Yeltsin, click here. For a video of Jeffrey Sachs on Ukraine, click here. For a video on the Nordstream pipeline, click here. For anoither video on the Ukraine War, click here.