In order to critically evaluate an issue of U.S. foreign policy that is of special interest to you, apply the type of critical thinking analysis discussed in Clued in to
Politics (by Christine Barbour and Matthew J. Streb, Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2014, 4/ed). Pick an opinion piece or blog entry by a national security
professional (look online, e.g., at Foreignpolicy.com or the Council on Foreign Relations website, but other sites may be acceptable as well) and apply the
CLUES analysis:
First, write a very short synopsis of the piece. No more than 100 words.
Second, do the CLUES analysis
Consider the source/intended audience
Lay out the argument, values, and assumption (do some extra research to identify these)
Uncover the evidence (do some research to check this)
Evaluate the Conclusion
Sort out the Political Implications
Third, papers should be no more than 1000 words and papers should be double spaced, fully cited (turabian/chicago format) and grammatically clean.
No min or max on number of sources used.
“A” papers will perform each of these steps in outstanding fashion. “B” papers will perform each step well, but may be of uneven quality on the steps. “C”
papers will perform each step but will be thin in their treatment, but “satisfactory” nonetheless. “D” and “F” papers will have skipped steps, not considered
evidence, and/or be poorly written.