Assignment #4
Group presentations
"Strange Bedfellows"
Due: Wednesday, April 27, 2005

This is a group project assignment. You’ll work in groups of four. Organize your own groups and divide your responsibilities as you see fit.

We'll have 6 groups of 4 plus one group of 5 in our class. You'll present your results in class on Wednesday, April 27. With 75 minutes in the class period, each group will have just 9-minutes to present.

Preamble

In the world of international politics, U.S. presidents sometimes find it difficult to distinguish “good guys” from “bad guys.” You’re about to discover why.

Research:

With your group, choose one of the following historical instances in which the United States found itself cooperating, collaborating or otherwise working together with an “enemy.” I call these “strange bedfellows.” Research the case, exploring why the U.S. found itself in that situation, how the collaboration unfolded, and whether it produced the desired result from the U.S. point of view. Some of the suggestions below are individuals, with whom the U.S. president must deal (or sometimes confront). Research their activities, philosophy, motivations and goals.

Present:

Prepare a presentation to deliver in class on Wednesday, April 27, in which some members of your group portray these bedfellows as “bad guys,” while others present the case for them as “good guys.” Your presentation may consist of “speeches” given by each side, or a “debate” between the opposing sides, or, perhaps, in other creative ways. You may use props, costumes or anything else you deem useful. Some ideas:

• a “press conference” in which representatives of each view make their case
• a “prison cell” in which “prosecutors” attempt to obtain information from their captives.
• a “courtroom” in which activists are on trial
• a “shouting match” or argument (TV talk show?) over the decision to cooperate
• a series of “news bulletins”
• a “panel” presentation by the leaders to an international organization (United Nations?)

Feel free to dream up other formats!

Your presentation should aim at 9-minutes, but class on April 27 may extend a bit beyond the normal time to allow all student presentations to take place. Because of your limited time, you’ll have to be concise. Your presentation must make clear to the class the essential facts about your chosen international discussion, the reasons it might be seen by the United States and others from different points of view, etc.
Your presentation must make clear to the class the essential facts about the situation or individual you choose, the reasons they might be seen from different points of view, and the motivations for the U.S. engaging with them.

It won’t always be easy to see these situations from two points of view; be creative and broad-minded. You may have to place yourself in the historical timeframe when these situations were active; that may help you discern the “good-guy/bad-guy” distinction.

Write

Your group must submit a written bibliography of sources used to develop your presentation, and a list of the members of your group and their responsibilities in your project. There is no other writing component to this assignment. You’ll be evaluated on your in-class presentation and your bibliography/list.

Form a group. Select from the following list, or suggest another choice. To avoid duplication and to achieve diversity of subjects, your group must receive approval for your selections. Feel free to suggest other ideas.
Note: These are in no particular order.

1. The U.S. and Islamic fundamentalists (against the USSR, 1980’s)
2. U.S. and Russian military forces in Bosnia in the mid-1990’s
3. The U.S. allowing Soviet military to visit American previously-secret nuclear missile sites
4. The U.S. and the Palestine Liberation Organization
5. The U.S. and China (on North Korea)
6. The U.S. and Iran (on Afghanistan)
7. The U.S. and Iraq (in the 1980’s)
8. Bashar Assad
9. Moammar Khaddafy
10. Ariel Sharon
11. Crown Prince Abdullah
12. Fidel Castro (on refugees from Cuba)
13. The Soviet Union as a “partner for peace” in NATO

You may choose another individual or situation if you wish, but you must seek approval.