Research Proposal:(Include the following;in total will be 4-5 pages long)
TOPIC: “Why is the maritime security of Africa a concern for the International system?”
- Working Title:working meaning it may change as your research unfolds
- Research topic/working Thesis Statement:What the major question(s) or puzzle(s) that the paper seeks to address, the main point you will argue which your entire paper supports
- AnAbstract with Outline of the framework:of your paper (how you plan to organize the layout). The abstract portion should include what concepts or theories will be used and what case or cases will be examined for evidence. The outline should also give an overview of the paper, the case(s) to be examined, and any potentials theories or concepts you will address. There is no length requirement on the abstract and outline but the more detailed you make it, the more you will have done toward your final paper.Most will probably be 1 or 2 pages.You should follow the guidelines in the Roselle & Spray book p. 35-40.
- APreliminary Annotated Literature Review with working Bibliography:The students will write a preliminary review of the state of literature on their topic, which must include a variety of sources.You must have a mixture of academic/primary (at least 3) and secondary/supplementary sources.Ideally you should have 3-4 articles, or 1-2 books, or 1 book and 1-2 articles that deal with the theoretical or policy controversy that is the subject of your paper.All materials must be cited correctly (Chicago or Works Cited style).It can be helpful to identify “schools of thought” in your essay.with all sources collected so far.You will likely not have all the sources at this point but you should find enough to have decided there are enough accessible to support your topic/thesis. Your working bibliography must be attached to the review which will include all of the sources collected so far.You will likely not have all the sources at this point but you should find enough to have decided there are enough accessible to support your topic/thesis. The literature review and bibliography should be 3-4 pages in length.You should follow the guidelines in the Roselle and Spray book, 57-62
In the introduction you can explain that you intend to focus the paper to a few specific regions like East or West Africa…of if you want you can address the whole continent. However, the broader you go the more issues you will need to discuss. For example, the maritime security concerns off the Mediterranean coast is most likely tied to human smuggling/immigration versus piracy off of West Africa which expands to potentially include terrorism or military influence off East Africa where the conflict from Yemen and/or Iranian influence may exist. Each may pose a different kind of concern for the international community. So do all if you want, or just focus on your initial ideas related to East & West Africa but explain that for xyz reasons that you are structuring your paper that way.