Choose an event in an ongoing conflict and explain main reasons for this event. Place yourexplanation in a theoretical context using conflict theories and compare the event to asimilar event from another conflict. What policy recommendations would you suggest tothe leaders of adversaries to avoid similar events in the future?

General: A cover sheet includes all necessary details: course number, course name, studentname, date the paper is submitted. The paper meets the word limit. All sections in the paper havesubtitles. References follow Chicago Manual of Style. All literature items used in the paper havereferences. The work is written in language accessible for non-experts in conflicts. The work iswritten in a plain and respectful language. There are smooth transitions between sections andfrom one sentence to the other. The work is written in a neutral language without taking sides.When information is contradictory (e.g. different information is provided by different actors inthe event), mention this implicitly and provide reference to sources describing the perspectives ofeach side. All pieces of evidence (e.g. number of casualties) should be cross-checked andsupported by references to several sources. When relevant, cite leaders’ speeches, officialdocuments, official data or any other relevant primary sources to substantiate your argument(15%).Section 1. Describe and explain a conflict event: (a) Choose a conflict that interests you most. Inthat conflict, choose and briefly describe an event that puzzles you most. In the description,mention what happened, when, where, and who were the actors involved. (b) What is the mainreason for this event? Explain why this reason is the primary reason for the event and how itcaused, or triggered, that event. Provide a clear argument of why the reason you suggest is morerelevant in the case of the event analyzed than other potential reasons. Refer to at least two otherpotential explanation in your answer. Each of the reasons suggested and examined should beclearly linked to the theoretical literature on conflicts and should engage with the readings of thecourse (suggested length 1.5 pages, but no more than 800 words; 30%)

Section 2. Place the event into a comparative context. Choose and briefly describe a similarevent from another conflict. What is the main reason for that second event? Compare the mainreasons of the two events – what is similar and what is different? Are the alternative potentialreasons for conflict suggested in previous section more relevant for explaining the onset of thesecond event than of the first event? Link your discussion to the theoretical literature on conflictsand engage with the readings of the course. Based on your comparison of the reasons of theevents, can the knowledge about one conflict event enhance our understanding of the similarevent in another conflict? Suggest at least one advantage and at least one disadvantage of makingparallels about similar events from different conflicts. (suggested length 1.5 pages, but no morethan 800 words; 35%)Section 3 Conclusion and policy recommendations. Imagine that you are a security adviser to theleader of one of the actors involved in the first event you analyzed (you can choose any actor,including third party). What policy actions would you recommend to your leader in order toprevent recurrence of a similar event in the future? Suggest at least one policy action of “do” andone policy action of “do not do”. Make clear link to theoretical literature and to your analysis inprevious sections to substantiate your policy recommendations. Would your policyrecommendations change when you make the parallels with the similar event from anotherconflict (event 2 in your analysis above)? Explain how and why? (suggested length 1 page, butno more than 500 words; 20%)