Political Science 014
Introduction to International Relations
Ideas for Term Paper Topics:

The following list of wars, crises, important international conferences, etc., is intended to provide possible topics for your papers.
PLEASE NOTE: You are welcome to write on topics outside this list, after clearing your choice with the professor.
 

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1754 French and Indian (or Seven Years)  War
1775 American War of Independence
1789 French Revolution (focus on international results)
1812 War of 1812
1815 Congress of Vienna
1820 Independence of Greece
1848 Mexican-American War
1848 Revolutions in Europe and foreign intervention
1854 Crimean War (Britain ­ France ­ Russia)
1866 Austro-Prussian War
1870 Franco-Prussian War
1884 Berlin Conference (division of Africa)
1892 Franco-Russian military convention (alliance)
1894 Japan invades China
1898 Fashoda Crisis (France and Britain)
1898 Spanish-American War
1898 Boer War (Britain-South Africa)
1902 Anglo-Japanese alliance
1905,1911 Moroccan Crises (France - Germany)
1912, 1913 First and Second Balkan Wars
1914 World War One (focus on one particular aspect)
1918 Russian Civil War and Western Intervention
1918-1933 U.S. Intervention in Haiti, Panama, Nicaragua, etc.
1919 Versailles Peace Conference and League of Nations formation
1921 Washington Naval Conference
1923 Ruhr Crisis (France -- Germany)
1925 German ­ Polish Trade War
1931 Japanese conquest of Manchuria
1935 Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1936 German reoccupation of the Rhineland
1936 Spanish Civil War and foreign intervention
1938 “Anschluss” ­ German annexation of Austria
1938 Czechoslovak Crisis ­ Munich Conference
1939 World War Two (focus on one particular aspect ­ for example, Hitler ­ Stalin Pact, Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor, U.S. decision to drop the atomic bomb)
1944 Bretton Woods Conference ­ post war economic affairs
1945 Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
1945 Creation of the United Nations
1946 Azerbaijan Crisis (U.S. ­ Iran ­ U.S.S.R.)
1946 Independence of India and split with Pakistan
1947 Turkish Straits Crisis; Greek Civil War Crisis; Marshall Plan
1948 Berlin Crisis #1 (Berlin Airlift)
1948 First Arab-Israeli War
1949 Formation of NATO
1950 Korean War
1953 U.S. Intervention in Iran; Soviet Intervention in East Germany
1954 U.S. Intervention in Guatemala
1954, 1958 Taiwan Crises
1954 Dien Bien Phu (France ­ Vietnam)
1955 Austrian State Treaty; Formation of the Non-Aligned Movement
1956 Soviet Intervention in Hungary
1956 Suez Crisis
1957 Formation of the European Economic Community (Treaty of Rome)
1957 Sputnik (missile gap crisis) U.S. ­ U.S.S.R.
1958 Berlin Crisis #2 (Khruschev Ultimatum)
1960 U-2 Incident (U.S. ­ U.S.S.R.); Crisis in French Congo (now Zaire)
1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion; Berlin Crisis #3 (Berlin Wall)
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis; India - China War
1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
1964 Tonkin Gulf Resolution (U.S. takes on large role in Vietnam)
1965 U.S. Intervention in Dominican Republic
1967 Third Arab-Israeli War (Six Day War)
1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
1968 Sino-Soviet Border Clashes; Soviet Intervention in Czechoslovakia
1971 India-Pakistan War (Bangladesh)
1972 ABM Treaty; SALT I Treaty; Nixon to China
1973 U.S. Intervention in Chile
1973 Fourth Arab-Israeli War (Yom Kippur War)
1975 Helsinki Accords (creation of CSCE)
1975 Civil Wars in Angola and Lebanon with foreign intervention
1978 Ethiopia-Somalia War
1979 SALT II Treaty; Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
1979 Camp David Accords (U.S.-Egypt-Israel)
1979 Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua and resulting U.S. intervention in 1980's
1979-80 Iranian Hostage Crisis
1980 U.S. Olympic Boycott (Soviet counter-boycott 1984)
1980-81 Polish crisis (Solidarity movement and international implications)
1980 Iran-Iraq war begins
1982 Falklands War (U.K.-Argentina)
1982 Israeli intervention in Lebanon
1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada; U.S. Intervention in Lebanon
1986-87 Iran-Contra scandal (international implications)
1989 Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe
1990 German Reunification negotiations (2+4)
1990-91 Gulf War (Iraq-Kuwait-U.S., etc.)
1991 Maastricht Treaty ("deepening" of EC)
1991 START treaty (U.S.-U.S.S.R.)
1991-95 Yugoslav Civil War (Croatia-Serbia-Bosnia)
1992 Rio Conference on the global environment
1992-93  Somalia Crisis and U.S. Intervention
1993 START II Treaty; Creation of NATO "Partnership for Peace"
1994 Haiti Crisis and U.S. Intervention
1995 NATO intervention in Bosnia
1997 Expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe; NATO-Russia Foundation Pact
1997 Hand over of Hong Kong to Mainland China
 

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