GLOBAL ISSUES

THE MISSION

To study recent news stories and to place these within an historical context.

PROCEDURE

Choose one of the four following options:

OPTION A:  THE IN-DEPTH NEWS FEATURE

Read the articles included in one of the special reports listed below.  If necessary, complement the featured source with some extra independent research.  Write an essay of approximately three-to-four  that 1) describes the issue or theme; 2) provides details about contemporary developments; 3) frames current events against the backdrop of history; and 4) concludes with your own analysis and commentary.

Possible Special Reports

• 1989 -- Europe's Revolutions:  A 20-year perspective on the events that led to the collapse of the Eastern bloc in Europe.

• Copenhagen Summit 2009:  A review of the recent global climate conference.

• Inside Central Asia:  The BBC introduces a little-known region of the world.

• Inside Europe -- A Guide To The Changing Face of the European Union:  A BBC News special that analyzes recent developments within the European Union.

• Inside Latin America: An anthology of BBC stories.

• Investigating Al-Qaeda:  A BBC News feature.

• Iran Crisis:  An in-depth BBC feature.

• Middle East Crisis:  An in-depth BBC feature.

• Muslims In Europe: An in-depth BBC feature.

• North Korea -- Secretive State: A BBC feature.

• Pakistan In Turmoil:  An in-depth BBC feature.

• Planet Under Pressure:  The BBC examines six critical environmental issues.

•   , BBC Special Report, 2007 and   , BBC Special Report, September 15, 2006:  Use these two special BBC biographies of the present and former Popes as a window into the Papacy and the contemporary issues confronting the Catholic Church.

• Resurgent Russia:  An in-depth BBC feature.

• Rwanda Genocide -- Ten Years On:  A retrospective on the 1994 genocide.

• Somalia In Crisis:  An in-depth BBC report.

• Struggle For Iraq:  The BBC's on-going coverage of the Iraq War.

• Taliban Conflict:  A BBC feature on events in Afghanistan.

• Tension In Tibet:  A BBC feature that highlights the fractious relations between Tibet and China.

• Venezuela Under Chavez:  A BBC feature on the controversial Latin American leader.

OPTION B:  AUDIO OR VIDEO NEWS FEATURE

Watch or listen to any of the following in-depth programmes.  Take detailed notes as you listen.  Write a response of approximately three pages that provides a basic summary, historical context and your own analysis.

Possible Audio or Video News Features

• "Behind Taliban Lines," PBS Frontline, February 23, 2010:  A video documentary from the American public broadcaster.

• "Virtual Revolution: The Great Levelling?,"  BBC World Service Documentaries, February 2, 2010:  A very interesting four-part audio series that attempts to assess the impact of the internet 20 years on.

• "Defining The Decade,"  BBC World Service Documentaries, December 21, 2009:  A three-part audio series in which journalist Edward Stourton attempts to make sense of the decade.

• "A Death In Iran," PBS Frontline, November 17, 2009:  A video documentary that uses the killing of a young female protester as its focus for an analysis of the political crisis in Iran.

• "Obama's War," PBS Frontline, October 13, 2009:  An in-depth video documentary about the American war in Afghanistan.

• "Iran And The West," BBC World Service Documentaries, August 3, 2009:  A three-part audio series that explores the recent history of relations between Iran and the West.

• "Mubarak's Egypt," BBC World Service Documentaries, June 19, 2009:  A two-part audio feature.

• "Brand Cuba,"  BBC World Service, 2009:  A two-part audio series on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.

• "The Hugo Chavez Show," PBS Frontline, November 19, 2008.

• "Hard Lessons From Afghanistan," BBC World Service, November 5, 2008:  A feature that looks back to the Soviet War and its aftermath.

• "The War Briefing," PBS Frontline, October 28, 2008:  A video documentary about the American military.

• "Young And Restless In China," Frontline, June 17, 2008:  A video documentary from the American public broadcaster.

• "Bush's War," PBS Frontline, March 24, 2008:  An in-depth video documentary that chronicles American involvement in the Iraq War.

• "The Legacy Of George W. Bush," BBC World Service, January 19, 2008:  A two-part audio retrospective.

• "Uncovering Pakistan," BBC World Service, 2008:  A two-part audio series that traces the post-independence history of the nation.

•   "Feeding The World," BBC Documentary Archives, April 10, 2007:  A three-part audio series.

•   "Who Will Explode The Next Nuclear Bomb," BBC Documentary Archive, February 26, 2007:  A two-part series from the BBC.

•   "India Rising," BBC Documentary Archive, February 1, 2007:  A five-part investigation of some of the contradictions at the heart of today's India.

•   "Uncovering Iran" BBC Documentary Archive, October 9, 2006:  The history of Iran from the 1979 Revolution to the present is surveyed in this three-part documentary.

•   "Forging The Union," BBC Documentary Archive, September 2006:  A four-part series on the history and meaning of the European Union.

•   "A New Axis Of Power," BBC Documentary Archive, April 2006:  A two-part BBC radio documentary that examines contemporary Latin American politics.

•   "Europe's Angry Young Muslims" BBC Documentary Archive, March 2006: A special three-part documentary from the BBC.

•   "The New Rules Of The Games," BBC Documentary Archive, February 20, 2006:  A three part feature on globalization.

• "The Torture Question," Frontline, PBS, October 18, 2005: A PBS special that posits links between interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay and the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal.

•   "Soul Within Islam" BBC Documentary Archive, October 5, 2005:  Assessing the meaning of Islam within five different Muslim nations.

•   "The Changing Face Of Global Power," BBC Documentary Archive, September 28, 2005:  A four-part series that predicts the rise of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

•   "Islam's Furthest Frontier," BBC Documentary Archive, May 13, 2005:  A four-part examination of Islam as manifested in Southeast Asia.

•   "Europower," Inside Out, WBUR, 2005:  A special three-part documentary by Michael Goldfarb for Boston Public Radio.

•    "Son Of Al Qaeda," Frontline, PBS, April 24, 2004: An investigation of the Canadian Khadr family and their links to Osama Bin Laden.

• United Nations Or Not?, BBC Radio 4:  A four-part 2003 BBC series that chronicles the history of the United Nations and identifies issues that confront it in contemporary times.

• Central America -- Legacies of Rebellion : A BBC World Service special that revisits the civil wars of the 1980s.

OPTION C:  INDEPENDENT NEWS RESEARCH

Pick a theme from the list below.  Using the recommended links as a starting point, and complementing this with your own research, find several news stories about your topic from any time in the five years.  Write an entry of at least three double-spaced pages that 1) describes the issue or theme; 2) provides details about contemporary developments; 3) frames current events against the backdrop of history; and 4) concludes with your own analysis and commentary.

Possible Themes

• Amnesty International

• Biological and Chemical Weapons

• Doctors Without Borders

• Female Genital Mutilation

• Gypsies/Roma

• International Criminal Court

• NATO and Its Future

• Tibetan Independence

OPTION D:  INDEPENDENT NEWS RESEARCH -- NATIONAL COMPARISONS

Pick a theme from the list below.  Using the recommended links as a starting point, and complementing this with your own research, find several news stories about your topic from any time in the last five years in three different countries.  Write an entry of approximately three-to-five double-spaced pages that uses the following template as a model.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES: NATIONAL COMPARISON TEMPLATE

Possible Themes

• Abortion

• AIDS

• Animal Rights

• Capital Punishment

• Child Labour

• Climate Change

• Cloning

• Drug Trade

• Euthanasia

• First Nations

• Gay Rights

• Genetically Modified Foods

• Land Mines

• McDonalds and Globalization

• Media Issues

• Nuclear Weapons

• Refugees

• Slavery

• Smoking

• Terrorism

• Torture

• Women's Rights

SOME RECOMMENDED LINKS:

• BBC News:  I recommend starting here if you pick an Independent News Research topic.  Type search terms into the box in the upper-right hand corner of the home page and you will be directed to an index of relevant articles from the last five years.   Try alternative search terms; remember that search engines are not intuitive.  Note that each specific BBC article also includes links to related articles in the right-hand margin.  For those doing a national comparison, try putting in general terms (eg. "Abortion") but then also specific country pairings ("Italy and Abortion;" "Mexico and Abortion;" "China and Abortion;"  etc.).

• See World News Links for my portal to the global media.