finalessaytopics(inclassontuesday,januar

Final Essay Topic

Value: 24 marks (6 for composition and 18 for content).

To be written on Tuesday, January 16, in class)

Choose from one of the topics listed below – or design your own. If you choose your own topic, be sure to clear it with Mr. Benoy prior to starting.

1. Who was responsible for the Cold War? Could it have been averted?

1. Account for the rapid demise of European empires in the years following World War II.

1. Account for Mao Zedong’s success in toppling China’s Kuomintang government after World War II.

1. Was the policy of nuclear deterrence, which marked the Cold War years, an appropriate one? Why or why not?

1. Is the European Economic Community (the Common Market) leading ultimately to a United States of Europe? Why or why not?

1. Has the United Nations Organization been a success or a failure? Explain.

1. Why did the United States lose the Vietnam War?

1. Why did the Soviet Union lose the war in Afghanistan?

1. How has the state of Israel been able to prevail over its more populous neighbours in each of the Middle Eastern wars of the second half of the 20^th Century?

1. Account for the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe. Was its fall inevitable? Why or why not?

1. Support or refute the following statement: “The 20^th Century saw the triumph of democratic values over autocratic and totalitarian values.”

1. How has warfare been a catalyst for technological change in the 20^th Century?

1. Account for the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East and beyond in the last quarter of the 20^th Century.