Write a 2000 word review essay for an international relations journal. Review essays are not the same as a book review. They critically assess and engage with one or more texts and bring in other sources (for example to support a weakness identified or to place a piece in relation to a wider debate). They will also usually articulate what this text or group of texts contributes to a particular political or academic debate.
For this assignment you will select one of the topics below.
A review essay needs to include the following:
A good summary of the articles and/or books under review, especially their key arguments.
What you learned from them that you think is important for readers to know, in particular contributions to your understanding of war and the specific topic discussed, and key political, conceptual, and/or policy issues that the authors introduce.
Shortcomings of or weaknesses in the analysis and/or the argument.
Overall evaluation of the contribution the articles and/or books make for our understanding of war and the specific topic.
You also need to consult at least two other academic sources and include them substantively, i.e. supporting your review, in the essay. The module reading list is a great resource for this.
Your essay will be evaluated in terms of how well it does the above.
For more detailed information on the grading criteria check the ‘Marking Criteria and Feedback’ section of the School of Politics and IR Undergraduate QMPlus page. Please make sure you understand the criteria of task fulfilment, research, quality of argument, structure, presentation, and presentation of sources, as graders will use these to decide your mark.
Topics
1. Critically review the following book on drone warfare.
Gusterson, Hugh (2016) Drone: Remote Control Warfare.Boston: MIT Press.
(Available online through the library)
2. Compare and critically review the following two articles on lawfare.
Irani, Freya (2018), Lawfare, US military discourse, and the colonial constitution of law and war, European Journal of International Security 3(1): 113-133.
Jones, Craig A. (2015), Frames of law: targeting advice and operational law in the Israeli military, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 33(4): 676-696.
3. Compare and critically review the following three articles on militarism/militarisation.
Mabee, Bryan and Srdjan Vucetic (2018), Varieties of militarism: Towards a typology,Security Dialogue 49(1-2): 96-108
Abrahamsen, Rita (2018), Return of the generals? Global militarism in Africa from the Cold War to the present,Security Dialogue 49(1-2): 19-31.
Howell, Alison (2018), Forget militarization: race, disability and the martial politics of the police and of the university, International Feminist Journal of Politics 20(2): 117-136.
