êSecurity Briefing Assignmentê

 

In our Cold War unit, each member of the class will be part of a team who will be responsible for a set of documents from the textbook relating to a specific phase or incident in the Cold War.  You will be responsible to lead discussion of that document with the class.  Each day, the documents will focus in on a key phase of the late Cold War.  Each individual will have their own document or pair of documents for which they are responsible.  Think of this as though you are a government advisor like George Frost Kennan, but working for the Canadian government.  You have been asked to apply your particular expertise to an issue that is facing the government in the world.  Remember that Canada was an ally of the United States through the Cold War, and a member of NATO, but we were also on the most direct path between the USA and USSR, so we had a big stake in it if things went sour!

 

For your presentation day you will be expected to do the following:

a)      Conduct background research on the events in question

b)      Prepare a one-page “Cold War Notes” handout for the class that covers the 5W’s for the event and explains its historical context

c)      Prepare an overview to be explained to the class in a brief presentation

d)      Lead a discussion about the documents focusing on what they reveal about the relevant phase of the Cold War, and why this phase is significant.  Use your OPVL skills to dig into the documents and their potential strengths and weaknesses as sources of policy making information.

e)      Assess the impact of the event on the Cold War—did it escalate or de-escalate tensions?  Did it shift the balance of power one way or another?

Please note that this is not a multi-media presentation.  PPT will not be available. 

 

Handout

Ensure that your handout explains the context of the Cold War event(s) occurring when they were produced.  Outline the 5 W’s (What, When, Where, Who and Why) of the event.  Provide a brief assessment of the significance of the events in the relevant phase of the Cold War, and what the documents reveal about these events.  Length—one page.

 

Presentation

Begin with a brief explanation of the Cold War context.  What was occurring in the world at the time your documents were written?  Were tensions getting higher or decreasing?  Then assess the documents for which you were responsible.  What do they reveal about the aims and motivations of the leaders and countries involved?  Examine the questions following the reading—they focus on key issues in and aspects of the documents and will help you in your analysis.  Finally assess the impact of this event on the overall direction of the Cold War.

 

As a member of the briefing committee you will be expected to:

 

Timeline Resources: http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/timeline.htm

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/timeline/frameset.html

Database Research Resources: http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE&userGroupName=ko_k12hs_d68

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search?vid=2&hid=8&sid=85be8114-2077-4cf8-8a36-51d247ebb12e%40sessionmgr2

 

 

Documents, Analysts and Briefing Dates

Document

Analyst

Briefing Date

45.  Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War

 

June 11

46.  Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

 

June 11

47.  Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia

 

June 11

48.  Brezhnev Doctrine

 

June 11

49.  Soviet Chinese Border Conflict

 

June 11

50.  Nixon Doctrine

 

June 11

52.  Nixon’s China Visit

 

June 12

53.  ABM Treaty & SALT I

 

June 12

54.  US Withdrawl from Vietnam

 

June 12

55.  Vladivostock Summit

57.  Helsinki Final Act

 

 

June 12

59.  Peace between Egypt and Israel

 

June 12

60.  Normalization of US Chinese Relations

 

June 12

61.  SALT II Agreement

 

June 15

62.  Euromissile Controversy

 

June 15

63.  Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

 

June 15

65.  Reagan’s Anti-Soviet Rhetoric

 

June 15

67.  Polish Imposition of Martial law

 

June 15

68. Andropov’s Peace Offensive

 

June 15

69. Reagan and Star Wars

 

June 16

70. Nuclear Freeze Resolution

 

June 16

73.  Geneva Summit

 

 

June 16

74. Reykjavik Summit

 

June 16

76. Gorbachev on International Relations

 

June 16

77. INF Treaty

 

June 16

78. Soviet Withdrawl from Afghanistan

79. Gorbachev’s UN Address

 

June 17

81.  NATO’s London Declaration

 

 

June 17

82. German Unification

 

June 17

83. CFE Treaty

84. START Treaty

 

June 17

85. Attempted Coup in USSR

86.Gorbachev’s Resignation

 

June 17