CWI: Causes of Conflict
• Objective: to write a
background paragraph and
generate research questions
surrounding your
hypothesis
• Agenda:
1. New Expectations
2. Goal
3. Model Reading
4. Concise Paragraph
5. Next Step
6. Model Research Questions
• Date: 05/21/14
• HW: Make sure
you have that step
completed
• Entry Task: You
need your laptop
out and ready to
go
New Expectations
• 100% Effort
• 100% of the Time
• Norms:
1. 1st Time: 15 Minute Detention
2. 2nd Time: Code Blue
Goal
• Objective: gather background information on
your conflict and also to map out ways to find
information involving causes
• Success Criteria: You are successful if you write a
one-paragraph background piece. You are also
successful if you map out your potential causes
and come up with search strategies for them.
• Previous Learning: Hypothesizing Causes and
also Getting a Little Background Information
Concise Paragraph
Why did the United States invade Iraq in 2003?
Since 1910 Iraq has been coveted for the fact that there are great oil deposits there.
Iraq was governed as a mandate after World War I which gave it limited amounts of
self-rule but the British still maintained military bases in the country and dealt with its
foreign policy.
A whole series of governments took over which were opposed to foreign British rule.
In 1979 Saddam Hussein became president ushering in a new era of dictatorial and
authoritarian rule.
He quickly involved Iraq in a bloody Iran-Iraq war in which he became victorious (with
American help).
Later by 1991 he tested the international community by invading oil-rick Kuwait and he
was summarily defeated by a large swath of international forces which opposed his
aggression.
Fatefully, the United States decided not to invade Iraq and depose the leader.
Instead they subjected them to sanctions, weapons inspections and no-fly zones which
Saddam Hussein did not comply with.
By 2003, President George W. Bush, fresh off the largest ever terrorist attack on
American soil decided to act.
Next Step
• What are the potential reasons the United States
went to war with Iraq?
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Terrorism in Iraq
• Human Rights Abuses
• To change the Middle East
• Wait a second….what about the oil? What about
the rivalry and resentment with Saddam
concerning Bush’s father?
How to analyze?
• Ask questions….lots of questions….
• In social science we ask questions involving
sourcing, corroboration and contextualization.
• Sourcing: Should this source be trusted? Why? Is
there any reason for this source to distort the
truth?
• Corroboration: Do other academic sources agree
with what this source is saying? If so, why? If not,
why not?
• Contextualization: What was going on at the time
that the source was created? How does that
influence the message?
That sounds about
right…the Middle East
is a pain in the royal…
Not a lot of
democracies there…
To Change the Middle
East
Hey, I remember in World War I
a lot of problems….
Wouldn’t the United
States look powerful?
Next Step: Find the Good Stuff!
• This is the hard part.
• This is what separates the experts from the
novices.
• There is a whole universe of information out
there. But…. who/what actually knows what
they are talking about?
Here is “The Truth” about the Truth
All informationtoo much!
Stuff that
might be
useful
A whole lot of
b.s.
The truth
Specific Task
• Write a single background paragraph with a
hook. (Question, Quote or Anecdote/Story)
• Concisely summarize the context surrounding
the issue. Who, What, When, Where, Why,
How?
• Jot down your potential hypotheses with
questions showing your skill at analysis for
each of the causes.