September 2024
BBA ESSEC
First year students
English Track
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
WORKSHOP
SUMMARY NOTE
I - Presentation of the assignment
You are the parliamentary assistant of a deputy of the French National Assembly, member of the
Foreign Affairs Commission. You should help him/her prepare a speech for a conference dedicated
to contemporary geopolitical challenges.
In groups of 5 students, you must conduct research on one country facing a specific challenge.
Objective of this assignment is to produce a research document that includes :
1- A summary aiming to:
- Presenting the country in relation to the specific challenge chosen
- Identifying key issues and organizing them in order of importance
Format of the summary : 3 pages – 30 lines per page – Police type Arial 11
2 – Appendices:
Appendices serve to complement the information given in the summary. As such, appendices should
be selected pertinently, and be clearly presented.
Below are different propositions, some are compulsory and must be included in your appendices:
A map which is adapted to the research question (mapping out geographical issue or an actor-
based map, in the case of a conflict setting for example)
An adapted chronology of an event (max. 30 dates that allow to follow the timely evolution of a
situation)
Two newspaper articles dealing with the studied topic. You must mention the date of publication
and the name of the newspaper. Avoid factual articles with no analysis. If the articles are not in
French or in English, you must translate them. For this part of documentary analysis, it is
mandatory to use Factiva or Europresse. For each selected article, you should add a preamble
of around 15 lines to justify your choice.
Other suggestions (it is not mandatory to include them in the list of appendices)
Reference texts (an official speech, a resolution from the Security Council of the United
Nations…)
A presentation with data, charts and illustrations about the military, social and economic
situations of the country. For certain types of data, it might be desirable to make cross-country
comparisons (for instance GDP per capita, economic growth rate, number of nuclear warheads,
etc.)
Opinion polls
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Format of the appendices: between 13 and 17 pages; the forms of presentation are free.
3 - A bibliography must be attached to your work and must respect the rules of presentation
explained by the librarians of the Learning Center during the first part of the workshop.
This work must be conducted in the most objective way possible. You have to select and articulate
your ideas and sources, which should be varied. Any data or quote must come with a reference
following the Harvard referencing – check the Learning Center sheet.
Apart from the references that you can find at the end of this document, you should also use the
resources presented by the Learning during the research methodology workshop.
Be very careful and specific in the way you present and edit your work on a computer. Style and
spelling must be perfect. Please put page numbers on your assignment.
On the cover page, please indicate your family name, first name, the name of your group (A-B-C-
D), and the subject your group deals with;
The final document you will submit must be bound: no loose pages. Give priority to simple but
effective binding… and not too bulky!
One member of your group should submit the summary to an anti-plagiarism software.
The result of anti-plagiarism analysis is taken into account in the grading.
The final version of the assignment (summary-appendices-bibliography)
should be submitted to the Secretariat of BBA.
The deadline will be announced during the first session.
The grade obtained by the group will be considered as part of the continuous assessment
grade for the course of Geopolitics. Late submissions will automatically lead to a penalty.
For all additional information, please contact:
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]II - TOPICS
1. United Kingdom
Nearly four years after Brexit, what is the current state of the relationship between the United
Kingdom and the European Union?
2. Germany
How can it be said that the Russian intervention in Ukraine in 2022 caused major upheavals
in Germany?
3. France
Does the end of Operation Barkhane mark the end of the French presence in Africa?
4. Hungary
Why can we say that Hungary’s position in the EU is particular?
5. Russia
Can it be said that Russia has significant international support in its war against Ukraine?
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6. Ukraine
Is Ukraine's accession to the European Union now conceivable?
7. Turkey
How peculiar is Turkey’s positioning on the diplomatic arena?
8. United States
Why are the U.S. presidential elections so significant for European countries?
9. Brazil
Can Brazil be considered a new key player on the international stage?
10. South Africa
Why is South Africa's position on the continent so particular?
11. Israel
Do recent events in Israel contribute to a shift in its relations with the United States?
12. Algeria
Why can it be said that Algeria's relationship with France is so special?
13. People's Republic of China
Is the relationship between China and the European Union definitively at a critical turning
point?
14. Taiwan
Why is the relationship between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan so carefully
watched?
15. Japan
Why is Japan's military situation so peculiar?
16. India
What factors are contributing to India's increasingly significant presence on the international
stage?
17. North Korea
Is Russia an indispensable ally for North Korea?
18. Iran
Does the election of a new president in Iran change the dynamics of its relations with Western
countries?
19. Saudi Arabia
How can the presence of Saudi Arabia in the BRICS group since 2024 be explained?
20. Afghanistan
Three years after the U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban's return to power, what is the political
and security situation in the country?
III - BIBLIOGRAPHY
❖ Learning Center resources
▪ Factiva, Europresse & Business Source Complete to search for press articles or specific news
sources pertaining to international relations. For instance, New-York Times, Guardian, Le Monde
Diplomatique, Le Courrier International, Foreign affairs, Foreign Policy, International affairs…
▪ Global Data Explorer: very useful for the Macroeconomic Outlook Report” et “PESTLE insights”
(Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal and Environmental)
▪ Statista: synthetic data and infographics on a country or geographical area
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❖ Books
BADIE, B., SMOUTS, M-C., Le retournement du monde, Presses de Sciences Po, 1999 (3e ed.)
BELIN, C., CHARILLON, F., Les Etats-Unis dans le monde, CNRS, 2016
BAYLIS J. & Smith J., Globalization of Word Politics, 8th edition, Oxford University Press, 2019
BRESLIN, S., Handbook of China's International Relations, Routledge, 2015
COOPER A., HEINE J., THAKUR R., The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy, Oxford University
Press
CHARILLON, F., BALZACQ, T. RAMEL, F., Global Diplomacy. An Introduction to Theory and Practice,
Palgrave, 2019
DELAMOTTE, G., Le Japon dans le monde, CNRS, 2019
DOYLE M., Making War and Building Peace, Princeton University Press, 2006
EKMAN, A., La Chine dans le monde, CNRS, 2018
GOMART T., L’affolement du Monde, Tallandier, Paris, 2019
FANG, C., NOLAN, R., Routledge Handbook of the Belt and Road, Routledge, 2019
FLINT C., Introduction to Geopolitics, 3d edition, Routledge, 2017
GOLDSTEIN J. & PEVEHOUSE I. C., International Relations 2012-2013, Pearson, 2013
HAAS, R., The World: A Brief Introduction, Penguin Press, 2020
HASSNER P. ed., Les relations internationales, La Documentation Française, Paris, 2012
HUNTINGTON S., The Clash of Civilizations, Simon and Schuster, 1996
KAUFMAN J. P., Introduction to International Relations: Theory and Practice, Rowman and Littlefield
Publishers, Inc., 2013
KAPLAN R.D., The Revenge of Geography, Random House International, 2012
LEROY MALCHOW, H., History and International Relations: From the Ancient World to the 21st
Century, Bloomsbury, 2020
MONTBRIAL de T., RAMSES 2021, Le grand basculement ?, Dunod, Paris, 2021
MORGENTHAU H., Politics Among Nations, 6th Edition, Bookmark Press, 1985
VAISSE Maurice ed., Diplomaties étrangères en mutation, Pedone, Paris, 2019
WALZ K., Man, The State and War. A Theoretical Analysis, Columbia University Press, 1959
YOUNG J.W & KENT J., International Relations since 1945, Oxford, 2013
ZARTMANN W., Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority, Lynne
Rienner, Boulder, 1995
❖ Internet
Altamar Podcasts : A global affairs podcast featuring interviews with top international experts
discussing major world issues. https://altamar.us/category/previous-episodes/
Brookings : resources from the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization
based in Washington https://www.brookings.edu/topic/international-affairs/
The Conversation.com : press articles written by academics about Economy & International
issues https://theconversation.com/global
IMF eLibrary : a direct access to the International Monetary Funds periodicals, books, working
papers, studies, data and statistical tools https://www.elibrary.imf.org/
OECD iLibrary : the online library of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) featuring its books, papers, podcasts and statistics https://www.oecd-
ilibrary.org/
World Atlas of Global Issues : Maps for exploring the contemporary world. It offers more than
200 downloadable maps and charts... https://espace-mondial-
atlas.sciencespo.fr/en/index.html
World Factbook = basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy,
geography (source CIA) https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/
Worldmapper : a collection of world maps called cartograms, where territories are resized on
each map according to the subject of interest https://worldmapper.org/
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