Topic Proposal for Inquiry Project

Global conflicts which are happening in the world today occur due to many common
factors. The connection between the conflicts which make them so like each other include
Militarism/Nationalism, socio-economic factors, power, and the complicated acts with attempted
peace treaties. There is a problem with people thinking that war is a good thing. One failed attempt
in getting along with another country whether it is about trade or something entirely innocent could
turn into acts of preparing to use weapons against that country. The ability to show others what
power is and how to use it for their benefit can lead to complex outcomes. The imbalance between
the factors of militarism, nationalism, and socio-economic influences pave way to trigger
components will make war more of a possibility. The origins in which World War I started includes
Imperialism, Nationalism/Militarism, Social Darwinism, and White Mans Burden. The indirect
causes contain the Alliance System where Germany allied with Austria-Hungary and Italy as well
as Prussia. Colonial conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia led to the Archduke of Austria-
Hungary, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie get assassinated. Assassination leads to war amongst the
Slavs and the Austria-Hungarians, while Germany declared an ultimatum to take colonies from
other nations. Once Germany crossed the border to invade France without alerting the French,
Germany mobilizes. The start of World War I is justifiable since Germany would be gaining new
territory and allowed to have colonies. Glorification of war is shown in nationalism amongst the
soldiers as well as civilians. With all the different alliances including the 3 Emperor League
(Germany, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary), Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy),
and finally the Triple Entente (UK, Prussia, and France). The alliances were meant to maintain the
balance of power, yet it failed. Nations need to question is it really the right thing to get involved
with other countries who are driven deep within their own conflicts? Freedom is not merely the
opportunity to do as one pleases, neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between
alternatives. Freedom is the chance to formulate the available choices, - to argue over them- and
then the opportunity to choose. (C. Wright Mills)
Why does there have to be wars that break out globally in different countries? While the
South African War all the way back in (October 11, 1899-May 31st, 1902) involved Great Britain
wanting to gain control over the Witwatersrand Gold Mining complex in South Africa. Gaining
control of the largest gold complex in the world would help Great Britain tremendously especially
since Britain relied heavily on gold. Certain nations such as Germany during World War I (July
28th, 1914- November 11, 1918) wished to expand their number of colonies to gain more access to
raw materials as well as power. World War II (September 1st, 1939-September 2nd, 1945) came to
a start due to Germany in dire need to refute France and Great Britain for declaring war on them.
Germany went through so much opposition from other countries even though they called for an
Armistice to end World War I. The conflict in Afghanistan (A long time before-present day), which
seems to be never ending really came to headlines because the United States supported Saddam
Hussein to overthrow the insurgents during the Iraq-Iran war. As a nation, we supported Iraq in
their endeavors and allowed them to gain needed weapons. Gaining control of colonies helps the
economic situation get better. While the need for more raw materials falls under the topic of
agriculture and energy.
Is there any misleading information about how internal conflicts turn out? Of course, there is
exaggerated information about how dangerous global conflicts can be. The overgeneralization
effect is highly shown when news headings blow up the terrorist attacks and mass shootings going
on in certain nations while more people die of bee stings, deer collisions, car accidents, and other
small accidents which kill Americans more often than terrorist attacks do. Many acts of Homicide
occur throughout the world and costs more lives daily even more than even a single global conflict.
What newspapers and news headlines tend to focus on are the violent uncommon information
rather than the trends of violence going on between the conflicts. As the public, it is time to be
more skeptical about what is going on in the world and how to contribute to the spread of
information about certain conflicts. Not everything is what it seems and there are multiple sides to
a story.
Im interested in this topic because I enjoy learning about affairs that are in different parts
of the world and not just about America. Personally, getting to understand global affairs grabs my
attention more than internal affairs in my home country. It seems to me that the information on
what conflicts are happening within countries is rarely talked about and revealed to the public.
Therefore, my curiosity to delve deeper into the remnants that historians left behind on certain
events is really exciting for me. Caring about what is going on in other parts of the world is
important because in the long term we learn what to prevent in our country when conflicts happen.
Events going on in Libya and the Middle East will affect how expensive or how cheap our gas
prices over here will be. All the nations imports and exports come from different countries around
the world. For example, most of our clothes and cellphone products are produced/made in China
and only assembled in the US. Samsung and LG technology products are made in South Korea;
while other clothing products are made in Bangladesh or even Thailand. The importance to
research and understand the ideal behind international relations is dire to the improvement of our
own country. After the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center America had to tighten up
airport security and checkpoints to make sure no other attack would happen. Eventually a lot of
these personal stories will be included in our next generations textbook, history book, and
documentaries.
The next steps to my inquiry topic is to do a preliminary search on my topic before sitting
down to revise it. Location of where information is being extracted from is important as well
whether it was read from a book, online database, documentary, or even a news articles. I would
have to make note of every website, book, etc. so that later in my research project I will be able to
do citations. Relying on just the internet for information wouldnt be a good thing so I will use the
resources in the Library. I can check out needed books from the library so that during breaks in
my class schedule I can do some research. After obtaining the needed information from those
resources I need to make sure that I take legible notes for future reference in my project. Keeping
track of where I got the notes from and making sure quotes had the information of who said it is
important for the citation and bibliography too. I would have to include more of my inquiry
questions in my revision since then I would have more information and facts to include as support
for my answers. Next, I would find a way to brainstorm the organization of my essay. Lastly, no
matter how many times I reread or let others proof read my essay I will make corrections to my
essay. Editing is very important in the writing process and even though it takes a long time the
result of my project should be the best final product I could have written.