Overview
Security Policy Analysis Paper
Prompt: Imagine that you are advisor to President Biden and asked to do an analysis on an issue that threatens U.S. security. A security policy analysis paper requires students to research in depth a security issue of government or public concern. The security issue can be related to ongoing political debate or on a security concern, which has not yet gained the attention of policymakers. Some examples of security issues are terrorism, mass shootings, cybersecurity, inadequate response to COVID-19, illegal immigration, drug cartels, gangs, and the use of WMD materials. A security policy analysis defines the problem or issue at hand, describes its background, and provides a balanced assessment of policymakers' options to resolve the problem. Finally, the paper should conclude with a recommended course of action for policymakers.
Guidelines for Submission: Your research proposal should be six pages (including your reference page) in Microsoft Word, with 12-pt. Times New Roman font, double-spacing, citing four scholarly articles, and sources cited in APA format.
- Policy Problem
Pick and introduce a specific security issue. Rather than preparing your policy paper on a general topic such as global terrorism or the impacts of natural disasters, try to select a researchable and analyzable specific topic. Whether the issue is the financial capacity of ISIS terrorist organization, the effects of Hurricane Katrina on Homeland Security, or the opioid epidemic in the U.S., you should identify a specific issue and articulate why it is crucial. For example, you can identify the opioid epidemic in the United States using opioid overdose deaths statistics. Similarly, you can describe how ISIS has been a global threat using statistics on terrorist incidents perpetrated by ISIS. If you cannot find data or statistics, you can use governmental reports to introduce a specific issue. Your description to identify a specific issue should also include why this security issue threatens the U.S. or the world.
Place the issue in historical context by describing how the problem arose and outlining previous efforts, if any, to address the problem. To detail the issue and any prior policy responses, you can use a range of sources, including books, articles from scholarly journals, previous policy analyses, and government reports.
- Policy Discussion (Prior and Current Policies)
Summarize the results of prior policy efforts and identify the major stakeholders. These are the individuals and groups likely to affect or be affected by new government policies taken in response to the issue under discussion.
Discuss current policy alternatives. This forms the main body of your policy analysis research paper.
- Policy Recommendation and Conclusion
Identify and recommend a set of policy options the government might take to resolve the issue. Be sure the options involve substantive policy measures aimed at the issue in question. This is a policy analysis, not a manifesto outlining broader social, economic or political changes. Your research on the issue and past policy actions will help you identify policy proposals and create new approaches for addressing the identified problem.