Russia and Ukraine

Russia & Ukraine
You are a high-level advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, tasked with reviewing Russia’s current strategy in Ukraine (including Crimea). Based on your
understanding of Russian interests, suggest either changes to or a continuation of current strategy. Alternately, you can advise the US or a European leader
on their options.
Format
Memos should be 900-1200 words, not including bibliographical references. In Canvas, your text submission will show you how many words your memo has
and if you type your memo beforehand in Word or Google Docs, a word count is also available. Memos over 1200 words will not be graded. This means you
need to be extremely succinct and should not waste space on “throat clearing” or regurgitating background information that is irrelevant to your proposal.
Regarding citations, you should use in-text citations -for example (Hayes 2018)- and a bibliography at the end.
The format for the memo is Summary, Background, Analysis, Recommendation.
Summary- this should be a one-paragraph summary of the policy problem, your analysis, and your recommendation.
The background should consist of a concise review of the policy problem at hand. If you are directing your memo to a specific individual, address your
country’s policy responses in recent years and why the issue affects the national interest of your country. If your memo is directed at the UN or another IGO, it
should review the UN/IGO’s policy responses in recent years as well as describe why the issue is salient to the UN/IGO’s stated goals. “Concise” means not
discussing decades of history- just hit the high notes and get to the current state of play.
Your analysis should discuss the range, sequencing, and likely outcome of possible policy options. By “possible” I mean those options that could be pursued
without sucking up so many resources that your country’s foreign policy elsewhere could not be executed. Or, alternatively, if directing your memo at the UN
or some other IGO- so that the UN/IGO’s other projects and missions are not impacted.
I want your opinions for why a particular option is good or bad, and I want the reasoning behind your opinion.
You might consider whether the option will receive allied and multilateral support, and domestic political support. Be clear on whether this would or would
not matter.
When applying concepts from class and the readings, make sure to explicitly identify which concepts you are applying and, where relevant, cite them.
The recommendation should sum up your analysis. Remember, you are being asked to choose the best option from a constrained menu.
You can recommend combinations and sequences of different policy tools, but remember you have limited space.
Clearly state why you have selected the policy option you have.
You should address and rebut potential counterarguments to the option you recommend (either here or in the analysis section.)
Grading Criteria
Memo is properly formatted
It is clear who the memo is being directed to
Class readings are incorporated and bolded so they are easily identified
Course content from Chapters 2-6 is included and bolded so they are easily identified
A minimum of three policy options are included in the analysis section
Policy options are appropriate for the reader of the memo (US President etc.)
A minimum of five outside sources are used
Proper formatting of in-text citations and bibliography
Memo is proofread for grammatical and spelling errors