Conflict Causes and Consequences

By /

1979–1989 Soviet-Afghan War

Write an essay that answers the guiding question: 

“To what extent did [chosen conflict] occur due to political and/or economic reasons?”

Develop a thesis statement in answer to the guiding question and use it to select and organize the information.

Potential thesis structures:

  • ___________ (political/economic factor), ___________(political/economic factor), and ___________(political/economic factor), contributed to a significant extent to the start of/as causes of­­­­­­____________ (conflict).
  • ____________ (political or economic factor) and ____________ (political or economic factor) were significant contributing factors to the ____________ (conflict), however, an equally significant causal factor was the ___________ (political or economic factor).

Your essay should recognize the causes of the conflict from at least three PRISM categories and provide enough events to have the reader understand the timeline of the conflict . Top tip: Use your glossary to help. 

           HOW TO PROCEED

Start by choosing a conflict (suggestions at the bottom of the page), or a battle within one of those conflicts, that interests you.  It is best to choose a conflict that highlights differing ideologies.

Choose a battle/conflict then research all the different factors that contributed to it. You are trying to answer the question ‘how did this start? / Why did this happen?’. From there you can choose the 2-3 most significant factors that caused the conflict and find sources on those factors. 

Investigate enough to be able to write a six-paragraph essay that includes:

3 Factor Essay Structure (suggestion)

  1. An Introduction (thesis statement, key points) 
    • 100 words 
  2. Context of the chosen conflict
    • 100-150 words
  3. Analysis of the cause or factor #1
    • 200-250 
  4. Analysis of the cause or factor #2
    • 200-250 
  5. Analysis of the cause or factor #3
    • 200-250
  6. Conclusion and summary
    • 50-100 max

2 Factor Essay Structure (suggestion)

  1. An Introduction (thesis statement, key points) 
    • 100 words 
  2. Context of the chosen conflict
    • 100-150 words
  3. Analysis of the cause or factor #1
    • 250 (350 if no 5th paragraph) 
  4. Analysis of the cause or factor #2
    • 250 (350 if no 5th paragraph)  
  5. Optional: In-depth compare/contrast/analysis of the 2 factors  
    • 200
  6. Conclusion and summary
    • 50-100 max
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