EE Question Tweaking- repression and fear caused by the Assad Regime

[Fire1earth12]

I've read the IB guides but I'm still not sure what would make a proper IB question for my history EE. Would this be a good topic?

What were the implications of the repression and culture fear created by the Assad Regime?

Thank you!

Edited October 3, 2013 by Fire1earth12

[Emmi]

I would be very very careful with this topic. The topic itself isn't too bad (a little broad, but that's fixable), it's the time period that it's going to focus on that's problematic. History EE topics have to deal with events that occurred at least 10 years ago, so anything you write about in your EE has to have ended, or only be focused on events that happened up until 2003. This means that anything that occurred afterwards you cannot put in your EE or you will lose quite a bit of marks. If you're still interested in Middle Eastern history, it might be better to find something that happened a little bit earlier so there is no chance that you'll lose points since you did not follow the 10 year rule.

[Fire1earth12]

I thought about it some more and would be alright if I focused specifically on the Hafez Assad regime, the current dictator's father. His reign ended in 2000 and that's where the brunt of the oppression started. if I focused on a single large event like the Hama massacre would that make it more specific? Or can I use multiple examples of the violence Assad used to oppress his people?

[Sandwich]

The time period sounds good but I think your question needs a bit of refining. What do you mean by "implications"? Implications for what? You need quite a focussed question which you can answer fully in the 4,000 words and I think a much more concrete question is in order. The effect of the regime on X or X and Y sort-of thing, rather than just 'implications' which is a bit too ambiguous.

[Fire1earth12]

Thanks so much for the input, would this be better?

How did the secret police of Syria during Hafez Assad's reign create a state of fear using propaganda and being above the to insidiously control the people and keep the regime?

I want to talk about the torture inside prisons, how they would literally come to your door and shoot your family members if you tried to defy the law and how people were too scared to talk over the phone or even in person about government matters because there were ears everywhere and people were absolutely terrified of the secret police. Kind of like the Nazi's but not as organized, they were more spur of the moment.

[Emmi]

Your research question is more refined which is good but I would change the wording a bit. I also don't really understand the "being above the to insidiously" part, but this could just be a typo. I wouldn't put "insidiously" in there though, you should try to keep your research question emotionally neutral.

Perhaps something like "How did the secret police of Syria during Hafez Assad's reign create a state of fear using propaganda to control the people and maintain his rule?"

[nuby]

By the way, I think you should give his last name as al-Assad, not just Assad.

Edited November 30, 2013 by nuby

[Fire1earth12]

That definitely seems more concise than my original one. Thank you! As for the name change, I'll definitely keep that in mind.