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History IA- 9/11


Mathemagician

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Hi guys,

 

Do you think it'd be a good idea to do the History IA on 9/11? Many recommend not to do it on 9/11 as it's recent (even though it occurred 10+ years ago), and also people say it'd be hard to find sources on it due to it being recent. I was thinking about doing it on something syllabus related, such as the World Wars, period between the World Wars, Cold War, Dictators (Hitler/Stalin), but many say these topics have been overdone to death, thus it's best to avoid them, and do something that is not overdone like 9/11.

 

What do you guys recommend? I have asked some people already (1 being on this forum), but I'm looking for more suggestions, as I don't want to start it on 9/11 and figure that I'm screwed later.

 

Thanks!

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I would also not recommend doing an IA on 9/11 for the reasons you already mentioned. Even if it is more than 10 years ago, I still do not think we have seen all of its historical implications. However, as far as recent events go, this one probably has the most literature written on it, but I still wouldn't do it as a topic.

 

I bet 9/11 isn't done as much as the world wars, but there are still plenty of original topics you could do about the world wars. Talk about the Monument Men, or the Werwolf group (that one is really cool). There are plenty of original topics that aren't just about Hitler.

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Ah I see. However, if l do it on 9/11 will that lower my chances of getting a good mark in anyway, or will it just make the IA harder for me? I'm thinking about doing the IA on 9/11, but not on the actual attack itself really, but more on the responsibility and/or cause of the attack. So who was responsible, and to what extent were they held responsible, or who/what caused it, and to what extent:

 

For example, I'm thinking of doing a research question along the lines of the following: 1) "To what extent was Al Qaeda held responsible for the September 11 attacks (World Trade Center/The Pentagon)?," 2) "To what extent were the September 11 attacks (World Trade Center/The Pentagon) caused by Al Qaeda?," or 3) "To what extent was Al Qaeda blamed for the September 11 attacks (World Trade Center/The Pentagon)?"

 

...or I could focus on the aftermath of the September 11 attacks- particularly the actions of the US; 1) "To what extent were US actions in response to the September 11 attacks rationalized and successful?," 2) "To what extent was the War in Afghanistan in response to the September 11 attacks rationalized and successful?," or 3) "To what extent was Operation Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan) in response to the September 11 attacks rationalized and successful?"

 

So, as you guys can see, I'm focusing more on the causes and aftermath of the attacks rather than the actual attack itself. Also, what do you guys think of the research questions?

 

Thanks.

Edited by Mathemagician
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Okay I won't do it on Al Qaeda's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Other than the Al Qaeda, my focus was mostly on other terrorist organizations, such as the Afghan Taliban. I think instead of Al Qaeda and 9/11, I'll do it on the Afghan Taliban during the 1990s. I came up with a possible research question:

 

To what extent did the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and military play a role in the founding and rise to power of the Afghan Taliban during the 1990s? 

 

Do you guys think it'll work or like the previous ones (Al Qaeda, 9/11) I shouldn't do it?

Edited by Mathemagician
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Okay I won't do it on Al Qaeda's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Other than the Al Qaeda, my focus was mostly on other terrorist organizations, such as the Afghan Taliban. I think instead of Al Qaeda and 9/11, I'll do it on the Afghan Taliban during the 1990s. I came up with a possible research question:

 

To what extent did the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and military play a role in the founding and rise to power of the Afghan Taliban during the 1990s? 

 

Do you guys think it'll work or like the previous ones (Al Qaeda, 9/11) I shouldn't do it?

 

Hi there,

 

Your topic about the Pakistani ISI and military sounds extremely interesting, and should be appropriate for an IA. I would either focus on the ISI or the military though, not both, as you don't have very many words available for the IA and you want to maximize how much room you have to discuss and analyze facts. Do whichever seems more interesting to you or you have the most information available for.

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Now when I think about it- as much as I'd like to do that topic (about Pakistan's involvement in the Afghan Taliban during the 1990s) I don't know if I should. That's because there aren't many sources on this topic. By sources I mainly mean books and such. Yes, I have found quite a few articles and things along those lines on this topic all over the internet, but again there aren't much proper sources on the topic (books, etc.). I guess I could still do it, as it interests me a lot, but then it'd be a real pain in the butt, because I'd have to search and search to find the proper sources. Given that, do you guys still think I should do it? It does interest me a hell of a lot though... the limited amount of sources is the only problem, literally.

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