Student brief / International relations

The Statement

Everyone heard the condemnation. Who actually changed?

Created by Yoav Duman

Your investigation

Choose For class to complete an assigned brief or For fun to explore freely. Start with an explanation, predict what evidence would support or challenge it, then inspect a record. The aim is to reason about the finding, rather than guess what the app wants. All essential information is inside the activity, and help is available. After a correction, apply the idea to a new case in your own words.

For class, complete the investigation, written brief, and self-review. Print or save your record as a PDF and submit it as your instructor requests. For fun, browse any section and write or print optional notes; this mode has no assignment-completion record. Switching modes keeps your notes. The optional later chapter is required only if your instructor assigns it.

Who gets the credit?

Fictional follow-up: after R's condemnation, independent monitors verify that several named detainees in Q leave custody. R says its statement worked. Families point to months of organizing; diplomats point to earlier negotiations. Whether detention practices improved afterward remains unresolved. Your inquiry concerns these first releases, rather than the end of the crisis.

  1. Choose the change you want to explain and state your account of how it happened. Before opening a record, say what you expect it to show if your account is right, and what would make another explanation more convincing.
  2. Open the record and explain what you learn. A response in a poll, an official decision, and a verified release tell you different things. Identify the step your record addresses, rather than infer the whole story.
  3. Examine the challenge. Ask whether it changes the account you gave and which question remains. Propose an observation that could help decide between the remaining explanations.
  4. Explain whether you keep, narrow, change, or suspend your first account. Give a reason tied to the evidence. Your first claim and revision appear in exports. Download your brief or a progress file before leaving, then submit separately as your class requires.

Your research brief

1 · Your finding

Explain what the hearing should conclude or investigate. Name the change you are trying to understand and give a reason. You may leave part of the question unresolved.

2 · Evidence from article A

Describe one comparison or finding in a complete sentence, then explain how it bears on your account. Specify what respondents judged rather than saying only that approval increased.

3 · Evidence from article B

Describe one comparison between replies or one UN response result. Explain what it shows about support for punishment and how it informs your finding.

4 · A limit or competing explanation

Explain a specific uncertainty. Say which step is unobserved or how another explanation could produce the same event.

5 · Your next investigation

Choose two explanations to distinguish. Propose an observation or comparison and explain what you would expect under each. One or two connected sentences are enough.

Before submitting

Check that your explanation identifies a process, uses one real finding from each article, responds to the challenge, and proposes evidence that could distinguish a rival. Print or save the app’s record as a PDF and submit separately as your instructor directs.