Do Intelligence Agencies Stabilise or Destabilise the International System
Order Description

Attached the guidelines for this essay, essay must be 1000 words including references and can take the stance of intelligence agencies either stabilising or destabilising the international system, however it must include arguments from both sides before taking a clear stance. I have attached the required reading allocated for the topic of intelligence as well as some other possibly useful sources. The reading comes from the textbook Security Studies: an introduction by Paul D Williams. Another useful source that is not included may be Peter Gill and Mark Phythian ‘Intelligence in an Insecure World’.

Assignment 1 Minor Essay
Students in PICX111 must prepare a 1,000 word minor essay. It is worth 20% of the final grade and is due by 23.59 on 29 March 2016.
Topic Selection
Students must answer one out of the three essay questions below. Keep in mind that critical analysis entails recognition of the key debates and counter-arguments to your argument. The word count does not include the bibliography. The essay will provide students with an early feedback on their academic writing and comprehension of security studies.
1) What are the challenges of responding to ‘risks’ compared to ‘threats’?
2) Do intelligence services stabilise or destabilise the international system?
3) What are the main risks to cyber security, and are states or non-state actors the main challenge?
Essay Guidelines
1. Define and discuss key concepts.
2. Take a comparative approach: Each essay question asks to compare two concepts or answers (1. risk/threat; 2. stabilise/destabilise; 3. state/non-state actor). What are the arguments for and against each position?
3. Keep in mind that there is not one ‘correct answer’. You are graded based on the extent to which you can substantiate your conclusion .
4. Critical analysis: Recognise the limits of your argument and counter-arguments. The objective is not to suggest that one answer is correct and the other wrong, but rather to argue that one of the answers/position may have more merit than
DEPARTMENT OF Security Studies and Criminology Faculty of Arts

the other. Demonstrate your capacity to consider and include competing perspectives by various scholars.
5. Clearly structure your essay into introduction, body and conclusion. a. The introduction should outline the broader topic and link it to the specific purpose of the essay. Signpost the structure, key arguments to be made, and provide a brief thesis statement. b. The body of the essay should present the main arguments, which directly answers the essay question. c. The conclusion should summarise your key findings, synthesize your thoughts, demonstrate the importance of your ideas, and enable you to have the last word on the essay question.
6. Referencing: Choose either Oxford or Harvard (see directions in links below). The word count includes footnotes, but excludes bibliography. Words limits can deviate 10% either more or under the stated figure. If the number of words exceeds the limit by more than 10%, then penalties will apply. These penalties are 5% of the awarded mark for every 100 words over the world limit. The percentage is taken of the total mark, i.e. if a paper was graded at a credit (65%) and was 300 words over, it would be reduced by 15 marks to a pass (50%).
Harvard: http://libguides.mq.edu.au/content.php?pid=459099&sid=3759396 Oxford: http://libguides.mq.edu.au/content.php?pid=459099&sid=3759400

7. Late submissions: If an assessment is submitted late, 5% of the available mark will be deducted for each day (including weekends) the paper is late.