This semester, you are tasked with the following requirement:
Is Country X going to be/remain stable/unstable within the next 24 months?
Answering this question might be difficult without first deconstructing the analytic issue of stability. Creating a Mind Map will help in breaking your requirements into sub-problems and specific questions. More specifically, the center of your Mind Map is the stability of your country. The “arms” are the six sub-problems (politics, military, economy, social, geography, technology) associated with stability (see Annex 1 example attached in the rubric). You also have an option to focus on one specific issue or problem and its impact on the stability of your chosen country, e.g., specific issues within the financial sector, technological advancement and the threat of cyberterrorism, etc.
Your assignment is to brainstorm min. 5 specific questions pertaining to the six general sub-problems, or at least 15 sub-issues or questions connected to one key issues currently driving stability.
For example, given that politics is one of the core components of stability. In order to gauge the political situation of your chosen country you might start by asking general questions, including: What is the political system of Country X? Does the country have any political allies or adversaries? Is the country involved in any conflicts? After asking broad questions you might move to more country-specific issues, e.g. Is there a threat of future terrorist attacks? What is Country X doing to end the conflict with Country Y? What progress is being made toward reform of electoral systems?
Ultimately, the 30+ questions from your Mind Map will be the basis for an Intelligence Collection Plan – collecting sources to answer the questions from the Mind Map.
In order to create your mind map, you can use the free version of MindMeister, which allows you to share your concept map with me via email. Alternatively, you can use any software or tool of your choice.