Your final assignment in this course is a 7 page final paper. It should be double-spaced, in a normal, size-12 font (Times New Roman or Garamond) with standard 1-inch margins. You may use whatever system of citation you prefer, provided that it is clear, complete, and consistent. You must provide a bibliography; the bibliography does not count toward the page count. Paper Options: 1. Dictatorship. Write a letter from the dictator Putin to the dictator Bashar al-Assad, outlining what the other should do to stay in power. Your paper should clearly identify the challenges that Putin have faced in pursuing political survival and compare them to the challenges faced by the dictator Bashar al-Assad who is the one you’re advising. Your advice should be guided by (and should reference) the work that we have read on the different threats that dictators face, and the various tools they have to deal with these threats. It should then apply this baseline knowledge to the specific situation of Putin’s regime, and the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Does Putin face the same threats? Does Putin have the same tools available? If not, how does this change Putin’s advice? OUTLINE TO KEEP IN MIND Consider the degree/type of authoritarianism and role of institutions. (comparison) will be key 1. What are the threats they face different? (Assad has a civil war (foreign intervention), Putin doesn’t-more foreign threats?) (Putin advice on separatist threats based on USRR experience. 2. Do they have similar or different resources & tools to deal with threats? – Institutions – Censorship – Repression – $/patronage 3. If no, how does that change Putin’s advice?

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