International 2009

[tho0015]

I did fairly well I think but I found the extended response questions to be alot more specific than I expected (eg. the conflict one on one effect of global terror, which I didnt expect to be more than a 4 mark question).

I thought the exam was overall alot more difficult than previous years in many ways, like the definitions (domestic pressure).

Also if for the interpretation of national interests in a state question, would it be permissible to use Taiwan???

[iao123]

first question was 'Globalisation can have both positive and negative effects on a state' Discuss.

anyone have a copy of the exam they want to upload?

[Velox]

I did fairly well I think but I found the extended response questions to be alot more specific than I expected (eg. the conflict one on one effect of global terror, which I didnt expect to be more than a 4 mark question).

I thought the exam was overall alot more difficult than previous years in many ways, like the definitions (domestic pressure).

Also if for the interpretation of national interests in a state question, would it be permissible to use Taiwan???

My understanding is yes, but don't fall into the trap of addressing Taiwan as an independent state.

[Trent]

I did fairly well I think but I found the extended response questions to be alot more specific than I expected (eg. the conflict one on one effect of global terror, which I didnt expect to be more than a 4 mark question).

I thought the exam was overall alot more difficult than previous years in many ways, like the definitions (domestic pressure).

Also if for the interpretation of national interests in a state question, would it be permissible to use Taiwan???

I agree, the exam was definately harder than previous years. I did not get domestic pressure at all.

You could use Taiwan I suppose. I personally used North Korea.

[Velox]

first question was 'Globalisation can have both positive and negative effects on a state' Discuss.

Do people think this is referring to a specific, single state (eg. globalisation can have both positive and negative effects on China), or, is it a general quote that can be responded to with several examples?

[smurf-lee]

i took it either way you could talk about states in general or a specific state if you felt the need. i believe the questions are made to be answered in varying ways to allow people to respond in the way they feel comfortable.

what example of domestic pressure did people use?

i used obama in regards to encouraging president hu to participate in open dialogue with the dalai lama but wasnt sure if this was right :S

[tho0015]

I wasnt even sure if my definition was on track because I made it up using common sense then and there.

But as for examples I put the Uighur protesters pressuring for independence etc

[iao123]

first question was 'Globalisation can have both positive and negative effects on a state' Discuss.

Do people think this is referring to a specific, single state (eg. globalisation can have both positive and negative effects on China), or, is it a general quote that can be responded to with several examples?

i didn't take it as a question to be awnsered from the point of view of one specific state, as this seemed too narrow for an essay question. I think they would have specified if they wanted you to talk about a singular state.

[Trent]

i didn't take it as a question to be awnsered from the point of view of one specific state, as this seemed too narrow for an essay question. I think they would have specified if they wanted you to talk about a singular state.

I agree, to answer in terms of one state is a bit specific and might not show that you have a full understanding. If I did that question I would have done 2 paragraphs on positives and 2 on negatives.

[bubsy]

I also referred to Taiwan in that question about the differing perspectives on national interest, and I've realised now that I forgot to specify that for the purpose of that question, Taiwan was to be regarded as a state :S

I looked at the past exam, and the time frame was narrowed by a decade, which I thought was a bit unfair given that most of us had assumed that the allowed time frame would remain about the same. I consequently couldn't talk about China's use of military power, because my examples were mostly prior to 2000 - I talked about north korea instead, but since I didn't have enough content to fill up the space I'm not sure whether I'll even be getting half marks for it

Domestic pressure wasn't defined adequately in the textbook. I had no idea what to put for that (I realise now that I could have spoken about Tibet or the Uighur region) and instead referred to the riots and boycotts that occurred within China in response to Sarkozy's comment about boycotting the Beijing Olympics. In reality it wasn't an example of domestic pressure at all, but i honestly couldn't think of anything else 

I was also wondering how picky they'd be about the essay - the second one was something like "Internationalism is constrained by the conflicting interests of states", and the premise of my argument was that when states shared mutual interests, internationalism wasn't hampered at all. I'm not sure how important the "conflicting" part of the topic was...

If the questions had read "discuss the effects" instead of "Discuss the effect" and "explain the causes" instead of "explain one cause" I think overall people would have done better. The wording of the questions certainly restricted the scope of my answers, and I'm hoping that I'm not the only one who had problems