I. INTRODUCTION — GETTING CONTROL, GETTING AUTHORITY

II. THE STARTING POINTS

A. DEFINE YOUR TOPIC

B. DEFINE THE CONTEXT

C. ESTABLISH A BASE OF KNOWLEDGE

1. Researching the Case

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Syria+Civil+War#tbm=bks&q=Syria+Civil+War+Hokayem

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Syria+Civil+War#tbm=bks&q=Syria+Uprising

2. Understand the Rules and the Dynamics

Dick Cheney Speech, August 26, 2002
http://www.c-span.org/video/?172264-1/foreign-affairs-defense
(from 17:06)

Miller/Gordon Article, September 8, 2002

Daily Mail, September 2002
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-139703/Just-45-minutes-attack.html

3. Identifying the Sources

*In Short, Knowledge About Knowledge is Power*

D. DEFINE YOUR “SPACE”

E. TRUST NO ONE (AT THE BEGINNING)

F. TEST YOURSELF: A “BEGINNER’S GUIDE” TO….

IV. THE REACTIVE CASE — TRUMP

A. Building a Base

1. The Man
2. The Organization
3. The Issues

B. Watching the Mainstream

C. But How Do You Move from “Reactive” to “Pro-Active” — You Have to Redefine Approach and Context

https://theconversation.com/theresa-may-meets-donald-trump-talking-up-a-special-relationship-to-hide-problems-beneath-71969

V. THE REPORTING CASE — THE MIDDLE EAST (OR ELSEWHERE)

A. Building a Base From the Ground Up

B. Moving Beyond the Mainstream

C. Making the Most of Social Media — Triangulating

https://theconversation.com/years-of-fixation-on-defeating-al-qaeda-have-stunted-us-foreign-policy-64072

VI. THE INTERPRETATIVE CASE — SYRIA (OR ELSEWHERE)

A. Building the Base

B. “Reading Between the Lines”

C. Keeping Focus

D. Dissecting the Myths

E. Staying Engaged

https://theconversation.com/syria-is-on-the-brink-of-partition-heres-how-it-got-there-70825

VII. THE “JOURNALIST” V. THE “ACADEMIC”

A. The Base is the Same

B. But Starting from The Story Rather Than The Hypothesis

C. Building to an Analysis

VIII. CONCLUSION: KEEPING YOURSELF AT THE CENTRE