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Students must write a research paper–using both primary and secondary sources–that answers the following question:

In American historiography, Marxist historians consider the Cold War an attempt by the U.S. to establish economic hegemony, while Revisionist historians blame individual personalities, namely Stalin and Truman. Might there be some other explanation for explaining the Cold War? Do you think the Cold War was inevitable? If so, what were the factors that made the Cold War conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union unavoidable?

Make sure you have a thesis (a general argument) and provide examples and details from your sources to support your answer (please refer to the rubric on Canvas).

• The First Draft (for Peer Review online) is due on April 8 by 11:59 p.m. You must have a completed draft of the writing assignment (not just an outline or a page or two) with citations and a bibliography.  You will be assigned one paper to review on April 9th (8:00 am). The peer review needs to be completed by April 11 by 11:59 pm.  Please revise and submit the Final essay by April 13, 11:59 p.m.  
• This paper is worth 20% of the course grade.
• The length of the paper should be 5-6 pages (approximately 1500-1700 words not including citations).
• The paper must be typed in Times New Roman 12-point font and double-spaced.
• You must provide at least 4 outside sources (besides using the appropriate chapters in Roark and Johnson), two of which must be primary sources.
• All sources must be correctly cited using the Chicago Manual of Style. You must also provide a separate Bibliography at the end of your paper.