Hi, i am going to write a gradutate paper and need some advice regarding my research topic with regards to what to study, material and so on. I am not asking for you to come up with a research question just need someone to talk to.
My Topics are following:
Climate Change - An existential treat?
The ever-growing threat of climate is taking up the news we consume daily. Super hurricanes, megafires and droughts seems to be the new normal, presenting challenges to governments and the way of governance. A shift may have occurred in the way prominent actors are framing the threat, moving from the domain of soft politics to the realm of security. I want to look at how the issue of climate change is being securitized, what is the implications of framing the threat this way? are other kind of solutions being excluded?
Blackwater in Iraq
- Changing the way of warfare Equipped with an abundant supply of ambition Blackwater CEO Erik Prince made a name for himself during the invasion of Iraq (2003). Blackwater gained several no-bids contracts from the Pentagon with regards to supplying troops, building infrastructure and protecting high-ranking members of the US government. Involved in several scandals, the company came under sever scrutiny. Raising questions of loyalty, accountability and a distrust of private actors participating in the theater of war. I have no coherent research question, but something involving how private security firms are impacting the conventional way of doing war.
And the response from my supervisor:
1) The general topic is interesting. However, in order to formulate specific research questions, it will be necessary to specify, among other things, who is securitizing the issue of climate change.
2) It can be very difficult to study the how private security firms are impacting conventional ways of conducting war. It might be possible to study discussions of and debates over the privatization of warfare and the use of private security firms.
Any suggestions?Holt Educational Consultant - / 14,801 
4780 Kerem, perhaps you can frame the securitization discussion through the context of the current political climate in America where the president does not believe in climate change but the opposition does. It becomes a political discussion with security implications because of the fact that Americans tend to get involved in wars overseas and in the process, find themselves embattled as they try to protect nature or natural resources while trying to eliminate the enemy. One example of the securitization issue could be the first Gulf War, where the Iraqi soldiers burned oil refineries and destroyed gas pipelines. At the time, we may not have been aware of the repercussions of such actions but now, we understand that what those people did had a direct impact on our climate and could very well be part of the reason why the changes were sped up. This way, you can better address the issue of who is securitizing the issue of climate change. I agree that you will have a hard time proving that private security firms are involved here. So look to the politicians, their foundations, and those foundations connections instead in the promotion of privatized warfare. That may be easier to research and easier to apply in the context of your work.
