Different Research Keywords

March 2, 2017 · by · in Prof Sleeper

Thesis: The transition of the United States from an isolationist nation-state to the [adj.] status of a global superpower resulted from a buildup of ideas and events that culminated in the Atlantic Charter. Through its endorsement of the principles voiced in the Atlantic Charter, the United States retired its traditional isolationist policies and created a new role for itself in its interactions with other states.

Transition:       change, shift, development, progression, morph, transformation, alteration

Isolated:           uninvolved, independent, separate, protectionist, guarded, closed

Status:              station, level, rank, position

Superpower:     power, hegemon, leader, influencer, manipulator, controller, eminence

Result:              culmination, effect, end, finality

Principles:        values, ideals, mores, morals, ethics

Role:                 responsibility, position, job, station

Interactions:     relationship, involvement, trade, commerce, war, synergy, cooperation, conflict

Primary research questions:

  1. What events led up to the creation of the Atlantic Charter?
  2. Do the concepts outlined within the Atlantic Charter parallel the concept of Manifest Destiny?
  3. Why did Wilsonian values resurface in the form of the Charter?
  4. How was the Atlantic Charter received by the average American?

In place of “interactions” I decided to use “conflict” in one search and “cooperation” in another in order to see if they generated different results on JSTOR.

“Atlantic Charter” and “conflict”:

This search brought a myriad of results including the effect of the Atlantic Charter on geological resources around the world (1943), a plan for peace anticipating the end of World War II (1942), a paper on the 1941-1945 British occupation of Iraq and the role of the Atlantic Charter in that campaign (2013), and a couple publications from American legal journals (1940s) concerning the effect of the Atlantic Charter on international law.

“Atlantic Charter” and “cooperation”:

This search found a book review for A Changing of the Guard: Anglo-American Relations (1941-1946). This book is a source that I am pursuing further as it seems particularly relevant to my topic. Other sources this search found were several publications from the 1940s that all focused on a more interconnected and interdependent world.