Over the course of the semester, you have been asked in a variety of assignments to illustrate the major problems of collective action and coordination (“The Tragedy of the Commons”, The Prisoner’s Dilemma”, and “The Free Ryders”), discuss Globalization and the Future of Power, and consider the major problems associated with environmental policymaking. In this essay, you will be asked to do so one final time by considering the following sources:
• “How The U.S. Energy Boom Is Transforming Geopolitics” by, Gregor Macdonald
(http://talkingpointsmemo.com/longform/energy-boom-transforming-geopolitics).
• “The Melting North” by Unknown
(http://www.economist.com/node/21556798).
• Paddy Ashdown’s TED Talk on “The Global Power Shift”
(http://www.ted.com/talks/paddy_ashdown_the_global_power_shift/transcript?language=en)

Here is your task:
First, summarize the arguments made by each source. What are the primary components of each argument, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of each argument?
Second, use material from each source to define and illustrate the three major problems of collective action. Be sure to include examples from each source to illustrate each problem. In other words: three problems, three examples per problem, one taken from each of the three sources. For the sake of clarity, please divide this section into three separate paragraphs, one for each of the problems.
Third, what are the seven major problems of environmental policymaking, and how do these sources illustrate each of them? As you write, include material from a single source to illustrate each of the problems. Unlike in the previous section of this assignment, you do NOT need to include examples from all three sources for each of the problems; one example from one source per problem is sufficient. For the sake of clarity, please divide this section into seven separate paragraphs, one for each of the seven problems.
Fourth, how might leaders following the “realist” and “liberal idealist” schools of thought view the problems identified by each source, and what predictions might each type of leader make about the future of global relations in the face of these problems? Finally, which of these two sets of predictions do you believe is most likely to come true in the coming decades?
Complete answers will run 8-10 double-spaced pages, and should under no circumstances be longer than 12 pages.