Discuss how Improving Mexico’s relations with the Southern American continent using Public Diplomacy.

Topic: Improving Mexico’s relations with the Southern American continent using Public Diplomacy

Task 1: Structured abstract’s template
Topic: Include a title and subtitle. Usually, you include a general title and details about the object of study, method, and timeframe in the subtitle.
Purpose/objective: What does the paper achieve? What questions/problem does it address? What hypothesis does it test? (25-50 words)
RQs: Include your main research question and other specific questions that are necessary to respond to your main question. Yes/no questions are poor RQs. RQs guide all the other elements in the abstract: object of study, method, timeframe, justification.
Hypothesis: This is your expected finding/s. It has to be based on research, not speculation (articles do not usually state the hypotheses; since this is not a complete article, the findings can serve as hypothesis).
Motivation/justification for the article: Why does the topic matter? What motivates the study? How does the article contribute to social science? It includes background and context as a way to justify the article:
Justification: How the study sheds light on a PD issue? How does it contribute to social science?
Context: Include all the relevant information you need to understand the RQ and justify them.
Avoid generalizations [e.g., “the economy has grown a lot,” NO; “the economy expanded at a 2.6% percent rate during 2018 (Sánchez, 2019),” YES].
Be specific and reference everything that is not the result of your analysis [e.g., “Finland’s economy grew by 3 percent in 2017 (IMF 2018)”].
All numbers, cases, facts, opinions, and concepts have to be REFERENCED adequately in an academic style.
Approach and methods: How have the questions been addressed, or hypotheses tested? What data and evidence have been used? What method has been used for analysis?
Timeframe: Period of study. Careful, “two years” is probably not a doable period of study for one researcher (yourself) without the help of automatic computing.
Implications for IR: What may the findings imply for IR practice/theory?

Task 1: Example of how to start thinking about an article’s structured abstract

Topic: “Public-private partnerships for public diplomacy: The role of Evergreen in advancing Taiwanese national interests around the globe.”
Main RQ: “How can corporations collaborate with governments in their PD strategies?” Specific RQs: “What are the conditions in which companies collaborate with governments in their PD efforts?” “What can the case of Evergreen say about this question?”
Hypothesis: Yes.
Context: Evergreen –a shipping, transportation, and associated service companies conglomerate from Taiwan— did act as its government’s emissary and representative in the 90s in Central America, expanding its ports, airport connections, hotels, investments and businesses as a way of securing Taiwanese presence where diplomatic ties were not possible because Taiwan was not recognized or China threatened them.
Abstract: Should include the research questions and context, the definition of PD, description of obstacles that Taiwan had in establishing IR in the region during the period of study and what Evergreen is, justification of the research, and the method, referencing everything. That is: what you have researched (RQs), why (relevance and context), and how (method).
Justification: Although this was an exceptional case (after all, how many Taiwan’s there are?), the justification is that such research sheds light on how and in what circumstances governments and corporations work together for national/common interests.
Method: Based on three case studies (including the building of the Evergreen port in the Panama canal) and historical documents, produce an analytical framework that allows comparisons between the cases so patterns can be extracted.
Timeframe: From the handover, the Panama Canal in 1999 until the last big investment Evergreen did in Central America in 2008.
References: You would have to support everything you say with references.