Rise of the Drones

Learning Objective: Students will under what drones are and why they are used as a tool of foreign policy.

Success Criteria: Students can EXPLAIN and DEFEND their own OPINION regarding if the use of drones meets the goals of US foreign policy.

Monday we will analyze the President's role as both Command in Chief and Chief Diplomat of the United States.  Specifically we will be analyzing the President's policy on the use of "drones" to kill terrorist suspects without trial and to form an opinion on whether or not this policy meets the four goals of US foreign policy that we learned about on Friday.

Those goals are:

1. Promote national security of the United States.
2. Promote trade with the United States.
3. Promote the spread of democracy around the world.
4. Promote world peace.

In order to do this analysis we will be watching part of the NOVA special "Rise of the Drones" that aired on PBS to introduce the topic.  The full video can be found here:

We will be doing a close reading of an abridged version of the President's policy on the use of lethal force that can be found in our group packets for this unit.  The unabridged version of it can be found here.  We will also be reading an abridged version of "A Drone Victim's Message to the United States" that was published on the news site The Huffington Post that can also be found in our group packets for this unit.  The unabridged version of the article can be found here.

Students will need to analyze the material provided and come to their own conclusion regarding which of the four goals of foreign policy (if any) the use of "drones" meets.