Dissertation Assistance

[Silas]

For my background see: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=12090

I'm looking for a bit of assistance with my fourth year undergrad dissertation. Time is ticking by and I haven't locked down the focus and question. I've been reading extensively on COIN, particularly its application in Afghanistan for some time now and I'm having difficulty locking down a narrow enough area of COIN to focus on in 12,000-15,000 words that will be provide me with a strong central thread/argument.

At first I planned to focus on metrics, particularly how they could be used to demonstrate progress in Afghanistan. Also looked at how the military and civilian organizations prioritise certain indicators over others and what this means for a inclusive approach. My dissertation advisor thought that this was perhaps a bit ambitious, given the word limit and complex nature of the area.

He guided me towards choosing a dominant theme in the literature that interested me and I found the interaction between civilian and military institutions in Afghanistan to be of particular interest. I'm particularly interested in PRTs and the idea of military forces being asked to achieve non-warfighting aims. My reading has been very wide (including a great deal on CIMIC) but I am having a lot of trouble trying to formulate a focussed undergrad-level question to base the dissertation on. In the past I've had an essay achieve a poor mark because I chose a weak argument/focus so I am more than a bit worried about my current situation. I've noticed that members of the board have given people in similar situations help before so I was hoping that someone here could guide me towards an appropriate question.

{Edited by mods at poster's request}

Any help would be greatly appreciated, if any clarification is needed please just ask.

-Silas