How would I go about answering the question, "Examine the causes of a challenge to sovereignty in one named country. [16 marks]"?

For a 16 mark question, the general structure of responses should be an introduction, followed by approximately three to four well developed paragraphs leading onto a conclusion. For the introduction, it would be useful to begin by defining key terms, primarily sovereignty in this instance, and introduce your case study (e.g. the Russian annexation of Ukrainian Crimea in 2014). For this question, it is important to stick just to one named case study, and a good structure might be to look at the historical, political and strategic causes of the Russian invasion. This allows you to spend one developed paragraph on each of these factors. In order to break into level 3 for A01, you must display a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of these causes. This means that you should include specific facts and figures for your chosen case study. In order to score in level 3 for A02, you should develop upon this information and assess the relative significance of these causes in order to relate your information back to the question. Finally, your conclusion should briefly summarise your key arguments, before coming to an overall conclusion, which in this instance would be to assess the overall significance of the causes of the challenge to sovereignty in your chosen country.