It is August 1941, and the war in Europe has been raging for almost two years. Germany has conquered almost all of of Europe and has conquered large parts of North Africa. Germany is close to starving England into submission with the U-Boat Campaign. In the Far East, Japan continues the war in China and has now occupied all of French Indochina. President Roosevelt is increasingly concerned over the state of the war and its possible impact on a neutral United States. President Roosevelt asks you to visit with him in the White House and asks you to undertake a fact-finding mission about the state of the war. You are to travel to England, Germany, Russia, Italy, and Japan and observe conditions in these countries in order to gather information on what you see as the dangers the United States is facing. You are also to give the President an action plan for American diplomatic and military policy for the next six months. Your president is depending on you, so write a comprehensive report and give him your best opinions.

This question has several parts. First, you should do some research about the state of Russia, England, Japan, Germany, and Italy during 1941. For example, the Soviets had signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany in 1939, but in June of 1941, the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, violating this pact. England was undergoing bombing by the Nazi Luftwaffe, which was referred to as the Blitz. The bombing resulted in wide-scale destruction and many civilian deaths. In 1940, Japan, Italy, and Germany signed the Tripartite Pact, forming an alliance known as the Axis Powers. The Nazis had, thus far, encountered very little resistance in taking over Europe, and the Japanese had invaded Manchuria (in China) in 1931. Italy began to intervene in the European war in 1940.
Your action plan for President Franklin D. Roosevelt must address the strong sentiment in the United States for nonintervention in the war. You must decide what will be the worst threats to the United States and its neutrality. For example, do you think it is likely that a German U-boat will attack American shipping interests, or do you think that the Japanese are likely to invade part of the United States (as they did in December of 1941 at Pearl Harbor)? Do you think it is best to arm the British to resist Nazi invasion or to get involved in the war directly in Europe? If you think it is best to involve American troops, how will you convince the American people of the advantages of joining the Allies? These should all be elements of your plan.