This dissertation aims to examine The Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, the largest mechanism in the history of international arbitration, located in The Hague. The central thesis considered is the unique nature of the Tribunal as embodying elements of both conflict and cooperation at a time of considerable and ongoing hostility between Iran and the United States over various issues. Iran and America, following World War II, set up a unique relationship. This close cooperation resulted in antagonism after the Islamic Revolution in 1979; the American diplomats were taken hostage, and a number of multi-billion dollar contracts and transactions were terminated. Several avenues were sought to resolve the problem. Finally, the Algerian government stepped in as an intermediary to resolve the issue. Iran and the United States agreed to establish the Tribunal in 1981. The level of confrontation between Tehran and Washington was so strong that the Tribunal suspended its operation for months. The Tribunal not only managed to survive, but it also made it possible; as a safe haven, as a legitimate forum and as a joint embassy for the parties, to extend their day-to-day cooperation for almost thirty years. How and under what conditions have Iran and America, labelled by each other as the "Axis of Evil" and the "Great Satan" been able to cooperate in the absence of diplomatic relations? How do the Agents of an allegedly "World-devouring America" and the "Terrorist sponsoring Iran" meet face to face in an institution which itself is the product of severe enmity? All such questions could be answered by the unique nature of the Tribunal: its decisions are based upon "political exigency" and cultural expediency "rather than legal foundations." Two simultaneous forces of conflict and cooperation have been in process: at a time when the American navy was raiding the Iranian oil platform in the Persian Gulf, a big case amounting to billions of dollars was being negotiated at the Tribunal forum through an out-of court settlement process. At the time when this dissertation is produced, the same contending forces of discord and collaboration are in operation: on the one hand there exists Iran-US nuclear standoff on the international level, and on the other hand certain multi-billion dollar oil and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) are decided at the Tribunal. The Tribunal premises have been used as a forum for "deliberation" on major legal and political disputes. It has been both praised and blackballed. At one extreme, it has been regarded as "a gold mine of information" and at the other extreme its rulings are not considered to be applicable in other financial disputes because of the "political compromise within the Tribunal." Iran and America have found it necessary, under the condition of uncertainty, to make concessions to ensure the integrity of the Tribunal and the latter in turn has equipped itself with a proper strategy of survival by establishing its own rules and procedures. Around four thousand cases have been brought before the Tribunal, with each case involving various conflicts of interest. In all of those issues, the forces of cooperation have prevailed. By resolving those cases, the Tribunal has achieved its fundamental objectives: conflict resolution by peaceful means. The Tribunal will cease to exist only when Iran and America open diplomatic relations.

When remembering violence in their collective past, Cypriot individual and collective perspectives are often based on a representation of violence. Popular thinking within communities and rhetoric of elites can intertwine and conflict. Individuals may in fact remember privately events that do not fit easily within the nationalist narratives forwarded by the community leaderships. In the case of Cyprus and other violent events of the past, we are often not discussing violence at all but the memories of respondents. Research has been conducted on the community memories but not necessarily on the 1963-4 period of inter-communal violence and the international intervention/invasion of 1974. Nor has research assessed the effect such memories have on the reconciliation of communities in the present. Through questionnaires and interviews, this research examines the response of Cypriots regarding political relations and attitudes and how these were perceived to have been affected by violence. This thesis argues that there appear to be two types of violent memories; one that may create divisions between communities, while another may encourage a sense of collective victimhood. Through recollection and transmission, such memories could drive communities apart or together, intentionally or otherwise. Often reconciliation needs to take place before a political solution can be found, although these processes exist in tandem. This thesis illustrates that these foundations may have been laid for reconciliation between Cypriot communities at the grass-roots, which would need to be built upon. For this to result in reconciliation, Cypriot elites need to change their policies in a number of areas for this groundwork to constitute a sound progression towards a sustainable solution.

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Biologists have taken the concept of organism largely for granted. However, advances in the study of chimerism, symbiosis, bacterial-eukaryote associations, and microbial behavior have prompted a redefinition of organisms as biological entities exhibiting low conflict and high cooperation among their parts. This expanded view identifies organisms in evolutionary time. However, the ecological processes, mechanisms, and traits that drive the formation of organisms remain poorly understood. Recognizing that organismality can be context dependent, we advocate elucidating the ecological contexts under which entities do or do not act as organisms. Here we develop a "contextual organismality" framework and provide examples of entities, such as honey bee colonies, tumors, and bacterial swarms, that can act as organisms under specific life history, resource, or other ecological circumstances. We suggest that context dependence may be a stepping stone to the development of increased organismal unification, as the most integrated biological entities generally show little context dependence. Recognizing that organismality is contextual can identify common patterns and testable hypotheses across different entities. The contextual organismality framework can illuminate timeless as well as pressing issues in biology, including topics as disparate as cancer emergence, genomic conflict, evolution of symbiosis, and the role of the microbiota in impacting host phenotype.

This paper explores ways in which civil conflict can be simulated using numerical methods. A general two-party model of conflict is developed by extending an approach proposed by [Christia, F., (2012), Alliance Formation in Civil Wars, Cambridge University Press, New York], which is based on a metric of the 'relative power' that exists between the state and a rebel group. Various definitions of relative power are considered and one of these is chosen to illustrate different types of two-sided armed conflict, namely direct-fire, guerrilla and asymmetric warfare. The additional suggestion of Christia that random or stochastic events can lead to unexpected conflict outcomes is also further extended in this paper. The inclusion in the model of terms describing concurrent rebel recruitment of civilians and state deployment of troops are then described. Examples are presented for various hypothetical cases. It is demonstrated that numerical simulation techniques have great potential for modelling civil war. The Christia approach is shown to provide an excellent basis from which numerical models of civil conflict can be built and from which the progress of a conflict can usefully be visualised graphically.

This thesis examines the recent exponential growth in trade between India and Pakistan which has occurred despite the persistence of heated tension and conflict. It will underscore my research on the factors behind this marked increase, and analyze the transformative effects of domestic actors such as political leaders and business communities in creating new constituencies for peace between the two nations. This thesis makes an important contribution to international relations literature, specifically to existing research in the field of international political economy. Economic interdependence and security have not been analyzed concurrently in the context of the India-Pakistan relationship. In analyzing these issues together, this thesis will highlight the role of domestic political considerations and third parties in facilitating conditions for dialogue even in times of conflict.

Chapter I includes a description of the Chartist Movement and discusses the criteria found in John W. Bowers and Donovan J. Och's Rhetoric of Agitation and Control that were used to analyze the agitation and control groups of the movement. Chapter II describes the ideologies of both groups. Chapter III analyzes the rhetorical strategies of the agitation group: petition, solidification, promulgation, polarization, non-violent resistance, and confrontation-escalation, and the strategies of the control group: avoidance and suppression. Chapter IV concludes that Chartist agitators effectively used rhetorical strategies; however, the control strategy of suppression was stronger and brought about the demise of Chartism.

Children are particularly vulnerable individuals and therefore, they have particular rights under international law that recognize their special need for protection. Armed conflicts constitute the biggest threat to them. I have chosen this topic for admiring the strength of children affected by armed conflicts to face all the problems brought by armed conflicts. On the other hand, children are indispensable in reconciliation and reconstruction of society. The aim of the thesis is to describe and analyze the protection provided by law to the children affected by armed conflicts and the application of those provisions. Chapter One deals with these questions. Chapter Two is introductory and is subdivided into five parts. Part One describes the relation between international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law and their applicability. Part Two deals with the absence of universally applicable definition of "armed conflict" and the applicability of legal instruments. Part Three briefly introduces basic ideas of protection of children in armed conflicts. Part Four defines the term "child" and explains possible problems of universally accepted definition. Part Five analyzes contemporary armed conflicts and the impact on children, whether they participate (directly or indirectly) in...

The diploma thesis is concerned with the protection of journalists in armed conflicts. From my point of view this topic is relevant in connection with the recent war in Iraq and many other conflicts of local character. Many professionals in the world deal with this issue but in our country almost nobody opens it, with a few exceptions. The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive overview of the protection of journalists in armed conflicts - it means the applicable legislation and also proposals of new regulation. The main question is whether applicable law is adequate to provide an appropriate protection for journalists and news media personnel in armed conflicts. I suggest a new convention, which contains a special status for journalists and determines a protective emblem for them, should be adopted and in this thesis This thesis is composed of thirteen chapters which are subsequently divided into subchapters. It consists of two main parts. The first one focuses on applicable rules - especially Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. The beginning of this part is concerned with the interpretation of the term "journalist" and then briefly describes a history of the protection of journalists in armed conflicts. These two chapters are followed by the third one, which...