Dans de multiples domaines, un nombre grandissant d'applications interagissant avec des entités ommunicantes apparaissent dans l'environnement pour faciliter les activités quotidiennes (domotique et télémédecine). Leur impact sur la vie de tous les jours des utilisateurs rend ces applications critiques: leur défaillance peut mettre en danger des personnes et leurs biens. Bien que l'impact de ces défaillances puisse être majeur, la sécurité est souvent considérée comme un problème secondaire dans le processus de développement et est traitée par des approches ad hoc. Cette thèse propose d'intégrer des aspects de sécurité dans le cycle de développement des systèmes d'informatique ubiquitaire. La sécurité est spécifiée à la conception grâce à des déclarations dédiées et de haut niveau. Ces déclarations sont utilisées pour générer un support de programmation afin de faciliter l'implémentation des mécanismes de sécurité, tout en séparant ces aspects de sécurité de la logique applicative. Notre approche se concentre sur le contrôle d'accès aux entités et la protection de la vie privée. Notre travail a été implémenté et fait levier sur une suite outillée existante couvrant le cycle de développement logiciel.

Interstate arbitration is commonly viewed as an essentially judicial process, suitable for the resolution of legal questions but inappropriate to deal with “political” issues. This conception, however, arguably flies in the face of both the origins and historical function of interstate arbitration and the complex legal-political nature of most interstate disputes. This paper offers an alternative account of interstate arbitration, which views it as a sui generis hybrid mechanism that combines “legal” and “diplomatic” dimensions to effectively resolve all aspects of interstate disputes. The paper examines this proposed account by analyzing four complex interstate territorial disputes that were submitted to arbitration and assessing the extent to which these two dimensions were recognized and employed, and how this may have affected the resolution of the disputes. Based on this analysis, the paper offers a two-dimensional operative framework intended to guide states and arbitrators in the resolution of future complex interstate disputes.

This research examines faith-based mediators and their usage of mediation strategies, in relation to durability of peace agreements and it is guided by the following research question; Why do some faith-based mediators succeed to aid the creation of durable peace, while others do not? In order to find an answer to this question a hypothesis, suggesting that faith-based mediators applying the fostering, rather than the forcing, strategy will be more successful, is tested. This hypothesis mirrors the causal logic, suggesting that faith-based mediators have the potential to contribute to the creation of durable peace agreements, through the usage of facilitative and formulative techniques. The methodological design makes use of tools provided by Mills Method of Difference and Structured Focused Comparison. These tools aid the analysis of faith-based mediation in Uganda and Sierra Leone. The findings indicate that the application of the fostering strategy has a positive effect in relation to the process of creating durable peace agreements. However, this positive effect comes with one condition, the faith-based mediators have to be influential in relation to the peace process.

A typology of marital dyads derived from Kelly's (1955) Personal Construct Psychology was used to investigate the communicative behaviors of married companions. Four groups based on Kelly's Commonality (dyadic similarity) and Sociality (dyadic understanding) corollaries were contrasted: similar-understanding, dissimilar-understanding, similar-misunderstanding, and dissimilar-misunderstanding couples. It was expected that dyadic understanding would contribute more to self-disclosure, cooperative involvement, and marital satisfaction than dyadic similarity. Furthermore, it was anticipated that couples high in understanding and low in similarity would represent optimally functioning couples, as evidenced by disclosure, satisfaction, and involvement with each other. Sixty-three married couples who had known each other at least two years completed questionnaire items assessing demographic variables, marital satisfaction (Dyadic Adjustment Scale) and self-reported communication behaviors (Partner Communication Inventory, Dyadic Disclosure Inventory). Each spouse also completed an 8 X 8 Repertory Grid and predicted the mate's responses on the Rep Grid. Subjects then participated in three different audio-taped discussion tasks (an informal conversation, a consensus decision-making task, and a role-played conflict-resolution scene) which were rated for avoidant, competitive, and cooperative responses, as well as overall self-disclosure. Although understanding facilitated disclosure in conflict situations and similarity fostered marital satisfaction, communicative behaviors generally reflected the joint influence of both similarity and understanding. Dissimilar-understanding couples were intensely involved with each other and freely disclosed, but were not highly satisfied. Similar-understanding couples were the most content and had the greatest sense of validation as a couple. Similar-misunderstanding couples restricted their relationship by attempting to avoid expected confrontations. Dissimilar-misunderstanding couples viewed themselves in a socially desirable light, tried to maintain congenial, nonintimate interactions, and were moderately contented. Implications for therapeutic programs, for Kelly's theory, and for future research were discussed.

Declarative process models define the behaviour of business processes as a set of constraints. Declarative process discovery aims at inferring such constraints from event logs. Existing discovery techniques verify the satisfaction of candidate constraints over the log, but completely neglect their interactions. As a result, the inferred constraints can be mutually contradicting and their interplay may lead to an inconsistent process model that does not accept any trace. In such a case, the output turns out to be unusable for enactment, simulation or verification purposes. In addition, the discovered model contains, in general, redundancies that are due to complex interactions of several constraints and that cannot be cured using existing pruning approaches. We address these problems by proposing a technique that automatically resolves conflicts within the discovered models and is more powerful than existing pruning techniques to eliminate redundancies. First, we formally define the problems of constraint redundancy and conflict resolution. Second, we introduce techniques based on the notion of automata-product monoid, which guarantees the consistency of the discovered models and, at the same time, keeps the most interesting constraints in the pruned set. The level of interestingness is dictated by user-specified prioritisation criteria. We evaluate the devised techniques on a set of real-world event logs.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Laurence A. Clement / Research suggests that Native Americans, Chicanos, and African Americans are groups underrepresented in the North American memorial landscape. The fluid nature of a group and individual’s identity (and the memory that shapes it) contributes to the underrepresentation in commemoration and memorials. As communities and the associated identities continue to blend and overlap moments of positive cultural exchange can take place, but at times the outcomes are in the realm of contention and conflict. The collaborative nature of landscape architecture together with the profession’s ability to understand and interpret complex systems and narratives can fully engage and bring form to the morally imaginative, creative act of peacebuilding. The concept of shifting and variant meaning led to this study that considered the question- How might memorials be designed as reconciliatory agents in cultural landscapes with conflicting histories? This study engaged the concept of memory and identity with Oglala Lakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, regarding the tragedy of Wounded Knee, through adapted ethnographic approaches in interviewing, site visits, extensive literature review, mapping and design inquiry. The design inquiry responds to social, economic, and ecological narratives to inform the design of the reconciliatory-minded memorial. The initial premise of the project was situated in the understanding that events with contested meaning are difficult to memorialize because there are so many differing voices; irreconcilable in the built form. While that is true in some contexts, initial findings suggests these groups are underrepresented because it is difficult to memorialize that which is a contemporary social justice or inter-demographic issue. In light of this and further research, the author believes that memorials seeking to honor demographics or events that directly affect contemporary groups might be contextually more appropriate, and act as mediators, if they focus forward rather than solely and solemnly reflect the past. Conceptual sketches conclude this study, offering possibilities for design expression, which might be realized with community participation.

The thesis pinpoints the responsibility of external powers in the tragic course of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as their influence on the policy making its leaders, from 1997 to 2001. It points out that, given the country’s geostrategic position in the heart of Africa and its immense natural resources, foreign governments play the preeminent role in the shaping of its destiny, particularly during the abovementioned five-year period marked by the two Congo Wars. This role had been blunt in the demise of Mobutu’s 32 year-long reckless, kleptocratic regime, as a consequence of the shift, by the United States of America aiming to safeguard its hegemonic interests in Central Africa, of the strategically pivotal pawn from Zaire to Uganda in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War. Thus, craving a great influence in the continent and sponsored by multinational companies from North America, Belgium, Australia and South Africa, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, along with his ex-subordinate Rwandan Deputy President Paul Kagame, patronized in October 1996 the Alliance of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), a Congolese rebel group led by Laurent Kabila and committed to oust Field Marshal Mobutu who bit the dust on 17 May 1997. The superseding AFDL reign will be mainly featured by the takeover of key positions of the state authority by Rwandans and Ugandans (keeping President Kabila in the thrall of his two eastern mentors), the throttling of the democratic process, the conditioning by major powers of any funding of Kinshasa’s triennial development programme to the Kabila regime’s observance of democracy, human rights and a UN investigation of the mass killing of Hutu Rwandese refugees on the DRC’s soil. That international community’s stance infuriated the Congolese leader who reconsidered all mining contracts signed with multinationals, developing anti-West discourse, promoted South-South cooperation, and expressed Rwandans and Ugandans from the Congo. The Western-backed Rwanda and Uganda bounced back by undertaking a military toppling of Laurent Kabila; but they reaped a fiasco because of three factors: intervention of Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad and Sudan siding with Kinshasa; dissention within the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD); and tension between Kigali and Kampala that initiated the creation of a new rebel group: the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC). The stalemate brought about by this situation and the involvement of the UN, the OAU, the SADC, the US, France and Belgium compelled the warring parties to conclude the Lusaka Agreement, setting up a roadmap for the war end, the inter-Congolese dialogue, a new transitional government, and an electoral process toward the democratic rebirth in the DRC. However, the Lusaka Agreement will be implemented thanks to the rise of Major General Joseph Kabila, after the assassination of his phantasmagoric father Laurent Kabila, paving the way to the Third Republic.

This thesis explores the perceptions of Palestinian university students on topics of peace with Israel and armed or violent conflict engagement strategies. By relying on Frame Analysis literature, this research describes how respondents currently frame these issues and what has influenced the formation of these frames. Using data gathered over a period of three months through a survey and focus group interviews, I identify four dominant frames of peace expressed by respondents. Data were collected from 260 survey respondents and 160 interviewees. I use the data to show different levels of desire for peace with Israel and support for armed conflict engagement based on the way that individuals defined peace. Respondents were pessimistic about peace with Israel and supportive of violent engagement with Israel. Participants who defined peace negatively expressed these sentiments more frequently. Interviewees expressed several grievances against Israeli policies that influence their opinions on peace and violence.

RESUMO O objetivo do presente estudo é verificar questões relacionadas à solução de conflitos no setor de telecomunicações no período pós-privatização, analisando de forma detalhada um conflito ocorrido entre a Embratel e a Telefônica, com base nos conceitos de negociação, concorrência e solução de conflitos. Inicialmente são apresentados conceitos sobre a forma de organização do Estado e a tendência mundial de flexibilização de monopólios, culminando com a privatização de setores essenciais da economia, como o de telecomunicações; a criação de uma agência nacional para regular o setor e garantir o modelo de competição e universalização; concorrência e competitividade; e as formas de solução de conflitos, com destaque para o setor de telecomunicações no Brasil. Para o estudo de caso, são coletadas informações em fontes secundárias e são realizadas entrevistas na Telefônica e na ANATEL e contato com pessoa indicada pelo CADE. Com os dados coletados é possível analisar o conflito ocorrido após o cumprimento antecipado de metas da Telefônica, o que possibilitou a essa empresa atuar na Região de concessão da Embratel, e a posição dos agentes envolvidos sobre o contexto atual do setor privatizado. / ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to verify some issues related to conflict resolution in the telecommunications sector on the period after the privatization, analyzing in a minucious way a conflict occurred between Embratel and Telefonica, based on the concepts of negotiation, competitivity and conflict resolution. First of all some concepts about the organization of the State and the world tendency of monopoly flexibilization, including the economy essential sectors privatization; the creation of a national agency to rule the sector and assure the eficiency of a competion and universalization model; competitivity; and the conflict resolution forms, specially for the telecommunications sector, are presented. For the study case, informations are taken from secondary sources and interviews at Telefonica and ANATEL, as well as a contact with a lawyer indicated by CADE, are made. With the joint of all the information, it is possible to analyze the conflict ocurred after the early achievement of the goals set when the privatization took place, by Telefonica, what made this company able to offer different services in the area first set for Embratel, and also analyze the position of the agents related to the conflict and their opinion about the actual context of the telecommunications sector.

The need for intergroup reconciliation programmes emerges within the prevailing narrative of cultural conflict. However, failing attempts to resolve conflict at the macro (political) level of society have called for a unique approach that seeks to address these issues creatively at the first point of contact. Therefore, the last twenty years have seen a proliferation of non-profit group workshops and interventions aimed at engaging groups in a diversity of dialogue. To date there have been very few of these interventions that have addressed conflict therapeutically at the micro level of society– at which communities interact directly with another. The aim of this research was to conduct an explorative mixed method study into how an intergroup encounter intervention between Palestinians and Israelis could encourage participants to understand each other as human beings with shared fears, hopes and rights that may surpass assumptions of the other as ‘the enemy’, thereby encouraging participants to ‘give the other a human face’. Conducted with a mixed group of twenty-eight participants, a pre-to-post survey measure analysed behavioural change, while a six-month follow-up interview with four participants explored the impact of participating in the acquaintance seminar on participants lived experiences. Final analysis indicated that while there was a trend towards behavioural change, the outcome was statistically non-significant. Meanwhile interpretive phenomenological analysis produced five key master themes that highlighted the impact of change and the contextual challenges of living with conflict. Managing new relationships and cultural barriers highlighted the key contextual challenges that participants were faced with. This highlights a need for investing resources and training into group conflict programmes that are promoted by key counselling psychology principles of practice. Overall, working with conflict is considered a relevant and unique opportunity for counselling psychologists and group facilitators, most of whom have no formal training or resources for working with conflict resolution in minority groups.