This thesis investigates the two major problems of poverty and corruption in post-Soviet Russia, by comparing Boris Yeltsin&rsquo / s and Vladimir Putin&rsquo / s terms of office. In order to do that, political and economic circumstances during these two presidents&rsquo / eras, the reasons of these two problems, and the consequences of certain policies adapted by these two presidents are focused on. The main argument of the thesis is to analyze interactively the certain conditions of poverty and corruption in the Russian Federation under the presidencies of both Yeltsin and Putin.

This thesis seeks to examine the internal and external migration trends in the Russian Federation. The thesis also examines the internal migration trends in the Soviet Union as well as Soviet emigration and migration policies. The thesis focuses mainly on the migration policy of the Russian Federation. The main argument of the thesis is that although ethnic dynamics, armed conflicts and nationalist clashes play important roles in Russia&rsquo / s migration trends, the main force of Russia&rsquo / s internal and external migration trends are economic. The thesis has four main chapters. After the introduction the first chapter examines migration in the Soviet Union. The second chapter explores migration policy of Russia. The third chapter deals with internal migration in the Russian Federation. The last main chapter discusses external migration in the Russian Federation.

This thesis seeks to examine the &lsquo / parties of power&rsquo / in the Russian Federation between 1991 and 2008. The thesis also discusses the political party system and political party development in post-Soviet Russia. The thesis focuses mainly on the United Russia party and compares it with the former &lsquo / parties of power&rsquo / in the Russian Federation. The main argument of the thesis is that as compared to the previous &lsquo / parties of power&rsquo / , which were affiliated mainly with the prime ministers without achieving party consolidation, the United Russia party has been successful in consolidating its party development and achieved a central status in the Russian political system. The thesis has seven chapters. The introductory first chapter is followed by the second chapter that examines &lsquo / parties of power&rsquo / in post-Soviet Russia, along with the political party system and the stages of political party development in the Russian Federation. The third chapter explores Russia&rsquo / s Choice party. The fourth chapter deals with Our Home Is Russia party. The fifth chapter focuses on the United Russia party. The sixth chapter discusses the new role of the United Russia in Russian political system after 2007 State Duma elections. The last chapter is the conclusion of the thesis.

This thesis aims to study the relations between Turkey and Russia in the post-Soviet era by focusing on the nature of economic interdependence between these countries. Focusing on the energy, trade, tourism and investment sectors, the thesis evaluates the interaction between the political and economic factors in the relations between Turkey and the Russian Federation. Contrary to the general view which claims that the historically conflictual relations between these two countries have been replaced by more cooperative economic and political relations, the thesis argues that these relations are characterized by both cooperation and conflict due to the complex nature of their interdependence. In this sense, there is always a potential for tensions in these relations due to the strategic role of economic relations between Turkey and Russia. Following the introduction chapter, the second chapter examines the historical background of Turkish-Russian relations until the end of the Soviet era in 1991. The third and fourth chapters analyze the Yeltsin and Putin periods in Turkish-Russian relations by exploring the limits of economic interdependence in four main sectors of economic transaction / trade, energy, investment and tourism. The last chapter is the conclusion.

This thesis puts forth a process for ontology driven distributed simulation through a case study. Ontology is regarded as a domain model, including objects, attributes, methods and object relations. The case study involves trajectory simulation. A trajectory simulation is a piece of software that calculates the flight path and other parameters of a munition, such as its orientation and angular rates, from launch to impact. Formal specification of trajectory simulation domain is available as a domain model in the form of an ontology, called Trajectory Simulation ONTology (TSONT). Ontology driven federation development process proposed in this thesis is executed in three steps. The first step is to analyze the TSONT and to create instances of individuals guided by the requirements of the targeted simulation application, called Puma Trajectory Simulation. Puma is the simulation of a ficticious air-to-ground guided bomb. The second step is to create the High Level Architecture(HLA) Federation Object Model (FOM) using Puma Simulation individuals. FOM will include the required object and interaction definitions to enable information exchange among federation members, including the Puma federate and the Exercise Manager federate. Transformation from the ontology to FOM is realized in two ways: manually, and by using a tool called OWL2OMT. The third step is to implement the Trajectory Simulation federation based on the constructed FOM. Thus, the applicability of developing HLA federates and the federation under the guidance of ontology is demonstrated.

The thesis seeks to chart the foundation and transformation of NATO-Russia relations from Yeltsin to Putin and Medvedev. It attempts to potray the continuity and change in the Russian Foreign Policy towards NATO in the light of the main international developments such as the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Bosnian war and the Kosovo conflict / as well as the internal transformation of the Alliance marked by the extension of the traditional NATO roles and the expansion policy. The thesis tries to depict the new initiatives in the Russian Foreign policy aimed at undermining NATO and US&rsquo / roles in Europe by attempting to establish an alternative European architecture to a NATO-centric one. It is argued that while Yeltsin promoted multilateralism based on the world led by the USA and the Russian Federation on a par, Putin and Medvedev&rsquo / s multilateralism was to undermine the American world hegemony and consolidate relations with Europe.

Global energy trade is one of the most important topics of international relations. This thesis analyzes the European Union (EU)-Russian Federation (RF) energy trade relationship (1991-2008) within an international regime theory perspective. Main hypothesis of the dissertation is that the EU-RF energy trade relationship is an example of partial international regime based on the totality of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), Partnership and Cooperation Treaty (PCA) and the Energy Dialogue. This hypothesis is built on the independent variables (the transformation of the EU&lsquo / s energy policy towards supranationalism / convergence of the energy policy and the foreign policy of the EU / the transformation of the RF&lsquo / s energy policy towards pragmatic statism / convergence of the energy policy and the foreign policy of the RF), intervening variable (EU-RF energy interdependence in natural gas and oil trade) and the dependent variable (international regime formation between the EU and the RF in energy trade). There are also four complementary hypotheses: EU&lsquo / s energy policy has transformed towards supranationalism (hypothesis 2) / energy policy and foreign policy of the EU have practically and officially approached towards each other (hypothesis 3) / RF&lsquo / s energy policy has transformed towards pragmatic statism (hypothesis 4) / energy policy and foreign policy of the RF have practically and officially approached towards each other (hypothesis 5). Original contribution of this dissertation to the relevant literature is its detailed application of the regime theory to the EU-RF relationship which finds that this relationship is a case of partial regime formation.

Originally presented as the author's thesis--Universität Osnabrück, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 386-395). Available for download from the Universität Bamberg Elektronische Hochschulschriften.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1982.