The thesis reviews and assesses the role and impact of the United Nations (UN) in the fight against the recent wave of international terrorism, understood as global jihadism, with a view to developing an understanding and awareness of the Organization&#039 / s relevance and distinct position in the global counter-terrorism campaign, while at the same time, providing insight as to how to best combat the phenomenon, through an analysis of the threat posed by al-Qaida and weighing the threat against the real and potential capabilities available at the disposal of the world body. The analysis reveals that while considerable progress has been made with respect to diminishing the organizational and operational capabilities of al-Qaida through the collective mobilization of hard or &lsquo / protective&rsquo / policy instruments in the wake of 9/11, progress has been fairly unsatisfactory in addressing the softer or &lsquo / preventive&rsquo / aspects of counter-terrorism aimed at reducing the conditions conducive to terrorism. Furthermore, while the UN offers unique capabilities in the fields of technical assistance provision and cooperation and coherence building, its efforts are severely undermined by the lack of consensus and commitment on the part of the UN member states, and to a lesser extent, by its own organizational shortcomings. Overall, the analysis of policy responses of the UN and the international community in the context of terrorism is expected to bring perspective to the future of the world organization and its evolution to assume a potentially more proactive and preventive role in dealing with the most pressing and interconnected threats to international peace and security in the early 21st century, one of which is the global jihadist movement.

This thesis is concerned with political psychology as an academic field with regard to the explanatory power of political psychology accounts in understanding the al-Qaeda network. Understanding al-Qaeda as a network of cells dispersed worldwide and in cooperation with local militant Islamist groups requires analysis at individual and group level, a multidisciplinary and multimethod research and focus on context and process. In this sense, political psychology accounts appear to have explanatory power to understand the al-Qaeda network, utilizing the defining characteristics of the field. Analyzing al-Qaeda through the lenses of political psychology, it can be concluded that psychoanalytically based approaches may not be very relevant to approach al-Qaeda. In this regard, this thesis promotes the study of the al-Qaeda network by concentrating on the group level of analysis. In this context, sociological accounts, social psychological framework of moral disengagement mechanisms, developmental psychology approach of social learning theory and large group in its own right provide us with powerful frameworks to study the causes, process and effects of al-Qaeda&rsquo / s terrorist activities.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the changing characteristics of the regional security complex in Central Asia. The thesis focuses on the changes in the roles that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) plays in promoting regional security in Central Asia, especially since the formation of the international coalition against international terrorism in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. Contrary to the mainstream literature that focuses mainly on the security concerns of either regional powers or of great powers that considered this region as their own sphere of influence, this thesis argues that Central Asia&rsquo / s security issues that emerged in the aftermath of 9/11 could be explained better by taking the emerging regional security complex in Central Asia as the main unit of analysis. The thesis consists of seven chapters: In Chapter 1, thesis is introduced. Chapter 2 develops a conceptual framework for the thesis by examining the nature of regional security complex theory. This is followed by the examination of the characteristics of regional security complex in Central Asia in Chapter 3. Next, Chapter 4 discusses the foreign policies of the United States, Russia and China towards Central Asia. Chapters 5 and 6 examine the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, its role in the struggle against international terrorism and their reflections on the changes of the characteristics of Central Asian regional security complex. Last chapter concludes the thesis.

After the Soviet dissolution, the newly independent post-Soviet state of Azerbaijan intensified its efforts at developing its relations with the United States. Based on the analysis of the Azerbaijan&ndash / U.S. relations between1991-2006, the thesis tries to answer which factors could account for the existing political problems between these countries, given that both countries have a common interest in deepening their cooperation concerning the Caspian energy resources as well as the fight against international terrorism. This thesis argues that although both countries have many interests in common, they are unable to deepen their level of cooperation because of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem which, since it breaches the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, is that state&rsquo / s main priority. The thesis has four main chapters: after a general overview of the evolution of Azerbaijan&rsquo / s foreign policy in the post-Soviet era and the U.S. policies towards the Caucasus, I examine Azerbaijan&rsquo / s cooperation with the U.S. in the field of energy, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in Azerbaijan&rsquo / s relations with the U.S., and Azerbaijan&rsquo / s cooperation with the U.S. in the fight against international terrorism. In this thesis I focus on these three interests of Azerbaijan in its relations with the U.S. because in analyzing this country&rsquo / s foreign policy these are vital issues that include economic development, territorial integrity and its global political role concerning security.

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