Since the European Council in Lisbon, the use of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) and OMC-type processes have become widespread across policy areas of the European Union, and also spilled over to non-governmental actors. This PhD thesis will compare and contrast two examples of OMC-like governance in the field of Education and Training which so far have been under-researched, namely the Open Method of Coordination in E&T and the Framework of Actions on the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications by the European social partners. In order to explain the creation, functioning and impact of these forms of governance, different European integration theories are tested on how they explain the results. It is expected that different theoretical approaches can explain certain aspects better than others. To fully understand all of these aspects of OMC-type governance, the combined use of rationalist and constructivist approaches is promoted. The results will show that OMC-type governance is a third way between intergovernmental and supranational policy-making and significantly contributed to the deepening of E&T policy at EU level, while at the same time guaranteeing national sovereignty, leading to a new form of integration. This thesis argues that OMC-like tools are able to serve diverse interests with respect to speed and nature of European integration. By being soft and flexible policy-tools, OMC-like tools are ideal for sensitive policy areas with very diverse national situations and represent rather a complementary form of policy-making than an alternative to the Community Method. Consequently, European integration theories need to adapt to the possibility of EU policy-making methods that are neither purely intergovernmental nor fully supranational and lead to new types of integration. OMC-like tools also illustrate the need to return to the ambition of grand theories i.e. explaining the whole picture, without relying only on one theory but rather using various approaches in a complementary fashion.

The end of the Cold war has brought with it the emergence of the new international security environment. State actors can no longer calculate their national interests as they did it before. Thus, it seems sensible to explore the question of how security is being organised in the post-Cold War era. In addition to a significant change in the structure of the international system, a new security concern has emerged. That is, as a result of the termination of two superpowers rivalry between the US and the former USSR, there has been an important change in global nuclear proliferation arena. For example, nuclear proliferation challenge which comes from „suspect states‟ such as Libya and North Korea has become a key issue in relation to nuclear proliferation. The North Korean nuclear crisis has gone through very different historical phases between 2001 and 2008. The first phase of the North Korean nuclear crisis saw the bilateral confrontation between the US and North Korea. The second phase demonstrated the multilateralisation of the North Korean nuclear issue through China‟s proactive engagement in the nuclear issue. The third phase could be distinguished by the United Nations‟ involvement in dealing with the North Korean case. Each phase of the North Korean nuclear crisis has revealed its unique characteristics regarding the notion of international security. Each phase has seen the operation of different security models: the first phase can be interpreted from the perspective of a hegemonic power structure; the second phase might be understood as the operation of a concert of powers; the third phase can be relevant to the notion of collective security. To sum up, the North Korean case can be regarded as a good example which describes how security is being organised in the post-Cold War era. In conclusion, it seems difficult to consider that security in the post Cold War era can be organised through a single way. Rather, it seems reasonable to take into account the mixture of divergent security models when managing security issues in the post-Cold War era.

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This thesis analyses critically the hypothesis that Private Military Companies (PMCs) are a viable option for direct involvement in UN peacekeeping missions in African states. The involvement of PMCs in the affairs of states is a controversial and divisive issue, but since the end of the Cold War, they have become increasingly involved in the security structures of African states, and in post-conflict reform of such structures. They have also become involved in tasks related to commercial activities central to the political economies of African states. Indeed, Africa was the theatre in which PMCs evolved from an opportunist phenomenon that emerged in response to rapid change in the security situation, to become part of the emerging post-Cold War political economy. In the 1990s, PMCs undertook operations in Angola and Sierra Leone that brought about situations where warring factions were compelled to negotiate settlements. While the response of the international community was predominantly one of condemnation of their involvement, others pointed out that operations conducted by PMCs had been remarkably swift and inexpensive in bringing violent conflict to an end, in contrast to those conducted by the UN in African states. PMCs’ involvement in peacekeeping operations is becoming increasingly relevant; they have been involved in every major UN peacekeeping mission since 1990, and have carried out tasks spanning a wide range of UN functions. In 1995, Christopher Bellamy speculated that the UN might augment their numbers with private soldiers. While this was dismissed at the time, it is a concept that continues to resurface when the UN has difficulty finding sufficient adequately trained troops for its peacekeeping missions. This thesis investigates the hypothesis that PMCs are a viable option, in practical, political, legal, economic and moral terms, for involvement in such missions.

Space power, unlike land, sea, and air power, lacks a coherent strategic theory with which its nature and character as a form of military power can be understood. Many attempts at developing such a theory use what this thesis calls strategic analogies, from established sea and air power theory in the belief that if one or more points in sea/air power find a match in space power then other points of similarity can therefore be extrapolated. The result of this process ofreasoning by strategic analogy is that sea .' and air power theory are literally applied to space power. This thesis questions the use ofstrategic analogies by developing a methodology that breaks down the process of reasoning by analogy into its constituent parts, and using the prism provided by the dimensions of strategy, compares and contrasts sea and air power with what is actually known about space power. The results ofthis process help elucidate the true character of space power as it really is, and foundation elements ofwhat a theory of space power might look like are set out. Thus, the dissertation provides a more rigorous basis from which strategic theorists can leave behind the unsound method of reasoning by strategic analogy and start the process of inductive creativity in theory making for space power.

This thesis examines the European CommunitylUnion's external human rights policy since 1987. This thesis examines the development of the EC/EU's external human rights policy, especially its different actions towards third countries since the 1987. Although the protection and promotion of human rights has�· become increasingly important on the EC/EU's foreign policy agenda since the end of Cold War, this thesis argues that the EC/EU's policy variation is due to the different compromises among the EC/EU member states. In this thesis, the EC/EU's human rights policy towards two East Asian countries - China and BurmalMyanmar has been analyzed in detail. The human rights records in both countries have been very poor since 1987. There are thousands of cases of human rights abuse in both countries every year. However, the EC/EU's approaches towards these two countries were quite different. The EC/EU adopts more and more positive measures towards China, but adopts more and mor~ negative measures towards BurmalMyanmar. This variation results from varioti~�· preferences ofthe EC/EU member states. And the final policy outcome depends upon the compromise between different member states.