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Sustainable development is a cross-cutting issue par excellence that is thought to require a high level of policy coordination. This is especially true considering that the European Union (EU) has also accepted that its internal policies must support the sustainable development of other countries, particularly developing countries. The EU is increasingly employing new modes of governance to achieve this, in particular network-based policy coordination mechanisms. However, despite a raft of literature on policy networks in the EU, the majority of the empirical work has focused only on sectoral networks. This has led to an ambiguity surrounding the use of networks in governing cross-cutting policy areas, which this thesis attempts to address. Specifically, the assumption that networks are always self-steering is tested. Elite interviews and documentary analysis are used to complete three tasks. First, the general patterns of coordination of the external dimension ofEU sustainable development in three network-based policy coordination mechanisms are examined, namely the Cardiff process, Impact Assessment and Thematic Strategies. Next, three in-depth case studies are presented, namely mercury, sugar and tobacco policy. Then, the observed pattern and level ofcoordination is discussed using an analytical framework which distinguishes two types ofpolicy networks: intra-sector and inter-sector. This thesis arrives at four main findings. First, it confirms that the external dimension has . often been neglected in the EU's implementation of sustainable development. Second, the presence of networks does not necessarily lead to effective coordination. Sector networks can actually inhibit horizontal coordination where as inter-sector networks are needed for the coordination of cross-cutting policy issues. Third, contrary to the assumptions of some authors, inter-sector networks are not always self-steering. Finally, network-based coordination mechanisms are not a sufficient condition for networks to form. It is necessary for effective networks to already be in place if these mechanisms are to function effectively. Consequently, this thesis concludes that, if the EU is to continue to use networks in its approach to governing, it must be prepared to engage in a greater amount of hands-on management of these networks.

This thesis explores ten years of international intervention in criminal justice reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from 1995 to 2005. BiH is taken as an example of a country undergoing multiple transitions following its secession from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: through conflict to peace from authoritarian government to democratic multi party government and from a particular model of a socialist command economy to a more open, market oriented economy. An account is given of the state of three criminal justice sectors (policing, criminal courts, and prisons) as they emerge from a period of authoritarian, socialist government and from a period of violent conflict. Subsequently reform oriented interventions carried out by a range of international actors, including some with executive power within BiH, are examined for evidence of the role of criminal justice reform in state-building exercises and the impact of the demands of state-building objectives upon different criminal justice sectors. The thesis looks at the work of the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the UK Department for International Development, and the Office of the High Representative and its associated bodies in the various sectors where they have been active. The different resources on which they can draw, and their particular working methods, are discussed in an examination of their interaction with the specific local policy context of BiH and its multiple levels and institutions of government. Given the presence of policy actors from around the globe, consideration is given to the question of whether this facilitates policy transfer, legal transplants, or lesson drawing. Potential examples of such borrowing are examined, showing that borrowing in a context of multi-national intervention can allow for the mixing of internationally and domestically derived models of procedure and practice.

This study examines the new terrorism debate and is intended to rethink the root causes of terrorism by examining alternative approaches, in part provided by conflict theory, to the predominant understanding of terrorism provided by what it identifies as orthodox terrorism theory. It presents a critical and discourse analysis approach to explaining and understanding the roots of terrorism and focuses initially on a description and explanation of the existence of orthodox terrorism discourse, clarifying how and why it is constructed, what it is used for and the associated implications it has for understanding terrorism. The study also aims to explore the range of alternative perceptions of terrorism created in terrorism and conflict studies by using international relations theory as frameworks through which to examine different levels of analysis pertaining to terrorism and conflict. The purpose is to develop a multi-level and multi-dimensional framework for rethinking the roots of terrorism based upon the most sophisticated theoretical approaches provided by terrorism and conflict studies. This framework, which also provides a reflexive critique of orthodox terrorism theory, is not intended as a new theory of terrorism but represents an attempt to provide a broader, more comprehensive and holistic approach to the problem of terrorism. In order to test this comprehensive framework for the analysis of terrorism, this study examines the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and discusses how orthodox terrorism theory is employed by Israel. It also demonstrates how Palestinian terrorism can be re-examined through the application of the alternative framework to reveal a considerably more comprehensive, multi-dimensional and multi-level understanding of the root causes of terrorism. The conclusion of this study suggests that rethinking terrorism will provide an increasingly sophisticated understanding of political violence and equip the study of terrorism with more robust analytical tools with which to create a number of potential channels to facilitate resolution of the deep underlying problems that cause terrorism.

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This thesis examines the composition and behaviour of the Palestinian leadership during the peace process, from the Madrid conference in 1991 to the breakdown of Oslo in 1997. Through an historical survey, an assessment of the structure and documents of the peace process, and an analysis of the strategies of the Palestinian leadership, it demonstrates that the invitation to the peace process arrived when the Palestinian leadership in exile outside was at its weakest, simultaneously seeking to further weaken it by restricting participation in the peace talks to Palestinians from the OPT except East Jerusalem. The outside leadership decided to fall back on the strong political support and loyalty of the leadership by appointing a delegation from inside in order to avoid the political danger of exclusion and marginalization. The Palestinian delegation from inside was selected from individuals with credibility and the credentials of struggle, which meant that they were loyal to the inside's main source of power, the Palestinian public in the OPT. Thus the relationship between the inside and outside leaderships was complementary: the inside needed the legitimacy and political access of the outside, and the outside needed the unity and representation of the inside. This mutual opportunism exposed, however, each leadership's differences in structure and priorities, which stemmed from their different realities. Because its priorities and approach prevailed, the outside manipulated the inside delegation to encourage secret but direct talks between the PLO and Israel in Oslo, in parallel with the talks in Washington. The Oslo talks’ lack of structure and terms of reference, the absence of a third party, as well as the missing expertise of the negotiators from the OPT, who had personal knowledge of both the Israelis and the terrain, led to weak Palestinian performance and a weak agreement. This, combined with an unfavourable environment created by Israel's expansion of illegal settlements, the asymmetry of power, and the biased position of the us mediator, led to a flawed implementation of the agreement. Among the unfortunate outcomes was the creation of a Palestinian Authority that was structurally dependent on and compromised by Israel, which thereafter affected the Palestinian leadership's implementation of subsequent agreements. Thus, the thesis concludes that a vicious cycle was created where problematic structure, delegation composition, and the leadership and delegation's behaviour led to poor process,

The aim of this study is to present a new analysis of the perception of Libyan policy-makers towards Arab National Security since the 1969 Revolution. Also this study proves a link between Libyan foreign policy towards African and Arab national security. This perception has resulted in creating an in-depth strategy incorporating Africa. The study focuses on the most crucial aspects that Libya has embraced—on both the Arab and African front—to achieve its goals on the diplomatic, military, economic and political fronts. The principal argument of the study is that Libyan policy embraces a position that Arab National Security can only be preserved through the unification of African states and the comprehensive economic development of continent’s countries to enable them to combat the dangers and threats of major external actors. Thus, Libya relies on historical, cultural, geographic and religious ties that link Arabs and Africans. Libya also relies on the similar circumstances facing African states—be they Arab or non-Arab—from external threats that usually occur from ex-colonialists. Libya believes that most of the external threats to the African continent occur because of the weakness and fragmentation of African states. The research studies Libya’s role in the ten years to 2009 as a crucial regional actor in Africa, Libya’s achieved several positive outcomes in the continent, both economically and politically. In addition, it assesses Libya’s success in gathering African support to end the Western-backed and UN-imposed sanctions on Libya. This study also argues that the African success in ending the sanctions on Libya strengthened the Arab support for Libyan efforts to establish the African Union as a strategic depth for the Arab region. This was evident through the fact that most Arab states in Africa joined the CEN-SAD economic community, which Libya established as a step to increase economic cooperation in the face of global alliances. Furthermore, Arab states immediately joined the African Union which Libya called for in 1999. Libya’s political ambitions towards Africa were portrayed in Libya’s success in transforming the Organisation of African Union into the African Union, which in turn changed foreign states’ perceptions of Libya. Libya became an important player both in Africa and on the global institutional level. This study examines Libya’s ability to be a regional player, it also examines Libya’s ability to transform theoretical goals into tangible realities. This study finds this was achieved principally through Africa’s ability to end Western hegemony—portrayed through the ending of Libyan sanctions—and establishing the African Union. Libya perceives the Union as the most crucial instrument in preserving African and Arab security. This study has shown the linkage between Libyan foreign policy and the issue of Arab national security within the framework of African continent, which makes it an original study in the field.

Russian messianism – the longstanding idea of Russia as a ‘chosen’ nation with a historical mission is typically represented as a cliché with little or no relevance in politics. However, an increasing deployment of several interrelated messianic ideas and notions has been noted in both public and official Post-Soviet discourse, raising the question of how we should understand its persistence and contemporary revival. We first develop a conceptual framework based on insights about identity and statecraft from poststructuralist and related approaches, then proceed to trace key characteristics and narratives of Russian messianism in history and the secondary literature of various disciplines. The study proposes that Russian messianism should be conceptualised as a persistent discursive framework, holding a kaleidoscopic range of both complementing and contesting discourses, that have the purposes of legitimising the existence and policies of Russia as a state and defining Russian identity in ambiguous relation to a broad Western Other. This conceptualisation is then applied to contemporary Russian discourse. By analysing samples of key official discourse (2000-2007) the thesis shows how the Russian state adopts, negotiates and reproduces certain messianic narratives from public discourse, in which they abound. We then compare the convergence and divergence of the official and public political discourse with popular discourse, based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews with 160 semi-elite and ordinary Russians, conducted in 2005. We find that the Russian messianic framework is widely used at all levels of discourse and among all categories of Russian people, but in ways and contexts different from in public and official discourse. Overall, this thesis makes contributions to Russian studies by providing a theoretical conceptualisation of Russian messianism; and to the study of international relations by an analysis of discourses central to the production of Russia as a collective identity, state and international actor.

This study argues that American foreign policy (AFP) represented continuity rather than change from the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to the fall of Baghdad in 2003. During this time, the US pursued a hegemonic strategy that aimed to preserve its unipolar moment in the new American century. However, this argument is challenged by two sets of AFP literature. The first sees the 1990s as a period of inconsistency in AFP strategy, and the second identifies post-9/11 policy as a revolutionary change in AFP. This study‘s analysis goes below the surface of AFP‘s to its deep structure (hidden agendas). In contrast to the majority of AFP literature, it argues the 1990s were not a fragmented era but that AFP showed continuity rather than change, and the strategy of hegemony was already in operation. Likewise, putting aside the rhetoric of the Bush II administration, post-9/11 policy cannot be understood except in the context of AFP‘s hegemonic strategy of the post-Cold War (CW) era and 9/11 was no more than a terrorist attack carried out by a terrorist group. However, to serve US hegemonic agenda that was on hold from the early 1990s, the attack was deliberately exaggerated and portrayed as an existential threat to the US. The study does not deny the political fragmentation in the 1990s or ignore the effects of 9/11 on AFP strategy. Therefore, to critique the two sets of literature, the research assesses the impact of domestic politics on the ability of US officials‘ to build on America‘s unipolar moment. In doing so, this study highlights several aspects of US domestic division that curtailed the ability of bureaucrats to handle FP issues. This also demonstrates that AFP‘s failure in the 1990s was not on the strategic planning level but in its domestic context. Congress emerged as a counterweight to the leadership of the president. Societal groups gained unprecedented influence over policy-making as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This status changed after 9/11 when a new external enemy appeared. The president regained his supreme role and Congress‘s role retreated. Under these circumstances, the study concludes that an unchanging AFP strategy gave the basis for the emergence of an explicit American hegemony.