A wide number of contributions to the peacebuilding literature have decried the limitations and constraints of liberal peacebuilding, to such an extent that the very term has begun to assume vaguely pejorative overtones. Concerns for the health and well-being of liberal peacebuilding have accumulated to the extent that Roland Paris has issued a plaintive call for liberal peacebuilding to be ‘saved’ (2010). In this thesis, I critically engage with the comprehensive approach, one of the central mechanisms that has enabled liberal peacebuilding to redefine and rearticulate its terms of reference. I begin from the assumption that the comprehensive approach does not anticipate the post-liberal peace that has been heralded by some observers (see Richmond, 2011); quite the contrary, it instead provides the basis for reformulation or adaptation within the terms that have been established by liberal peacebuilding. In continuing to hold out this tantalising possibility, the comprehensive approach continues, more than 20 years after its first articulation, to cast a seductive spell over its adherents. In this thesis, I critically assess how the comprehensive approach framework has been engaged and developed by one of its leading proponents (the British Government). I break the approach down into three dimensions of comprehensiveness (deepening, contextuality and complementarity), with a view to illustrating how the textual reproduction of each dimension has been accompanied by a set of contradictions and tensions. In doing so, I propose to explore how discursive ‘broadening’ and ‘deepening’ has been accompanied by a range of contradictions and tensions. In unravelling these contradictions, I then draw upon Foucauldian concepts and themes to argue that each and every advancement of freedom (whether through the form of empowerment, participation or contextual engagement) has been considerably more ambiguous than the standard narrative of the comprehensive approach – which reproduces the impression of an incremental progression – would have us believe. In questioning and probing the proposition that the comprehensive approach overcomes or reconciles the contradictions and tensions of liberal peacebuilding, I instead suggest a disconcerting reversion to prior points of reference.

This thesis examines the rise in bilateral aid disbursements over multilateral aid between 2000 and 2010. It would be simply stated that such a trend would be due donor nations focusing on strategic self-interests. I argue, using a combination of principal-agent theory, foreign policy analysis and the effect of institutions, that new political actors in donor nations found a window of opportunity to alter the level foreign disbursements and in several cases, increase the overall level of foreign aid. Bilateral aid eventually rose due to both the worldviews of these new decision makers as well as how their policies were influenced and shaped by local institutions. In this thesis, I focus on the US, the UK and Japan as donor nations and the World Bank’s International Development Association. In the US case, political and cultural institutions along with the worldviews Bush Administration officials shifted US bilateral aid upwards. In the UK, local institutions along with the perspectives of New Labour officials result in higher British bilateral aid disbursements. Japan’s political actors initially focused on the country’s economy but later actors, with their worldviews and shaped by historical norms, increased Japan’s bilateral aid vis-à-vis its contributions to IOs.

The focus of this thesis is \(resistance\) \(to\) \(peace\) \(education\) in the conflict-ridden island of Cyprus. Departing from the premise that education, and in particular antagonistic historical narratives immersed in demonised articulations of the Other, have obstructed the transformation of the conflict, I attempt to uncover what is crippling constructive dialogue and critical thinking when it comes to peace education in the Greek-Cypriot community and bring forward ways to improve this. In particular, I analyse negative hegemonic discourses over potential changes to history textbooks that not only distort the objectives of peace education, but also exacerbate existing fears and insecurities. These nationalist discourses present changes associated with peace education as a betrayal and threat to the nationalist struggle, a process I argue constitutes the \(securitization\) of peace education. Through the ‘politics of peace education’ framework, I show how within a particular community, institutions and discourses both constitute and are constitutive of, asymmetric power relationships that act as impediments to peace education. I expose and interrogate the conditions of possibility that ensure resistance to peace education is not only reproduced, but is also successful through the exercise of asymmetrical power relations.

The Committee of 100 (C100) (1960 – 68) were a British anti-nuclear protest group who campaigned for mass non-violent direct action (NVDA) in an effort to force the government to revise its defence policy. The formation of C100 created tensions with the already-established Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), whose leaders objected to C100's commitment to civil disobedience. The two anti-nuclear campaigns had some membership overlap but always remained separate. Until now, any investigation of C100 has been incorporated within wider studies of CND or has been quantitative in method. This thesis therefore addresses a historical gap by employing a life history approach to examine C100 as a distinct group. Drawing upon oral history interviews with twenty-four C100 members the resulting analysis reveals new aspects of C100's innovative structure and method, and identifies the particular nature of those who joined the campaign. A new image of first wave anti-nuclear activists emerges when focusing on C100 protestors. The respondents reveal motivations for campaign engagement that contrast with those of earlier representations of CND supporters. They were inspired by a common interest in global civil rights concerning human health and survival and a need to actively challenge rather than merely petition the authorities. Significantly, many C100 members came from left-wing, progressive or anarchist backgrounds. They were an erudite group with regard for knowledge, despite many putting conventional education on hold to fully engage in the campaign. This thesis examines C100's libertarian nature, and the extent to which its membership managed to be anti-hierarchical in structure, ethos and policy. It explores tensions within C100 concerning limits and definitions of NVDA that changed over time and came to radicalise the campaign. A biographical approach also reveals significant factors around C100 prison experience concerning issues of class and gender. This thesis serves to situate C100 for the first time in its own right on the socio-political map, both historically and globally.

La culture joue un rôle fondamental dans les politiques nationales en ce sens qu'elle définit les relations internationales. Avec la chute du système international bipolaire, la culture a pris une place plus importante à une époque où les efforts pour expliquer des termes comme "conflit de civilisations" et "liens culturels et historiques" dans le cadre de la politique extérieure gagnent en intensité. La Turquie et l'Azerbaïdjan constituent un exemple intéressant. Les Turcs de Turquie et d'Azerbaïdjan, "enfants du même peuple", ont dû fonder des États distincts. Ces deux pays se sont toujours considérés comme très proches, mais des moments de tension ont entaché les relations. La tentative de maintenir les relations d'abord uniquement sur une base idéologique, puis uniquement sur les relations interpersonnelles a engendré des tensions qui perdurent. Ainsi, pouvons-nous affirmer que les relations entre ces deux pays dépassent les dimensions purement idéologiques ou personnelles. / Culture plays a fundamental role in national policies as it defines international relations. With the collapse of the bipolar international system, culture took a more prominent place at a time when efforts to explain terms such as "conflict of civilizations" and "cultural and historical links" in the context of foreign policy are gaining momentum. Turkey and Azerbaijan are an interesting case in that regard. The Turks of Turkey and Azerbaijan, "children of the same people", had to found separate states. These two countries have always considered each other very close, but moments of tension have tainted relations. The attempt to maintain relationships initially only on an ideological basis, and then only on interpersonal relation ships has created persistent tensions.Thus, can we say that relations between these two countries go beyond purely ideological orpersonal dimensions?

Mega projects have become an important new development strategy in globalizing cities, and a new or emerging form of development in economic, technological, social and political life, influenced by global flows of capital. Despite being acknowledged as an important factor in globalizing economies, the role of mega projects has failed to receive appropriate research attention in terms of analysis of the various advantages and disadvantages that they carry. This research seeks to achieve a better understanding of the nature of urban development, and its implications for Dubai. The research involves an assessment of whether urban mega projects actually develop as a result of globalisation processes and draws conclusions on conflicting discussions about economic growth and social change. The research aims to establish Dubai’s attitudes towards urban mega projects and globalisation, focusing on the ways the phenomenon is conceptualized, and on understanding the impacts of the new urban paradigm, with particular reference to the Jumeirah Palm Island mega project. The research sets out to examine three key issues; firstly what are the effects of global economic factors and foreign direct investment, and how have economic factors have become a catalyst for development? Secondly, the thesis considers the technological and architectural features of large-scale development. Thirdly, it focuses on new social trends and the extent of public participation, and analyses the political dimensions of globalisation. The research reveals that whilst there are some similarities with other mega projects around the world, the Jumeirah Palm Island mega project is the product of a unique development policy. There are many global elements in the Palm Island development but there is also a significant regional dimension, as in many of the underpinning capital flows. It is argued that the adoption of a mega projects policy may have had negative consequences on the indigenous population of Dubai, which has become a minority 12% of the total population.

International relations are heralding a new era with the expectation of a new world order. However, the international community is facing a crisis of perception. They are trying to apply the concepts of outdated perspectives, such as realism, idealism, and Marxism, to an international political reality that can no longer be understood in terms of these concepts. The emergence of non-state nations, which are threatening the existence of the state system, are not integrated into the international system by the perspectives. The problem is "perspective effect" - one uses perspectives to perceive, understand, judge, and manipulate, the world order. Any international political issue that does not match conditional perception, is ignored and distorted. The result is "perspective paralysis" - the perspectives are unable to adjust to changed circumstances in the world order. "Perspective paralysis" can be overcome if there is a "perspective shift" - perspectives employ alternative criteria for evaluating world order. / World order / New world order / M.A (International Politics)

This thesis concerns religion as a peacemaking tool in Sierra Leone. The vast majority of people in Sierra Leone consider themselves to be Christians, Muslims and / or adherents of African Traditional Religion (ATR). This thesis examines the role of religious leaders and religious communities in the peacemaking process during and after the Sierra Leone Civil War from 1991 - 2002. In previous studies about violence and religion, the role of religion in the peacemaking process has often been neglected, particularly in studies about the African continent. This study aims to fill this gap. The research is based on theoretical approaches in the field of religion and violence and religion and peace, as well as a qualitative and an empirical study in Sierra Leone comprising participant observation, interviews and data collected from archives. The thesis develops the praxis of peace based on the Sierra Leone context. It argues that since independence from Britain in 1961, subsequent governments have woefully marginalised religion. The thesis demonstrates that Christian leaders, churches, and ecumenical organisations were resources that contributed to peacemaking in Sierra Leone. Christians and their leaders influenced by ATR also led and supported the works of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Sierra Leone (TRCSL) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). Christians provided leadership for truth-telling and reconciliation, relief, advocacy for peace, and confidence-building as peacemakers in action. By combining a theoretical discussion of Girard, Juergensmeyer, Schmidt, Huntington, Bowie, Johnston and others with the qualitative and empirical case study of Sierra Leone, the research adds new dimensions to the general academic debate on religion and violence, as well as religion and peacemaking, with respect to the clash of civilisations, faith-based diplomacy and other theories on religion and violence, and religion and peacemaking, in Sierra Leone.

The central question this thesis poses is how and why the modes of Palestinian political activism have changed from the first to the second intifada. The thesis will explore the underlying major political, territorial and social developments that created a new environment for the second uprising that was no longer conducive to the mass protests and acts of civil disobedience, which had dominated the first intifada in the late 1980s. The decline of civil society, the reassertion of Palestinian political factionalism and the unique geographical dislocation of the Palestinian territories, which created new physical obstacles to resistance but also caused division within society, were the key factors in reshaping the context of the second intifada. In addition, rising support for violent resistance among the population was rooted in the sense of hopelessness and frustration that re-emerged over the Oslo period. Much of the population’s frustration was directed at Israel’s colonial regime but in part it was also a response to the rule of the Palestinian Authority, which had failed to fulfil its commitments to its own population in view of its obligations under Oslo toward Israel. In the absence of alternative non-violent outlets within either politics or civil society, what took root instead was individual activism via militant organisations. As such, this thesis offers an account of the development of Palestinian political action (and in particular political violence) that is indebted to an effort to employ historical and contextual analysis in ways that deepen the insights available from explanations of behaviour drawn from political science.

Liberal Statebuilding in post-conflict societies is a very complex, intricate and dynamic task that is often based on liberal assumptions. Critiques argue that local contributions to define democracy and its norms, such as accountability, tend to be limited since local experiences are often perceived by the aid and statebuilding community to predate liberal requirements. Democratic norms are consequently often based on external international legitimacy and intentions rather than on domestic acceptance. In order to explore this further, this thesis critically examines the development of one democratic norm, accountability, in Afghanistan by using field data and applying Sikkink and Finnemore’s Norm Life Cycle to three accountability characteristics. These map out the norm’s legitimacy, its methods and relationship between Afghan citizens and government in order to understand the manifestation of accountability. The objective of the thesis is to assess whether accountability in Afghanistan was developed as intended by liberal statebuilding between 2001 and 2013. Empirical findings show that accountability did not manifest per the liberal democratic definition since the social and political realities that heavily impact norm development were not incorporated in the statebuilding approach. Combining theoretical and conceptual analysis, the research contributes to the Critical Peace Studies and Good Enough Governance literature and concludes that the liberal statebuilding methodology introduced accountability in a de-contextualised way that deprived it from norm contestation and local legitimacy. The thesis argues that this had both positive and negative effects. Accountability was introduced to a context that could benefit from its existence, but its introduction was done in an inconsistent manner that weakened its domestic conceptualisation by ignoring the link between social action and political power. Moreover the international community’s role in promoting accountability in Afghanistan both advanced and hampered the development of the liberal norm. Donors were able to raise accountability’s profile in the democratisation process but did so from an inaccessible and unaccountable political space that further removed Afghan citizens from policymaking and politics. The thesis’ application of a norm development lens to statebuilding provides a more in-depth and nuanced analysis to democratisation and one that, I hope, is original. It uses this alternative methodology to engage both with academic debate, and with policy development and implementation. The suggested approach allows for a better insight into the mergence between liberal concepts and local contexts as it not only confirms the existence of hybridity or mergence, but it also elaborates on its quality and consequences. It further proposes a more emancipatory statebuilding process that moves beyond a top-down vs. bottom-up perspective to a more enfranchised and integrated approach.