The need for orientation is shared by human beings everywhere. People need to learn about their conditions of existence in order to exercise some degree of control over them as a fundamental requirement for their survival both as individuals and as societies. This thesis is about the challenges that human global interdependence raises to the fulfilment of this task. It argues that the globe-spanning webs of interdependent humankind produce a collective problem of orientation characterised by the requirement for a more cosmopolitan perspective on the human condition while recognising the difficulty in achieving just that, given how all theorising is necessarily embedded in particular social, cultural and historical contexts. Through a reinterpretation of the works of Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, Jürgen Habermas and Norbert Elias the thesis asks how critical international theory might provide a more adequate answer to the problem of orientation. Its main argument is that this answer implies a recovery of grand narratives on the long-term process of human development which avoid a reproduction of the shortcomings with which they have been historically associated; namely, serving as a channel for the projection of parochial and ethnocentric points of view which, under the cover of cosmopolitanism, legitimize practices of exclusion and domination. The conclusion to this thesis is that a synthesis between critical theory and process sociology would enable the production of grand narratives that promote a more cosmopolitan perspective on the conditions of existence of globalised humanity while recognising and protecting the plurality of forms of human self-expression. In this manner, the thesis opens the way towards the development of more adequate means of orientation on the basis of which people might better find their bearings in the world and understand how they might come to make more of their history under conditions of their own choosing.

Critics and proponents of realism unanimously proclaim that fear is conceptually, theoretically and logically essential to the realist school of thought. In this dissertation, these propositions are tested by examining the importance of this primary emotion in the classical realism of Hans Morgenthau, the defensive realism of Kenneth Waltz and the offensive realism of John Mearsheimer. The findings indicate that fear is not conceptually or theoretically significant to either Morgenthau or Waltz. Logically, the inclusion of this emotion is not only redundant but counterproductive in all of the examined theories, especially in that of Mearsheimer. This being so, even though the level of fear is afforded a central conceptual and theoretical role in his offensive realism. As such, this thesis challenges the conventional wisdom in the literature regarding the relationship between realism and fear and exposes the myths that pervades the field on this issue.

Conflict resolution constitutes a crucial aspect of the European Union’s foreign policy objectives and external actions. Despite its centrality, there is a profound mismatch between the academic level discussions about the EU’s role and impact on various conflicts of ethno-political nature and what actually takes place in practice, as the EU conflict resolution agenda unfolds within different local settings. Adopting an analytical perspective of legitimation based on local support, the thesis seeks to understand how and when local agency impacts EU conflict resolution. Subsequently, the framework is applied to analyse the complex interaction between fragmented local groups (political elites, non-state organisations and public) and the EU (as a framework and as a policy-actor) in two grand conflict resolution projects of the EU: Kosovo and North Cyprus. The thesis finds that local groups have a distinctive ability to confer or withdraw support to certain EU policies, to push the EU to introduce or alter mechanisms for local participation into policy-setting process and to counter and disqualify the EU’s normative arguments and policy choices with alternative normative arguments. Diverse local agents actively select norms and reinterpret them in order to match them with their extant ideas with an aim to push the Union to pursue a local vision of conflict resolution. This process of re-interpretation or localisation has behavioural implications on local groups as well. It approximates the conflict resolution process to local priorities and expectations; otherwise, the EU starts to lose its appeal to local groups to maintain its decisive role in the conflict resolution process. These findings help us complement the EU literature which analyse conflict resolution through Europeanisation/socialisation and conditionality perspectives. Local groups are not merely passive recipients of EU benefits. Nor do they go through a linear process of socialisation and natural acceptance of the EU agenda in the long-term. By analysing the reasons and implications of increasing local resistance in Kosovo and North Cyprus, the thesis also bridges the theoretical gap between the EU literature and broad conflict resolution studies which promotes a genuine focus to the ‘everyday concerns’ of local groups.

This thesis examines the role that nuclear disarmament, embodied in the Article VI obligation, has played in debates about the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It provides a narrative archival history of the treaty negotiations, tracing the emergence of the NPT idea as the key priority for multilateral nuclear diplomacy in the mid-1960s, describing the tortuous route to superpower agreement on pursuing an NPT; and exploring the complex process by which key US allies and non-aligned states were encouraged to support the treaty. On this basis the thesis explains the role that disarmament played in conceiving, lobbying for and achieving an NPT. The thesis goes on to outline how the role of disarmament in the NPT 'bargain' has evolved, beginning with the effects of US ambivalence about the NPT in its early years, and the development of a circumscribed process of arms control. It then traces a path from the treaty's first review conference in 1975 up to the acrimonious failure of 2005. Finally, it provides an assessment of the role that disarmament issues played in the 2010 NPT Review Conference, which the author attended. The thesis argues, firstly, that the role of disarmament in the original NPT ‘bargain’ was limited and left key questions unsettled, but was nonetheless highly significant in political terms. Secondly, it explains how the practice of a distinctive ‘NPT diplomacy’ allowed the treaty to form the basis of a broader non-proliferation regime. Lastly, however, it concludes that the unresolved questions inherent in Article VI, and exacerbated since the end of the Cold War, mean that the NPT is unlikely to act as an effective vehicle to achieve the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, and that measures to strengthen the non-proliferation regime in the future are unlikely to be achieved by offering specific concessions on disarmament.

This thesis explores the interface between the processes of securitizing threats in West African states and their neo-patrimonial statehood. It analyses the securitization processes among the West African elites which arise from their political culture of patronage politics. The securitization-neo-patrimonialism nexus should be understood to encompass every instance of threat perception and construction of same as existential threat to security and economic interests of securitizing actors at national government, sub-regional and extra-African levels. This research builds on the classical literature of securitization and neo-patrimonialism, as well as subsequent works which focused on various elements of these concepts. Methodologically, this work utilises a case study approach, semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis and builds on an extensive journey through the region. It examines in detail the two cases of Liberia and Sierra Leone in order to explain the securitization-neo-patrimonialism dynamics of West Africa. The thesis has made vital contributions to the literature in two major areas. The thesis argues that: a) there is absence of an institutionalised and securitization framework in the West African states; b) what is defined as a security threat is a function of the narrow threat perception of the neo-patrimonial states’ leaders at national, sub-regional and transnational levels. Thus, theoretically, the thesis introduces a new securitization-neo-patrimonialism framework for West Africa’s security analysis, a framework based on a synthesis of the concepts of securitization and neo-patrimonialism. Empirically and analytically, the thesis suggests the three-level analytical approach for the analysis of West African security.

The thesis demonstrates that viewing transition as a political process of the complex interaction and interplay of different issue policies - economic, political, and security - within the transition state (horizontal) and among three different levels - domestic, state and international (vertical) - can further explain the dynamics and various outcomes we currently witness in the countries of post-communist transition. The thesis adopts an integrative approach by trying to combine functionalist and genetic schools of democratisation theories. The theoretical framework goes beyond existing democratisation theories and includes the core approaches of those international relations theories that tackle the issues of domestic-foreign policy interaction and explain how international norms are transferred and institutionalised in states. It also implies that it is not only the economic situation but also the political and security conditions that matter if transition is to progress. The thesis proposes a new framework to analyse the transition process which takes into account 1) the initial socio-economic, political and security conditions and the changes in those conditions that result from government policies and their interaction, 2) based on those conditions, elite choices and government policies and their interaction, and 3) the initial domestic and external demands and supports, their interplay and the change resulting from government policies. This framework allows one to follow the developments while they are in process, to trace the direction and dynamics of change within each policy area and at each level in the early stages, and their impact on the overall transition process, as well as to predict and explain the subsequent foreign and domestic policy changes. The thesis analyses the transition in the twenty-five post-communist countries, with a specific focus on Moldova and Kyrgyzstan. The analysis proves that (1) There is a strong interconnectedness among economic, political and security policies during transition, and success in one dimension often comes at the expense of success in another. It is hard to achieve progress in all dimensions, unless there is sufficient external support; (2) There is also an essential link and interplay among different levels - domestic, state and international - within the overall transition process. In order for transition to succeed, it is important that the resources and respective costs of transition have been effectively, that is reasonably distributed in a timely manner, among those levels; and (3) deriving from the first two points, there is a substantial link between the domestic and foreign policy dynamics of states in transition.

The aim of this thesis is to challenge and re-assessth e existing approacht o the study of arms control. It outlines the ambiguity and lack of clarity in the discourse that surrounds the policy process, whilst drawing the reader's attention to the exclusionary nature of debate. This thesis argues that the arms control process has been used as a means of controlling the development of certain states. Over recent years the security studies agenda has widened considerably and recognised the influence of culture, for example, but this thesis aims to highlight the mechanisms of exploitation that are embodied in the arms control process. Existing, conventional approaches to the study of arms control often fail to highlight deeper issues of power relations, that serve to maintain the unequal international status quo. This thesis aims to highlight issues that could be a part of the future arms control agenda, that radically rethinks the theory and practice applied to date. Although there are some limitations to applications of Lukes' radical view of power, there is still scope for a valuable contribution to the arms control debate. Furthermore, by applying a neo-Gramscian perspective, as a broad conceptual umbrella, it is possible to elucidate upon the complexity of the issue and the maintenance of the hegemonic power of a small number of militarily advanced states. The globalisation process has provided an effective vehicle for the dissemination of norms and values that reinforce the dominance and leadership of a rather fluid hegemonic bloc. Furthermore, the media has been pivotal in reinforcing the international status quo by reproducing hegemonic discourses. This thesis examines the subtleties of the power relations involved in the arms control process and also poses questions about the potential long term effects of the current exploitative practices used by dominant states in regulating military development.

At the start of the 21st century. the European Union had entered the realm of security policy, gaining legal competence and building institutional structures. Yet it was not the only actor or institution in European security. Its constituent member states had independent security policies; most were pa11 or the formal institution of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and all existed with in the informal institution of the transatlantic security community. The United States was the most powerful actor in the two latter institutions and had longstanding bilateral ties to EU member states. Given the overlapping institutional nature of this field and the United States' unique pertinence 10 European security, it seems possible that the US, although a non-member state, might have causal significance when the EU deliberates security policy. This thesis seeks to investigate this possibility and to identify what role the United States may play ill the EU's decision-making process. It does so using a typology of roles - accommodator, entrepreneur, spoiler and veto player - created from examples in European and institutional literature and grounded in the-hi story of European security since the end of the Cold War. The American role is explored with three case studies of EU security debates from 2001 to 2005: the discussion over EU security structure prompted by the April 29, 2003, Mini-Summit on European Security and Defense Policy; the political agreements surrounding the creation of the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System; and the dispute over lining the EU's arms embargo on the People's Republic of China. In each case study, the European Union is a significant force and its internal dynamics are difficult for the United States to penetrate. However, in each episode, the US is ultimately a causally significant player in the EU's decision-making process, most resembling, according to the typology, a veto player.

It is generally accepted that borders play a crucial role within processes of globalization, that borders are an integral aspect of globalization, broadly understood here as increasing global interconnectedness. To this end, current research on borders has tended to focus on securitisation and the ability of the state border to protect national (state) security. Such approaches are linked to the idea of rebordering, particularly post 9/11, and has led researchers to study the increasing interconnect between surveillance and borders. Biometrics and 'virtual borders' thus become pertinent, timely as well as case study oriented sub-topics of border research. Alternatively, but by no means separate, research elsewhere has focused on the ways in which borders form an integral aspect of our mundane daily life practices. Emphasis is placed on how people construct, resist or reconstruct overlapping social, cultural and historical narratives of and via borders particularly in relation to the idea of borderlands and spaces. All these approaches key into current and contested thinking within border research: (1) bordering should form the main aspect of border research as opposed to geo-political lines; (2) borders are not, by definition, solely situated around the periphery of states; (3) borders mean different things to different people; (4) border construction and maintenance need not fall into the remit of the state and traditional geopolitical performances of sovereignty. However, while the term 'interconnected world' as an integral component of globalization is almost a truism, the role borders play in this connection needs further development. This thesis proposes to bring connection to the forefront of border research and is predominantly interested in the ways in which borders connect beyond localities within which the border may be situated. The thesis will propose and discuss three overlapping components (mechanisms) or aspects (outcomes) of border connectivity: invoking scale; connection as a consequence of division; and empowerment through connection. Arguing that borders connect in this way deepens our understanding of the relationship between borders and globalization. Borders as mechanisms of connection, it is argued, form an integral aspect of our interconnected word.

This thesis has undertaken a critical examination of how and why the Military has come to dominate Pakistan's policy process and how that dominance has affected Pakistan's foreign policy. This thesis is arguing that the military has a highly securitized understanding of Pakistan's external environment which is then translated into the adoption of a militarized approach towards foreign policy. The first half of the thesis aims at furthering an understanding of Pakistan's approach towards foreign policy as well the nature and extent of the military's institutional dominance over the policy process. Chapter 2 provides a historical overview of the military and Pakistan's approach towards foreign policy in the 1947-2006 period. Chapter 3 provides a critical analysis of the nature and extent of the military's institutional dominance over the Pakistani state and hence over the policy process itself. Pakistan's policy approaches towards Afghanistan (1995-2006) have been examined in order to provide an empirical illustration of a.) the military's dominance over the policy process and b.) the consequent impact of pursuing a militarized approach towards foreign policy. This thesis is arguing that Pakistan employed a militarized set of prescriptive policy options which then resulted in Afghanistan becoming the "centre of gravity" of its approach towards regional security_ The loss of Afghanistan as a "centre of gravity" following the onset of the war on ten-or forced Pakistan to adopt a tactically flexible but strategically inflexible approach towards regional security. Pakistan's policy responses throughout remained oriented towards the use of various militarized policy options_ Consequently, while these militarized options attained certain external security objectives, they did so at the cost of internal stability_ Thus, It is being argued that Pakistan's militarized approach was beset with inefficiencies which exacerbated rather than alleviated its overall security environment.