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Since the Publication in 1986 of The Secret Life of John Logie Baird by Tom McArthur and Dr. Peter Waddell the subject of J.L. Baird and his company's involvement with British military technologies has been brought to public attention. There has previously been no comprehensive academic assesment using primary sources of the suggestions offered in these books. Here is recorded British military television investigations from 1926 to 1946, with special reference to J.L. Baird, using previously ignored Public Record Office files and other sources. The precise role of J.L.Baird in Baird Television Limited (BTL) after the mid-1930s is discussed but still remains a matter for debate. This situation is important to the understanding of who was responsible for the variety of military projects undertaken by the Baird organisation. The technology of aerial reconnaIssance usmg television had a strong influence on British military television investigations. Television for aerial reconnaissance was the first military application suggested for the technology and became practical after the fighting services contacted J.L.Baird in 1926. This investigation continued with BTL into the 1930s and later included Marconi-EMI. These activities have had little previous assessment and yet significantly influence British military television history. During World War Two J.L. Baird personally investigated a facsimile system whilst being funded by Cable and Wireless. The technology used by J.L. Baird was based on a rapid processing camera for facsimile transmission. This technology had previously been investigated by his company in collaboration with the Air Ministry and Admiralty from 1937 to 1940 for Television aerial reconnaissance. There can remain no doubt that militarily useful applications of television, particularly for aerial reconnaissance, were a significant part of the investigations of J.L. Baird and his companies.

The emergence of the European Union (EU) as an international actor is an important development for Europeans, but also for the international community. The EU constitutes a new actor in international affairs. It goes beyond the nation state and seeks to construct a new international order based on rules. This new international actor must deal with a complex security environment, in particular in the Mediterranean region. This thesis seeks to determine how security perceptions in the region will influence the EU’s roles and responsibilities in the Mediterranean region as a new security actor. A detailed analysis of security discourse from both the EU and Southern Mediterranean shows that there are similar security concerns throughout the Mediterranean. Issues like terrorism or illegal immigration are securitised across the region, whereas issues like regional conflicts or weapons of mass destruction are considered security threats in specific areas, in particular the Eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, security discourse also coexists with strong references to a common Mediterranean identity. This sharing of security perceptions and references to a common identity allows us to conclude that there is indeed a regional security complex in the Mediterranean. After determining the existence of a regional security complex in the Mediterranean, an analysis of the individual actors participating in the Euro- Mediterranean RSC, at different levels, was conducted. This analysis shows that the EU occupies a central role in the region as a global great power. Moreover, an analysis of the RSC in the Mediterranean region shows that it is an unstable security complex, susceptible to internal and external transformation in the medium to long term. As such, the EU could play a more substantial role in the Mediterranean, exercising greater influence to stabilise the region; leading the region away from instability and moving it towards a more institutional framework for conflict resolution. In this role, the EU will need to be more active throughout the region, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean. It must assume its position as a great power but with its particular capabilities and characteristics. The EU must then emphasise mediation and regional integration, including south-south integration in its policies towards the Southern Mediterranean.

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The military has been a symbol of nationhood and state control for the past two hundred years. As representatives of a society’s cultural values and political ambitions, the armed forces have traditionally been held within the confines of the modern state. Today, however, soldiers are expected to operate in the shadows of conflicts, drawing little attention to themselves and to their actions; they are physically and emotionally secluded from a civilian population whose governments, especially in the ‘West’, are proceeding to an unprecedented wave of demilitarisation and military budget cuts. Simultaneously, these same governments are increasingly opening their armies to foreign nationals and outsourcing military operations to private military and security companies. These experiments with the hybridisation of the armed forces have effectively changed the face of national security. This thesis explores the impact of hybridisation on the values, cohesion and effectiveness of the armed forces by comparing and contrasting the experiences of the French Foreign Legion, the private military companies in Angola, and the merging of private contractors and American troops in Iraq. Mercenaries have been used as a foreign policy tool to improve the strategic impact of national armies. As non-state actors, however, they are unaccountable to the hiring state and beyond the control of the military establishment. It is both timely and important to understand the experiences of soldiers and mercenaries fighting together in modern battlefields as this appears to be the trend for the future, and has a direct impact on civil-military relations, military effectiveness, and consequently on the overall security of the state. The study concludes that, although mercenaries and private security companies can contribute to the military effort and may be a useful foreign policy tool, the impact that these non-state actors have on the national army must be taken into consideration to avoid weakening the state’s armed forces. Furthermore, the differences between warriors of various nationalities and allegiances, and the difficulties in coordinating public-private partnerships in joint military operations undermine the legitimacy of the state – and by default its policies – by weakening the cohesiveness and morale of the national armed forces and by alienating the citizen iv and the soldier. Results can be used to inform national governments and the armed forces in their inevitable process of hybridising their troops with foreigners and private contractors in the quest to answer the budgetary and moral concerns of their country.

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This thesis is a contribution to cross-national studies of professional officer education and training. It describes and evaluates a junior officer preparation programme at King Khaled Military Academy (KKMA), Saudi Arabia, in a comprehensive way. Both positive and negative aspects of the programme are included in this study, along with an extensive literature survey highlighting common features of programme effectiveness and potential barriers to success. The research develops an innovative five-point "star model" for the evaluation of junior officer preparation programmes, deemed appropriate for the investigation of five programme components: recruitment and selection, indoctrination, vocational preparation, liberal education, and physical fitness. To obtain multiple viewpoints in evaluating KKMA's junior officer programme, the study adopts a multiple method design integrating the use of questionnaires, interviews, and documentary evidence, in order to permit triangulation. It is also guided by three questions: "How is it done? "; "How well is it done? "; and "How can it be improved". In total, one hundred graduating cadets, forty seven teaching staff members, and three high-ranking military officers took part in this study. The study is organised as follows. Chapter one introduces the research, chapter two explores issues surrounding the professional education and training of the modem military officer, chapter three surveys the relevant literature, chapter four explains the study's methodology, chapters five to nine present the results and chapter ten discusses the main findings and draws conclusions. The major findings of this research are as follows: based mainly on the perceptions of the research participants, (1) KKMA's recruitment and selection system was judged to be unsystematic and ineffective despite the huge efforts and resources invested in it annually; (2) the evidence pointed to a mixed verdict with regard to KKMA's indoctrination programme, recognising that it was strong in terms of military culture, but weak because it emphasised soldiering over leadership training; (3) the Academy's vocational programme was overall rated as moderately effective and balanced, although improvements were needed in the provision of technical, technological, and leadership skills; (4) the liberal education programme was also judged to be on balance moderately effective despite imperfections, particularly in terms of relevance to military needs; finally (5) KKMA's physical fitness programme equally emerged as moderately effective despite weaknesses and barriers impeding its success, its greatest deficiency being that it did not teach cadets how to coach others. Practical implications include the need to review and update every aspect of KKMA's junior officer preparation programme, if it is to continue to enjoy high esteem for excellence and integrity, and if its graduates are to merit the status of professionals.