This study investigates forms of theatre/performance practice and training that can be seen to employ ‘trance’ states or engage the concept of ‘states of consciousness’ as performative practice. Trance is considered to be the result of sustained involvement with detailed information that is structurally organised, invoking imaginative and affective engagements that are maintained as interactions between the performer, other performers, the environment and audience of the performance. This thesis investigates trance performance through the conceptual lens of dramatic arts practice. In their respective cultural contexts, trance and theatre attain qualities considered as sacredness. Trance practice and performance, across a range of cultural contexts, are analysed as social processes - as elements of power relations that influence the performer, audience and environment of the performance. As performance traditions and events, this study will examine strands of praxis that can be drawn from Constantin Stanislavski to Lee Strasberg to Mike Leigh; from Antonin Artaud to Samuel Beckett and Jerzy Grotowski; from the Balinese trance performance form of Sanghyang Dedari in the 1930s to the 1990s; from the Channeling practitioners in the U.S. in the 1930s to Seth and Lazaris in the 1970s to the 1990s; and from traditions of military training, performance violence, and rhetoric associated with the attacks of the 11th of September 2001 in the U.S. and its aftermath.

By 2001, the al-Qaida movement had evolved into a transnational revolutionary movement with an eschatological dimension, facilitating the 9/11 attacks to gain religious support and incite a strong reaction. The Bush administration was particularly tough in its response, terminating the Taliban regime and then declaring the right of pre-emption against a wider axis of evil, which led on to regime termination in Iraq and the intended constraining of Iran. In the event, regime termination in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in protracted wars that were intensely costly in human and resource terms, and Iranian influence actually increased. The al-Qaida movement was dispersed while being transformed into a potent idea with little in the way of an organised structure, yet was effective in catalysing movements from South Asia through the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa. Analyses of events in Iraq and Afghanistan point to deep misconceptions over the potential for the use of military force and of imposed state building. After more than a decade after 9/11, there has been a re-orientation away from large-scale occupations towards more remote means of maintaining control, with an emphasis on armed drones, special forces and privatised military companies. This approach appears initially appropriate and attractive but may be as counterproductive as the previous approach.

The main aim of the final thesis is to assess American foreign and security policy during 2001 -- 2008 using concepts of security and strategic culture. Security and strategic culture (SSC) are rather new concepts in IR, but always more attention is paid to them. Poststructuralist conception was chosen as to be the main approach towards these concepts, since it enables to work with discursive actions of strategic and security elites. On the theoretical plane, concepts of SSC are elaborated and theoretically separated. The practical level scrutinizes how the SSC influenced the key decisions within examined period and what impact strategic and security elites had on changes of SSC. The last, assessing level, analyzes how the changes of the SSC identified on practical level, influenced American foreign and security policy and also main doctrinal documents. The main focus is on the attacks of 9/11 which had a great impact on such turbulent times, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which were fought in response to the above mentioned attacks, and changes of the foreign and security policy of the USA in the light of the unsuccessful Global War on Terror.

Comprising many airplanes, airports, aircrew, and employees, aviation industry is a large sector that is very vulnerable to attacks, whether it is from terrorists or criminals. Aviation history is fraught with examples of airport bombings, hijackings, and sabotage terrorist attacks. The most destructive of which is the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the cornerstone of today's aviation security policies. This study uses risk assessment tools to determine the dimensions of danger and threats against the aviation industry and addresses how vulnerable the aviation sector is. After vulnerabilities and threats are examined, possible impacts of attacks against the aviation security are discussed. This study also explores the pre and post September 11 policies that governments and policy makers develop to reduce risks in aviation sector. In addition, it discusses weaknesses and strengths of these policies which surfaced during the implementations. Finally, this study proposes some recommendations based on vulnerabilities and threats of aviation security.

Ce travail s’appuie sur les études culturelles et historiques, la géopolitique, la narratologie, et la sémiologie de l’image pour étudier la guerre contre le terrorisme et ses représentations dans les séries télévisées américaines "24 heures chrono" et "Homeland". Produites à dix ans d’intervalle, ces deux fictions majeures de l’après-11 Septembre ont souvent été mises en opposition du fait de leur idéologie supposée, dans la lignée de la présidence républicaine de George W. Bush pour la première, de la présidence démocrate de Barack Obama pour la seconde. Cependant, l’on trouve de nombreuses ressemblances qui tendent non seulement à rapprocher "24" et "Homeland", mais également les présidences Bush et Obama. Notre travail consistera ainsi à mettre au jour l’ambivalence politique des deux programmes afin de s’interroger plus généralement sur les ruptures et les continuités de cette guerre mondiale contre le terrorisme que les États-Unis mènent depuis bientôt deux décennies. / This work uses cultural and historical studies, geopolitics, narratology, and visual semiotics to analyse the representations of the War on Terror in "24" and "Homeland", two emblematic post-9/11 American television series. These shows, which started airing almost a decade apart, have often been opposed to each other because of their presumed ideologies. Both dealing with the War on Terror, "24" has been said to reflect the conservatism of the Bush years, while "Homeland" would correspond to Obama’s liberal presidency. However, upon closer examination, many similarities can be found – which would not only bridge "24" and "Homeland", but also George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s presidencies. This work thus aims to deconstruct the preconceptions surrounding the two series by exploring their political ambivalence in order to question the ruptures and continuities in the global War on Terror which the United States has been conducting for almost twenty years now.

La rencontre historique entre Abdul Aziz Ibn Saoud et le président américain Franklin D. Roosevelt à bord de l’U.S.S Quincy en mer rouge en février 1945, donna lieu à l’instauration des fondements d’une véritable alliance à long terme, basée sur des intérêts communs très forts entre l’Arabie Saoudite et les Etats-Unis. Le royaume a joué d’ailleurs un rôle important dans l’endiguement du nationalisme arabe et dans l’empêchement de toute pénétration soviétique au Moyen-Orient. Il a joué également un rôle central dans l’endiguement de la révolution islamique iranienne de Khomeiny. Cette alliance va mettre cependant du temps pour atteindre le degré au quelle elle est arrivée lors de la guerre du Golfe de 1990-1991, qui a eu comme résultat une présence militaire américaine permanente sur le sol saoudien et la radicalisation de l’opposition islamiste. Les attentats du 11 septembre 2001, qui ont constitué un véritable choc pour les deux pays, provoquèrent un profond malaise dans les relations américano-saoudiennes. Riyad s’est trouvée dans une situation délicate, quinze des dix neuf pirates de l’air étaient Saoudiens ainsi que le chef d’al-Qaida, Oussama Ben Laden. On assista à une détérioration des relations entre les deux pays et une grande suspicion qui eut du mal à se dissiper, malgré les déclarations de bonne volonté des dirigeants des deux pays. Soumise à d’énormes pressions américaines, l’Arabie Saoudite lança une série de réformes en vue de rassurer Washington et faire face également à une situation très compliquée sur le plan interne (problèmes socio-économiques, le rôle de l’institution religieuse wahhabite, l’extrémisme religieux, droits de la minorité chiite, la question de succession…). Le réchauffement constaté dans les relations entre les deux pays à partir de 2003, qui culmina avec l’instauration du « dialogue stratégique » en 2005, laissa rapidement place à une graduelle prise de distance entre Riyad et Washington à propos de plusieurs dossiers régionaux (la situation en Irak, les ambitions régionales ainsi que le programme nucléaire et balistique de l’Iran, le processus de paix, la Syrie…). Cette prise de distance s’est confirmée avec l’éclatement du «printemps arabe » et le lancement par les Etats-Unis d’une nouvelle stratégie, axée sur un désengagement de la puissance américaine vers la zone du Pacifique. / The Historical meeting between Adul Aziz Ibn Saoud and the US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt on bord of U.S.S Quincy in the Red Sea at February, 1945, had set up a real long standing Alliance based on a strong common Interests between Saudi Arabia and the United States. It will take a time for this Alliance to be at the level it had during the Gulf War (1990-1991), Wich had as result a permanent US Military presence in the Kingdom and the radicalization of Islamist Opposition. The 9/11 Attacks, which was a real Choc for the two Countries and provocated an Embarassment in the US- Saudi relations. Riyad was in a delicate situation, Fifteen of the Nineteen Hijackers of September 9, 11 was Saudis such as head of Al-Qaeda Oussama Ben Laden. We assisted then to a deterioration of the relations between the two Countries and a great Suspicion although some declarations of good Intentions by leaders of two Countries. Subject of a tremendous US pressures, the Saudi Arabia has inaugurated a series of Reforms to reassure Washington and to face a complicated internal situation (Socio-economic problems, the role of the Wahhabi religious Institution, religious Extremism, rights of Chia minority, the problem of succession). The warming of the relations between the two Countries by 2003 wich culminated with the instauration of « Strategic Dialogue » in 2005, made rapidly room to a gradual taken distance between Riyad and Washington about some Regional matters (Iraqi situation, the regional ambitions just as the Nuclear and Balistic program of Ira ; Peace Process ; Syria…). This taken distance is confirmed by the events of « Arab Spring » and the New American Strategy of disengagement to the Pacific Zone.

Les attentats du 7 juillet 2005 à Londres ont causé un choc et un effroi dans la société britannique non seulement à cause du nombre important des victimes mais aussi en raison de la citoyenneté britannique des kamikazes. A l’exception de Germaine Lindsay qui était d’origine jamaïcaine, les autres membres de la cellule – Mohammed Siddiq Khan, Shehzad Tanweer et Hussib Hussain - étaient tous d’origine pakistanaise. Les kamikazes du 7 juillet 2005 n’étaient pas les seuls Britanniques d’origine pakistanaise impliqués dans des actes de terrorisme. Avant 2005, ils étaient nombreux à aller combattre auprès d’organisations djihadistes pakistanaises au Cachemire ou à commettre des tentatives d’attentat sur le sol britannique, comme ce fut le cas de la cellule de Luton en 2004. Après 2005, d’autres cellules, comme celle de Birmingham en 2011, ont essayé de commettre des attentats à une plus grande échelle. L’origine pakistanaise des auteurs, leur intérêt pour le conflit au Cachemire et leur entrainement paramilitaire dans les camps d’organisations djihadistes pakistanaises sont autant d'éléments communs qui nous ont conduit à nous interroger sur la nature de la radicalisation violente en Grande-Bretagne. Cette thèse examine la dimension pakistanaise de la radicalisation islamiste violente en Grande-Bretagne en se basant sur la théorie des mouvements sociaux, notamment le modèle de Quintan Wiktorowicz, selon lequel la radicalisation est le fruit de griefs politiques, socio-économiques et d’idéologie. Elle s’appuie sur dix études de cas : trois organisations djihadistes pakistanaises (Lashkar e-Toiba, Harakat ul-Mujahideen et Jaish e-Mohammed), trois organisations extrémistes transnationales (Hizb ut-Tahrir, Al-Muhajiroun et Supporters of Sharia) et quatre mouvements de l’islam sud-asiatiques (Ahl e-Hadith, déobandi, Tablighi Jamaat et Jamaat e-Islami). La thèse démontre qu’il y a une dimension spécifiquement pakistanaise de la radicalisation islamiste violente en Grande-Bretagne en raison de l’histoire coloniale, le conflit au Cachemire, la « guerre contre la terreur » et l’intervention militaire en Afghanistan. / The 7 July 2005 London bombings caused shock and awe in the British society not only because of the important number of casualties, but also due to the British citizenship of the bombers. With the exception of Germaine Lindsay, who was of Jamaican descent, all the other members of the cell - Mohammed Siddiq Khan, Shehzad Tanweer and Hussib Hussain - had Pakistani background. The London bombers were not the only British Pakistanis who were involved in acts of terrorism. Before 2005, many went to fight alongside the Pakistani jihadi organisations in Kashmir or plotted against Britain such as the Luton cell in 2004. After 2005, other cells, like the one in Birmingham in 2011, planned attacks on a bigger scale on British soil. The Pakistani origin of the perpetrators, their interest in Kashmir and their paramilitary training in camps belonging to Pakistani jihadi organisations were common features that have raised questions about the nature of violent radicalisation in Britain. This thesis examines the Pakistani dimension of violent radicalisation in Britain by building on social movement theory, especially on Quintan Wiktorowicz’ model, according to which radicalisation is the result of political, socio-economic grievances and ideology. This research is based on ten case studies: three Pakistani jihadi organisations (Lashkar e-Toiba, Harakat ul-Mujahideen and Jaish e-Mohammed), three extremist transnational organisations (Hizb ut-Tahrir, Al-Muhajiroun and Supporters of Sharia) and four South-Asian Islamic mouvements (Ahl e-Hadith, Deobandi, Tablighi Jamaat and Jamaat e-Islami). The thesis shows that there is specifically a Pakistani dimension to the violent islamist radicalisation in Britain due to the colonial history, the conflict in Kashmir, the ‘’war on terror’’ and the military intervention in Afghanistan.

Central Asia has been the focal point of intense geopolitical power struggle throughout history. At the dawn of the 21st century, Central Asia has undergone major changes as the European Union and the China-led Shanghai Co-operation Organization have emerged as two normative powers, both seeking to influence the patterns of security governance in the region. This study aims to delve deep into ‘the black boxes’ of the EU’s and China’s foreign policies toward five CA republics. It starts from the premise that the bulk of research on Eurasian politics tend to concentrate mostly on realist and traditional geopolitical doctrine, which seem to have failed to properly explain the normative and ideational transformations that have taken place in the region as a result of the presence of these two emerging normative agents. By interweaving both realist and constructivist theories of International Relations (IR) into a new all-encompassing analytical framework, termed “meta-geopolitics”, the thesis seeks to trace and examine how geopolitical as well as normative components of the EU and Chinese regional strategies have affected the contemporary power dynamics in the post-Soviet space. I argue that, in contrast to the geopolitical struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries, a clash of normative powers is brewing in the region between China, under the aegis of the SCO, and the EU. The research also concludes that China has relatively been in a better position in comparison to the EU to render its policies as feasible, effective and legitimate to the Central Asian states.