This thesis explores Shi’a-Sunni relations in Gulf politics during a period of regional upheaval, starting with the 2003 invasion of Iraq through the Arab revolts of early 2011. It seeks to understand the conditions under which sectarian distinctions become a prominent feature of the Gulf political landscape, focusing on the three Gulf countries that have been affected most by sectarian tensions: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The study analyzes the contagion effect of the civil war in Iraq, the 2006 war in Lebanon, and the Arab Spring on local sectarian dynamics in the three states. Specifically, it explores the role of domestic institutions—parliaments and other quasi-democratic structures, the media, and clerical establishments—in tempering or exacerbating sectarianism. It finds that the maturity and strength of participatory institutions in each state played a determinant role in the level of sectarianism resulting from dramatic shifts in the regional environment since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I conclude, therefore, that the real roots of the so-called “rise of the Shi’a” phenomena lie in the domestic political context of each state, rather than in the regional policies of Iran or the contagion effect of events in Iraq or Lebanon. Although the Gulf Shi’a took a degree of inspiration from the actions of their co-religionists in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, they ultimately strove for greater rights in a non-sectarian, nationalist framework. The rise of sectarianism in the Gulf has been largely the product of excessive alarm by entrenched Sunni elites or the result of calculated attempts by regimes to discredit Shi’a political actors by portraying them as proxies for Iran, Iraq, or the Lebanese Hizballah. What is qualitatively different about the post-2003 period is not the level of mobilization by the Shi’a, but rather the intensity of threat perception by Gulf regimes and Sunni Islamists.

Over more than three decades, there has been a sustained interest in strategic planning in the public sector to secure positive outcomes and long-term growth. However, several authors argued that strategic planning is limited, costly, time consuming and not producing the needed outcomes. Previous research has focused almost upon developed, and not on developing countries, for instance, the Kingdom of Bahrain. This gap in the knowledge provides the justification for this research. Using survey method, this research aims to explore strategic management practices in the public sector of Bahrain. Using both interviews and questionnaires as the mixed methods was more convincing and produced more comprehensive findings and hence stronger credibility. The findings reveal that the strategic management process was not effective in the researched organizations in the strategic formulation stage, the strategic implementation stage, and the strategic evaluation stage. The findings also reveal that there is a low satisfaction level with strategic management process within most of the organizations surveyed. Moreover, the findings revealed that the progress in the transition from strategic planning to a strategic management approach was limited. However, some of the organizations were found to be at the start of such a transition and this may be a good sign. Additionally, the findings reported many leading edge elements that are closely related to this transition, and help to successfully implement organizational objectives. Finally, the present research is proposing a strategic management model to increase the ability to formulate, implement and evaluate better future governmental strategic plans.

This dissertation sets out to investigate the role of the press in effecting political and socio-economic changes in the Bahraini society prior, during and after the Reform Act which was issued by King Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa in February 2001. To this end, the author has used qualitative and quantitative research methods. This was carried out through content analysis of archival data, questionnaires and in-depth structured interviews. The population was randomly selected from journalists, intellectuals, women in key positions as well as media specialists. Qualitatively, the results point to some dramatic changes in varied areas. The press has brought about enhancing the margin of freedom of expression which is depicted in both the coverage and discourse of newspapers discourse. More importantly, the press has a remarkable role in women political empowerment which had been almost absent prior to the Reform Act. Quantitatively, a wider range of topics and issues, some of which are quite sensitive, are now addressed with relative transparency. Another significant change is the increasing number of newspapers. Before the Reform Act there were only two Arabic newspapers, now there are seven Arabic and two English newspapers. Despite such promising changes, some informants continue to believe that the margin of freedom of expression is somewhat restricted and there are some topics and issues that cannot be approached adequately. In light of the results of this study, it can be concluded that the press has effected some major political, social, economic, educational, etc. changes in Bahrain, albeit not quite satisfactorily.

This study is concerned with investigating the impact of the monetary policy on the capital markets during the period (1989-2004). Specifically, there are three major objectives of this study: (1) To examine the impact of the money supply on the government bonds and treasury bills (supplies and rates) in Jordan and compare it with Bahrain, (2) To examine the relationship between the treasury bills and the government bonds in Jordan, and (3) To examine the effect of the money supply on the stocks price index in Jordan and compare this impact with the one in Bahrain. To accomplish the objectives of this study, a quantitative approach is employed. The quantitative approach is represented here by the econometric analysis (Time Series Analysis) of documentary secondary data. The research hypotheses were set up to examine the relationship between the money supply and a number of explanatory variables (treasury bills rates and issues, government bonds rates and issues, and stock price index). These hypotheses were tested using time series analysis (VAR method). The analysis was conducted for two countries: Jordan and Bahrain. The data covered the period (1989-2004) monthly data in Jordan, and 2000:9-2004:12) in Bahrain. The tests that have been used in this research in VAR model will include: selection of the lag length, unit root test, granger causality test, variance decomposition, and impulse response function. These tests will be examined by using Eviews (release 5.0) package and RATS (Regression Analysis of Time Series (release 6.0) software. The findings in Jordan revealed that there isn't any relationship between the money supply and the treasury bills rates and government bonds rates. However, there is a positive relationship between the money supply and issuance of the treasury bills and the government bonds. These findings lead to the quantity adjustment in the absence of the price adjustment. Moreover, the results indicate that there is a significant negative relationship between the treasury bills issuance and the government bonds issuance. And the last result in Jordan concluded that there is a positive relationship between the money supply and the stock price index. The finding in Bahrain were different from the findings in Jordan because of the difference in the financial system in the two countries, as Bahrain follows an Islamic financial system whereas Jordan's finanacial system is not an Islamic one. The prohibition of the interst rate in some cases in Bahrain and that Bahrain's economy is more open economy would lead to the conclusion that there isn't any relationship between the money supply and the stock market index and the money market instruments (treasury bills) and that it follows international capital flow adjustment. Also, it is important to mention that Bahrain Monetary Agency has issued Islamic instruments (long and short-term sukuk) beside the conventional instruments.

The aim of this study was to investigate and measure students' acceptance of elearning as the main tool in the learning process in Bahrain's secondary schools. Schoolteachers' perceptions regarding the use of an e-learning system were also considered. This is deemed of value at a time when the Bahrain Ministry of Education is planning to implement an e-learning system in all government schools and at all school stages in the near future.

This research used an Integrated Water Resource Management approach to investigate how Water Demand Management (WDM) measures at government, utility and end-user levels could contribute to providing sustainable water supply to Bahrain, which is in an arid to semiarid region. The main driver for this research was the supply-driven orientation favoured by policy makers and practitioners in Bahrain with little consideration for demand management. This leads to a high estimated gross per capita consumption 525 l/c/d as of 2010. There was also a need to investigate the institutional environment for managing water resources and delivering sustainable water supply to Bahrain. The research adopted a case study methodology which included qualitative analysis of interviews and documents from the water authority, and quantitative analysis of questionnaire surveys and pilot studies. The research adopted a cross-sectional approach to the analysis of activities associated with WDM practice in Bahrain. All findings and conclusions were evaluated/validated using surveys distributed to water experts and customers. Based on their feedback, findings and conclusions were revised. The main finding of this research was that the tariff is highly subsidized by the government and there is no encouragement for water savings. The low tariff leads to low revenue which in turn affects the budget allocated to the relevant departments and units at the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA). This impacts negatively on their activities. It was found that there is no effective strategy for integrated water resources management; there is a high level of Non Revenue Water (NRW) (38%); and limited reuse of grey water and water use saving devices. In addition there is a lack of public awareness and understanding of the benefits of WDM among all levels of society including professionals and water supply providers. The research concluded that improving water use efficiency in Bahrain should be a priority due to the current high water supply costs. There is a need for proper legislation that enforces the use of WDM; establishment of a national WDM committee with the Water Resources Directorate, and for water resource professionals to follow WDM oriented policies. The research proposed six areas to be further investigated to achieve more efficient use of water: (a) Water tariff reform to recover full water supply costs; (b) institutional reform through activating and enforcing Water Resources Council roles; (c) promoting public awareness about WDM and its benefits; (d) reducing non revenue water; (e) applying positive economic sliding scale incentives for customers who reduce their water consumption.

La didactique des langues étrangères ne cesse de s’enrichir des méthodes nouvelles pour mieux répondre aux besoins et assurer le meilleur rendement en termes d’enseignement/apprentissage. Ce travail propose un enseignement du français langue étrangère par la traduction à Bahreïn. Cette proposition a pour objectif de prendre en considération le contexte plurilingue de ce pays et de se conformer à la réalité de cet enseignement en classe de français. Pour cela, nous avons d’abord exposé la place du français dans son contexte, y compris en comparaison avec les langues et les variétés de langues en concurrence. Ensuite, nous avons examiné la réalité de l’utilisation de la traduction et de la langue maternelle en classe de français. Cet examen est fait à la lumière des dictats des instructions officielles et les contraintes de la pratique en classe. Pour étudier ces éléments, nous avons fait appel à une méthodologie qui associe l’enquête, le questionnaire, les interviews et les analyses de classe. / The foreign language didactic keeps improving with new methods to better adapt to the needs and provide a better efficiency in the teaching / learning process. This study proposes to use translation as a way to teach / learn French as aforeign language in Bahrain. This proposal's strength is to take into consideration the multilingual aspect of this country as well as the reality of a French teaching class. To do so, we first exposed the place of French in context, including comparisonwith languages and languages varieties in competition. Then, we examined the reality of the use of translation and language in French class. This examination is done in the light of the dictates of official’s instructions and constraints of classroom practice. To investigate these factors, we used a methodology that combines the survey, questionnaire, interviews and analysis class.

Judicious modeling of an energy system can help provide insights as to how elements of the energy system might be configured in the longer term. The current and future electricity and water desalination systems of each GCC country were represented using a full-cost based optimization tool called MESSAGE and the following scenarios were examined: 1. The business as usual scenario (BAU): current energy system is extended into the future without any changes. The energy system structure and characteristics are kept the same. The fuel prices are also kept at the current subsidized levels. 2 - The netback-pricing scenario: all fuel costs are increased to the international market price. The freed amount of fuel is assumed to be available for export to the international market. Moreover, this scenario examines different carbon tax options of 0, 20,30 ,40 and 50 dollars per kilo tons of CO2 emissions. 3 - The Nuclear hub scenario: examines the idea of a “nuclear hub” state for the GCC region that can have all the “know-how” and logistics to provide sufficient nuclear energy for the GCC through the Interconnection Grid “GCCIG”. Results shows that fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in a least cost future for the region. This is due, in no small part, to the cheap natural gas resources in the GCC. Despite the high renewable energy technologies potential, their penetration – given the study assumptions - proved to be important, but limited in the GCC. On the other hand, nuclear energy shows clear economic potential.

This research was about the continuous intention of healthcare professionals to use internet of medical things (IoMT) embedded with artificial intelligence (AI). IoMT and AI are evolving innovations and diffusing at the same time. It was not known in what way the two complex technologies diffusing concurrently could influence continuous intention to use IoMT. In addition, behavioural aspects namely motivation and training to use IoMT have been argued to intervene in the relationship between an AI based IoMT and continuous intention to use IoMT. Diffusion of Innovation theory was applied to explain the relationship between diffusion factors that aid the diffusion of AI based IoMT and continuous intention to use IoMT. The five factors relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability and trialability were chosen as determinants of continuous intention to use IoMT using DoI theory. Self-determination theory and theory of planned behaviour were used to introduce the interventions in the relationship between diffusion factors and continuous intention to use IoMT. UTAUT was used to explain the influence of the moderators artificial intelligence awareness, novelty seeking behaviour and age of healthcare professionals. The central issue investigated was the determinants of continuous intention of healthcare professionals to use IoMT with behavioural attributes of motivation and training conceived as mediators of the relationship between diffusion factors and continuous intention to use IoMT in the presence of moderators. Quantitative research methodology was used to test the research model developed to understand the relationship between the five diffusion of innovation theory factors and continuous intention to use IoMT when AI based IoMT is still diffusing. The concurrent diffusion of two new technologies was investigated using a research model that was developed for studying the healthcare professionals and their intention. The research was conducted in Bahrain in the healthcare sector. A sample of 354 healthcare professionals participated in the research. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data and test the hypothesis. The research showed that healthcare professionals will continue to use concurrently diffusing technologies depending on the relative advantage, complexity and compatibility of the innovations that diffuse. In addition, the results show that healthcare professionals will be motivated by the compatibility of AI-based IoMT if they have to continuously use IoMT. Furthermore, training enables both the organization and the healthcare professionals to overcome dilemma in case they have to continue to use an innovation during its diffusion or when new innovation surface in the market. Finally, artificial intelligence awareness is able to moderate the relationship between relative advantage, complexity and training to use IoMT. Thus, this research contributes to the discipline of behavioural intention of healthcare professionals in determining the influence of an artificial intelligence based IoMT on continuous intention to use IoMT when artificial intelligence embedded in IoMT diffuses concurrently with IoMT. Where IoMT diffusion factors can be used as a determine of continuous intention to use IoMT, artificial intelligence could be understood as a moderator of the relationship between diffusion factors and training to use IoMT, thus demonstrating the combined diffusion of the two technologies diffusing concurrently.

This study examines how Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, both state-sponsored media, presented the Israeli prime minister’s first official visit to Bahrain in February 2022. The study aims to show differences in the written presentation of the same news in the light of the two different editorial positions of the two channels. The primary sources of analysis are four online published articles, two from Al-Jazeera and two from Al-Arabiya. The study applies qualitative content analysis and uses the discourse analytical ”What’s the problem represented to be” approach (WPR). WPR was used by posing the same predetermined questions to all articles to reveal differences in each channel’s presentation of the visit. The study finds that Al-Jazeera continues to highlight the negative aspects of Arab normalization with Israel, gives voice to oppositional actors who condemn normalization, and underlines the moral aspects of the visit. On the other hand, Al-Arabiya avoids mentioning any part of normalization or any negative element of such a controversial visit. Instead, Al-Arabiya focused on raising how Israel is now a defense partner in combating terrorism from Iran.