This thesis examines the decision to invade Iraq and the failed planning for the occupation of Iraq. Since Janis introduced groupthink in 1972, the groupthink perspective has been used to explain foreign policy disasters such as the failure to anticipate the Pearl Harbor attack and the Bay of Pigs. However, the groupthink perspective is not universally useful for explaining foreign policy mishaps. While some have attributed the Iraq war to groupthink, the groupthink perspective has not been systematically applied to these events. This thesis will examine Janis's original groupthink theory, and subsequent research that tested the effectiveness of the groupthink perspective. It will apply the groupthink perspective to the events leading up to the invasion of Iraq. It will also examine the failed planning for the occupation of Iraq. The application of the groupthink perspective to both the invasion decision and occupation planning suggests that groupthink was not the primary cause of either event. The thesis will conclude by describing alternative explanations for the decision to invade Iraq, such as ideological agenda setting, and other cognitive errors besides groupthink. / Master of Arts

Phenology of tetraploid Larrea tridentata was studied at four sites, one east and three west of Tucson, Pima County, Arizona in 1972-1974 and 1981. Leaf initiation, stem elongation, flower buds, flowers, maturing fruits and mature fruits were recorded at regular intervals on a sample of 10 tagged plants at each site. Quantitative production of maturing fruits on each sampled plant was estimated during the 1981 spring and summer seasons. The time required for individual new flowers to develop into mature fruits was determined for 1981. These phenological data were related to precipitation and temperature during 1972-1974 and 1981. Leaf initiation and stem elongation were continuously active on at least some parts of all sampled plants throughout the study, indicating year-round vegetative growth of Larrea in this part of the Sonoran Desert. One or more of the four reproductive phenophases were present throughout the 1972-1974 and 1981 periods. Flower buds were initiated during any time of the year. Spring flowering was the most dependable, summer flowering was frequent but less consistent and fall and winter flowerings were occasional, irregular and far more variable. Spring flowering persisted longer than summer flowering. Maturing fruit production was much greater in the spring than in the summer. Approximately 53 to 65 days were required in the spring and 42 to 47 days in the summer for new flowers to develop into mature fruits. Active vegetative growth invariably preceded the renewal of any reproductive activity. The emergence of flower buds appears to be triggered and sustained by the availability of sufficient soil moisture with minimal influence by temperature. However, higher temperatures tend to speed up the development of flower buds and flowers and fruit maturation. Differences in phenological responses among the four study sites appear to be caused mainly by local fluctuations in precipitation. The year-round vegetative growth activity and the frequent recurrence of reproductive activities observed in this study represent adaptive responses of Larrea to the biseasonal regime and the moderate winter temperatures characteristic of the northeastern portion of the Sonoran Desert.

À l’échelle macroscopique, à savoir celle du paysage, la couverture végétale des milieux arides apparaît comme fortement hétérogène. Cette organisation spatiale des peuplements est habituellement attribuée aux processus de facilitation et de compétition qui opèrent à l’échelle microscopique des individus végétaux. Le qualificatif d’auto-organisées fut donc attribué à ces végétations qui se structurent en l’absence d’hétérogénéité préexistante du milieu physique. L’auto-organisation de la végétation fut particulièrement bien étudiée dans le cas des structures périodiques connues dès les années '50 sous le nom de brousses tigrées. Depuis les années '90, un pas en avant dans la compréhension de ce phénomène fut accompli grâce au développement de modèles mécanistes de la dynamique de la phytomasse et des ressources, émanant du cadre théorique de l'auto-organisation des structures dissipatives. Ces modèles se rejoignent sur un ensemble de prédictions robustes et vérifiables concernant la formation, le maintien et la modulation par l'environnement des structures macroscopiques. Durant le même laps de temps, notre niveau d’analyse a connu une expansion sans précédent, à la fois dans le temps et dans l’espace, grâce au développement de l’imagerie satellitaire et des outils d’analyse spatiale. Nous nous trouvons dès lors à un moment charnière pour la validation macroscopique des théories d’auto-organisation des végétations en milieu aride. Le présent travail s'articule en quatre études, chacune traitant d'une prédiction différente. Nous avons mis en évidence les principales variables responsables de la formation des structures et de leur modulation en termes d’échelle et de géométrie. Enfin avons démontré la mobilité des structures sous l’effet d’une pente de terrain.

Orientalism in Bush administration and its influence over military intervention in Iraq Abstract Master's thesis focuses on the presence of orientalist elements in the Bush administration and their influence over the justification and execution of the military intervention in Iraq. These elements are orientalist construction of identities, civilizational mission, concept of oriental Muslim and concept of oriental woman. For this purpose, three research questions were formulated. 1) How the identity of Iraq was constructed to justify the intervention? 2) How the identity of USA was constructed to justify the intervention 3) Whether the Bush administration carried elements of orientalism, how did they present themselves and what amount of influence did they have over justification and execution of the military intervention in Iraq? The Fairclough three-dimensional model of critical discursive analysis was chosen in order to answer research questions. Analysis was focused on official speeches of three key representatives of Bush administration (G.W. Bush, D. Cheney, C. Powell) within the time period from the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 until the actual military intervention to Iraq on March 20th 2003. Based on the analysis the presence of orientalist construction of identities and civilizational...

This study is about the Bush-administration after the events of 9/11. Despite the fact that Israel-Palestine had no connection to 9/11 or Al-qaida, the Bush-administration changed their foreign policy regarding the Israel-Palestine issue. This thesis studies the motives behind the administration's change using a theoretical based motive analysis. The analysis intends to provide motive-based explanations with the help of international relations (IR) theory. To reduce the scope of the analysis, the thesis investigates if the security, identity and solidarity motives from the IR-theories realism and constructivism could be a possible cause for the change in policy. This study uses the Bush-administration’s own statements which were found at the White House archives, among others, to explore the motives correspondence. The analysis concludes that the motives: security,identity and solidarity, have been motives for the administration’s change in the Israel-Palestine issue and the motives have shown correspondence with reality. Both theories then show relevance for being able to study this issue and define motives from. This study also acknowledges the value of combining realism and constructivism to analyze this case.

No description available.

No description available.

In my thesis, I analyze the foreign policy of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama in 1989-2010. Upon comparing their China policies, I concluded that the approach of the United States to China is inconsistent, mainly due to the changing patterns of power, conflicting value systems and the growing importance of commercial interests in the relationship.

Le présent travail vise à comprendre la relation entre une société et son cinéma,entre la première puissance mondiale et la plus importante industrie cinématographique. La projection étant un mécanisme commun à la Nation et au cinéma, il s’agit de voir si un événement tel que 11 Septembre a produit un changement dans le cinéma américain. Dans un premier temps, le mouvement naturel des studios est d’effacer les tours qui apparaissaient dans des films tournés avant et dont la sortie était prévue peu de temps après. Parallèlement, des cinéastes décident d’aborder les attentats mais en les contournant,qui restent ainsi hors-champ, et il faut attendre 2006 pour que les événements du 11 septembre s’incarnent sur grand écran. Par ailleurs, si au lendemain des attentats l’unité nationale prévaut, les réalisateurs et producteurs prennent leurs distances avec la politique de Washington lorsque l’idée d’une guerre en Irak est avancée. Au moment où celle-ci propose une vision du monde binaire, Hollywood réalise des films abordant la relation entre les États-Unis et le Moyen-Orient ou sur la légitimité de la guerre.L’arrivée au pouvoir de Barack Obama en 2009 engendre différents changements,notamment le rapprochement entre Hollywood et Washington. Surtout, les stigmates du 11 septembre se retrouvent dans des films de science-fiction, qui proposent une interprétation du monde pas si éloignée du nôtre. Enfin, nous observons un retour à (la projection de) la puissance, comme si la mort de Ben Laden en 2011 mettait un terme au « cinéma américainpost-11 Septembre ». / This work aims to understand the relationship between a society and its cinema,between the world’s greatest power and the largest film industry. Projection is a common mechanism to the Nation and cinema, it comes to see if an event like September 11 produced a change in American cinema. First, the natural movement of the studios is to erase the towers that appeared in films made before and whose output was expected soon after. Meanwhile, some film makers decide to approach the attacks but by passing them which remain off-screen, and it was not until 2006 that the events of September 11 are embodied on the big screen. Besides, if national unity prevails at first, directors and producers are distancing themselves from Washington’s policy when the idea of a war inIraq is mentioned. When it sees the world in a binary way, Hollywood makes films aboutthe relationship between the US and the Middle East or about the legitimacy of the war.The coming to power of Barack Obama in 2009 generates different changes,including the connection between Hollywood and Washington. Above all, the stigma of September 11 are found in science fiction movies, offering an interpretation of the world not so far from ours. Finally, we see a return to (the projection of) power, as if the death of Bin Laden in 2011 was ending the « American cinema after September 11 ».

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:28:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bernardo Pereira de Lucena Rodrigues Guerra.pdf: 2065772 bytes, checksum: 8dc59fbda1134a24046d591f9f13a756 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-10 / The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of the battle against Terrorism and Terror on the Human Rights International Law. From the constitution of a mentality arisen post-Second World War, with its fundamental characteristics, and the most relevant Human Rights international instruments, it is asserted that Terrorism and the battle against Terror have represented an enormous challenge not the say the biggest one to Human Rights International Law. On the twenty-first century, humanity has witnessed the rebirth of an ancient phenomenon, re-dimensioned on its characteristics and proportions: the globalized and trans-national Terrorism. There are basically two actors directly related to contemporary Terrorism: the Islamic fundamentalism and the United States from George W. Bush doctrine. Although there are many international conventions about Terrorism, its provisions are not sufficient to combat the phenomenon, mainly due to the absence of an accurate and clear definition of Terrorism. The risks of a unilateral anti-Terrorism politics are extremely oppressive for humanity, as they are based on Human Rights violations, torture, and arbitrary detention of individuals for indefinite time, vilification on the innocence presumption, on the adversary system and on full defense. Not to mention the use of lies and the figure of the objective enemy as domination means. Considering this scenario, it is indispensible that the fight against Terrorism operates accordingly to Human Rights International Law, with full respect to Human Rights fundamental core and to the nondiscrimination principle, through the adoption of a global strategy against Terrorism, based on five principles. Humanity truly and deeply needs to experience the freedom from want, the freedom from fear and the freedom to live in dignity / O presente estudo tem por objetivo analisar a forma pela qual o combate ao Terrorismo e ao Terror tem impactado o Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos. Partindo da configuração da mentalidade emergente pós- Segunda Guerra mundial, com suas características fundamentais, e dos principais instrumentos internacionais de proteção dos Direitos Humanos, verifica-se que o Terrorismo e a luta contra o Terror têm representado um grande desafio - senão o maior deles ao Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos. Acontece que, em pleno século XXI, a humanidade tem testemunhado o ressurgir de um fenômeno antigo, redimensionado em suas características e proporções: o Terrorismo globalizado e transnacional. São basicamente dois atores diretamente relacionados ao Terrorismo contemporâneo: o fundamentalismo islâmico e os Estados Unidos da doutrina George W. Bush. Não obstante haja uma série de convenções internacionais que disciplinem o Terrorismo, suas disposições não se afiguram como sendo suficientes para combatê-lo, principalmente pela ausência de uma definição clara e precisa de atos terroristas. São assaz gravosos para a humanidade os riscos de uma política unilateral de combate ao Terrorismo, baseada na violação de Direitos Humanos, na prática da tortura, na detenção arbitrária de pessoas por tempo indeterminado, no vilipêndio à presunção de inocência, aos princípios do contraditório e da ampla defesa. Ainda mais utilizando- se do uso da mentira e da figura do inimigo objetivo como forma de dominação. Para tanto, indispensável que o combate ao Terrorismo se opere sob a égide do Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos, no mais amplo respeito do núcleo inderrogável dos Direitos Humanos e do princípio da não discriminação, por meio da adoção de uma estratégia global de combate a esse fenômeno. Afinal de contas, a humanidade precisa, verdadeiramente, experienciar a liberdade livre de necessidades, a liberdade livre do medo e a liberdade de viver na mais plena dignidade