自一九四八年以色列建國以來, 美國和以色列便已建立外交關係,從布魯 門到布希, 先後歷經九位總統, 美以雙方在彼此認定的利益上,建立了錯 縱複雜的雙邊關係。用傳統的權力理論, 並無法解釋美以關係作為分析美 以關係的軸線, 用美以關係的發展為背景, 探討美國對以色列政策的演變 。除了對杜魯門到卡特時期略作分析之外, 本文特別將重點放在美以關係 最密切的雷根政府時期與最疏遠的布希政府時期。

<p>Det var med anledning av att valet i USA återigen vanns av George W Bush som min frågeställning formades. Vad är det som gör att den så kallade kristna högern mycket medvetet stödjer Bush i dennes strävan efter att styra världens mäktigaste land? Vad är det i den amerikanska kulturen som har medfört ytterligare en valseger för George W Bush? Det är också intressant i sammanhanget varför just Bush favoriseras av den kristna högern och inte hans kombattant John F Kerry som också säger sig vara religiös, dock katolik till skillnad mot Bush som är frikyrklig.</p>

The incarceration rate in the United States has increased dramatically in the period since 1945. How did the United States move from having stable incarceration rates in line with global norms to the largest system of incarceration in the world? This study examines the political and intellectual aspects of incarceration and theories of criminal justice by looking at the contributions of journalists, intellectuals and policy makers to the debate on whether the purpose of the justice system is rehabilitation, vengeance, deterrence or incapacitation. This thesis finds that justice and the institution of the prison itself are not immutable facts of modern civilization, but are human institutions vulnerable to the influence of politics, culture and current events.

My thesis looks into the events leading up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. In particular I investigate the intelligence regarding the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and how that intelligence was interpreted by the Bush administration. Furthermore, I look at how the case for war was presented by the Bush administration to the rest of the world and whether or not the administration’s reasoning was justified. In conclusion I assess the underlying motive for the war in Iraq and whether or not it was in the best interest of the United States of America.

Dans cet essai, nous nous attarderons à lever le voile sur les motifs psychologiques qui peuvent expliquer la décision de G. W. Bush d'intervenir en Irak. Nous partirons du fait que la psychologie d'un individu façonne toujours les décisions qu'il prend. En ce sens, la conduite de la politique étrangère n'échappe pas à ce phénomène décisionnel. L'auteur Valerie M. Hudson dans son approche théorique' met l'accent sur la psychologie du décideur dans sa prise de décision quant à l'orientation que prendra sa politique étrangère. Cette technique de recherche soutient que les motifs d'un décideur doivent êtres décryptés par l'opérationnalisation de certaines variables psychologiques précises. Ces dernières empruntent la bannière des constructions psychologiques, des filtres cognitifs, des traits de personnalité et de l'incidence de l'environnement contextuel. En d'autres mots, par la revue de l'impact des événements charnières et des relations interpersonnelles marquantes dans l'existence d'un leader politique, nous sommes en mesure de comprendre la prise de décision d'aller déloger le régime de Saddam Hussein. À ce titre, nos recherches indiquent que trois composantes psychologiques furent prédominantes dans la psyché de G. W. Bush et leur description est fondamentale pour comprendre la décision d'intervenir en Irak sous l'angle de la perception individuelle. Ainsi, pour la Guerre en Irak, une croyance messianique chez G. W. Bush aura agi comme catalyseur décisionnel après le 11 septembre 2001, une vision manichéenne issue de ses croyances religieuses aura divisé le monde en deux camps opposés, et enfin, une personnalité basée sur l'instinct aura poussé le 43e président à envoyer ses troupes pour renverser Saddam Hussein. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Prise de décision, Guerre en Irak, Approche hudsonienne, Psychologie perceptuelle et cognitive de G. W. Bush, Messianisme, Manichéisme, Instinct décisionnel.

Abstract Title:     Irakkriget 030320 – en komparativ studie av svensk och amerikansk nyhetsrapportering. (Iraq war 030320 – a Comparative Study of Swedish and American Newsreport)   Author:     Catherine Lundahl   Tutor:     Christian Christensen   Course:     Media and Communication C – Bachelor Thesis   University:     Uppsala Universitet   Keywords:     Iraq war, framing, war journalism, propaganda, Swedish press, American press, democracy, totalitarianism, president Bush, president Hussein, the UN, victims.     Aim The purpose with this essay is to compare the Swedish and American press during the 2003 Iraq war newsreport. Focus is put on the framework of news each country presents. Material/Methodology The essay represent a selection of articles during the week before the invasion 030313-030320 which delimited to a material of 20 newsarticles from each country. The essay represent a methodology based on the critical discourse analysis. Theoretical perspectives The essay leans on the theory of framing which is a common and well suitable theory for war journalism. The theory’s purpose has delimited to focus on the frameworks of the newsreport and not the frames affect of the public opinion. Conclusion The essay reveals both differences and similarities between the Swedish and American news frames. The most articulated similarity between the countries articles were the “evil” framing of president Saddam Hussein as well as the framing of the opposite relationship between democracy and totalitarianism. Indicators of propaganda reflected the most articulated differences between each country where the Swedish press neglected this kind of news framing. Other articulated differences reflected framing of president Bush as well as the civil Iraqi people as victims.

Det var med anledning av att valet i USA återigen vanns av George W Bush som min frågeställning formades. Vad är det som gör att den så kallade kristna högern mycket medvetet stödjer Bush i dennes strävan efter att styra världens mäktigaste land? Vad är det i den amerikanska kulturen som har medfört ytterligare en valseger för George W Bush? Det är också intressant i sammanhanget varför just Bush favoriseras av den kristna högern och inte hans kombattant John F Kerry som också säger sig vara religiös, dock katolik till skillnad mot Bush som är frikyrklig.

The US-Israel relations were based on the US political and strategic interests in the Middle East. The beginning of relations resulted from the Israel&rsquo / s strategic importance for United States to contain the Soviet sponsored-communism and its location to easy access oil reserves. The bilateral relation, especially after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, was transformed into a special relation. However, following the election of George Bush as President of the US, the US-Israeli relations rose and reached its peak in the 8-year period of his Administration. For that reason, this thesis aims at analyzing the role of the Jewish lobbies, in the context of the US-Israeli relations from 1948 to 2008, particular focusing on the Bush Administration period. This study tries to answer the question of to what extent does the Jewish lobby influence foreign policy or to what extent does the Jewish lobby has the relative strength of influence than other ethnic groups or lobbies in the US foreign policy-making process is another aim of this study. This thesis argues that the Jewish lobby has been highly affectively to influence the US foreign policy-making process. In addition, it also argues that the US foreign policy is based on importance of presidency and therefore it is impossible to explain American foreign policy without highlighting the personality and belief system of Presidents.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Terri Fine. Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-123).

Uncertainty of predicted change in precipitation frequency and intensity motivates the scientific community to better understand, quantify, and model the possible outcome of dryland ecosystems. In pulse dependent ecosystems (i.e. monsoon driven) soil moisture is tightly linked to atmospheric processes. Here, I analyze three overarching questions; Q1) How does soil moisture presence or absence in a shallow or deep layer influence the surface energy budget and planetary boundary layer characteristics?, Q2) What is the role of vegetation on ecosystem albedo in the presence or absence of deep soil moisture?, Q3) Can we develop empirical relationships between soil moisture and the planetary boundary layer height to help evaluate the role of future precipitation changes in land surface atmosphere interactions?. To address these questions I use a conceptual framework based on the presence or absence of soil moisture in a shallow or deep layer. I define these layers by using root profiles and establish soil moisture thresholds for each layer using four years of observations from the Santa Rita Creosote Ameriflux site. Soil moisture drydown curves were used to establish the shallow layer threshold in the shallow layer, while NEE (Net Ecosystem Exchange of carbon dioxide) was used to define the deep soil moisture threshold. Four cases were generated using these thresholds: Case 1, dry shallow layer and dry deep layer; Case 2, wet shallow layer and dry deep layer; Case 3, wet shallow layer and wet deep layer, and Case 4 dry shallow and wet deep layer. Using this framework, I related data from the Ameriflux site SRC (Santa Rita Creosote) from 2008 to 2012 and from atmospheric soundings from the nearby Tucson Airport; conducted field campaigns during 2011 and 2012 to measure albedo from individual bare and canopy patches that were then evaluated in a grid to estimate the influence of deep moisture on albedo via vegetation cover change; and evaluated the potential of using a two-layer bucket model and empirical relationships to evaluate the link between deep soil moisture and the planetary boundary layer height under changing precipitation regime. My results indicate that (1) the presence or absence of water in two layers plays a role in surface energy dynamics, (2) soil moisture presence in the deep layer is linked with decreased ecosystem albedo and planetary boundary layer height, (3) deep moisture sustains vegetation greenness and decreases albedo, and (4) empirical relationships are useful in modeling planetary boundary layer height from dryland ecosystems. Based on these results we argue that deep soil moisture plays an important role in land surface-atmosphere interactions.