The just war is an ethical notion justifying, under certain circumstances, participation in war. The just-war notion has been part of Western thought from the earliest times, and persists to this day in the writings of Michael Walzer and other philosophers. This dissertation explores the middle history of the just-war idea, the post-classical and pre-modern era--from the time of Christ to the rise of the Renaissance. I examine the origins and early development of this notion starting with an ideological analysis of the New Testament and Apocryphal Gospels. The scriptures indicate a diverse, multifaceted tableau of attitudes toward war, ranging from pacifism to acceptance and admiration for the Roman military. This diversity of attitude is corroborated by the surviving funeral inscriptions and papyri of casual correspondence between Christian soldiers and their families, which show no moral compunction about military service. I have concluded that the evidence for Christian participation in the Roman military in the century before Constantine is clear and convincing. The patristic literature before Constantine is divided; while some writers espoused pacifism, others were open to the ethical possibility of military service by Christians, thus preparing the groundwork for the articulation of the just war. The history of the idea of the just war can be pictured as a circular, revolving process, from an ideological preparation for military involvement in the earliest days of Christianity and gradual involvement and ultimately full participation in the Roman military under Constantine. Ambrose and Augustine provided the foundation for this process by Christianizing the Ciceronian concept of just war. However, the history of the just war is not a perfect circle. While Leo I, Gregory I and Isidore ignored Augustine's sanction of the just war, the canon lawyers of the eleventh century revived Augustine. Thomas Aquinas, with Aristotelian thoroughness, gave this concept free and unbridled power, only to have it revert to its origins in secular international law after the Council of Constance.

In the northeastern United States--as elsewhere--an overemphasis on cultural-historical ceramic typologies and ceramic decoration by archaeologists has stymied research along other axes of ceramic variation. For example, little attention has been paid to the sequence of choices made by potters during the production process. The goal of this study is to examine the complex relationships among technical choices, historical context, and society during the Late Woodland period (1000-1600 A.D.) in the middle or Massachusetts portion of the Connecticut Valley. Ceramic assemblages from two New England Algonquian sites and one Mohawk Iroquois site are examined using an attribute analysis of technical choice. The attributes selected for analysis reflect choices made by potters along the production sequence: paste characteristics, vessel morphology, construction techniques, surface treatments, and firing conditions. Differences between Algonquian and Iroquoian ceramic attributes are interpreted as embodiments of profound differences in technical systems, which include intended function, the context and scale of production, and stylistic signaling. Since the two groups were interacting and sharing information during the Late Woodland period, Connecticut Valley Algonquians had access to similar kinds of cultural knowledge and technologies. Nevertheless, rather than becoming sedentary farmers, forming extensive and rigid social structures, and producing large, thin-walled, cooking pots like the Iroquois, Connecticut Valley peoples maintained fluid and mutable subsistence, settlement, and social relationships that are reflected in the their diverse and flexible ceramic traditions. Instead of assuming that New England Algonquians were not as culturally or technologically advanced as the Iroquois, I suggest that they can be understood as active agents of their own social change. As such, they made decisions concerning subsistence, settlement, and social structure. As potters, they made choices in ceramic production that both reflected and affected these decisions.

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The current world population of Muslims is in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 billion (20% of the world¡¦s population), and their numbers are spread out over various geographical areas and religious groups. After the Cold War, America has experienced several international conflicts with the Islamic world at large. Huntington, an American scholar, wrote a thesis ¡§The Clash of Civilizations¡¨ to explain the cause of conflict. While there are significant culture differences, it is difficult to conclude that it is a simple case of conflict in culture. Upon closer inspection of the conflict situation, we find that the American dispute with the Islamic world has largely been focused on the Middle-Eastern group of countries. It would be dangerous to take a stand point that the basis of conflict is in terms of culture, because it over-simplifies the situation and leaves an undesirable stereotype on the Islamic civilization. Using a historical sociology perspective, the author found that there have been several different changes at different times in the international relationship between the American and Middle-Eastern Islamic countries after the Cold War. In fact, before the Cold War, Afghanistan was a crucial ally in the Anti-Soviet movement. It is therefore worth pondering why Afghanistan became the first Middle-Eastern country target in the war against terrorism. This thesis serves to use a geo-political perspective to further examine and explain the intricate transitions and changes in the American-Islamic relationship, in order to demonstrate that the conflict is a struggle for power, rather than a mere ¡§Clash of Civilizations¡¨ as in Huntington¡¦s paper.

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The Role of Religion in Ancient Civilizations: Select Readings addresses the importance of religion in ancient civilizations and encourages readers to evaluate these civilizations both historically and critically. The selected readings help readers understand civilizations as whole systems with not only social and political characteristics, but also religious ones. Topics include the establishment of patriarchal civilizations, Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion, and the early civilizations of Northwest India. Students also learn about the religions of ancient China and Japan, traditional African religions and belief systems, religion and burial in Roman Britain, and the great temples of Meso-American religions. The final selections are devoted to early Christianity, the Byzantine Empire, and Islam. Original introductions place the readings in context. Taken as a whole, these carefully curated articles demonstrate both the uniqueness of each religion and the traditions and practices that, over time, became interconnected and sometimes even fused to form new religions. The Role of Religion in Ancient Civilizations is well-suited to survey courses in world and ancient religions, as well as classes on religious history and the history of the ancient world. Kim Woodring earned her M.A. in history at East Tennessee State University and her M.L.I.S. in library and information science at the University of Tennessee. She is now a faculty member at East Tennessee State University where she teaches courses in American and world history and digital history. In addition to teaching, Professor Woodring also serves as the history department's webpage administrator and social media editor. Her professional writing has appeared in The Social Science of War Encyclopedia and Historical Archaeology. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1162/thumbnail.jpg

The dissertation explores the conflict between interests and values, manifested in the European Union‘s policy in Uzbekistan. EU has sound economic and political interests in Central Asia, however their implementation is often hindered by a dissension on values. The differences in ideologies and political cultures between the EU and Uzbekistan lead to the situation where further unilateral emphasis on values and principles may cause a buildup of tension in relations. Analysis of the EU-Uzbekistan relations implies, that dominant thinking on the EU‘s side is to take the growing tension in relations with Uzbekistan as temporal situational difficulties, which are supposed to cease as soon as the leadership of Uzbekistan will accept proposed standard schemes of cooperation, including inter alia, the continuous implementation of principles of democracy in various spheres of life of the society and the state. On the other hand, the analysis does not uncover any evidence in favour of the assumption that such temporal situation would change anytime soon. This brings into question both the approaches, providing a ground for the EU‘s policy in Uzbekistan, and the expectations for outcomes of such a policy. Methodologically, dissertation stays within the stream of qualitative-interpretive tradition. It employs the method of civilizational analysis, aiming to explain the role of values in the relations between states, belonging to different civilizations, and how they can cause the... [to full text] / Disertacija tiria vertybių ir interesų konfliktą, pasireiškiantį Europos Sąjungos politikoje Uzbekistane. Europos Sąjunga Centrinėje Azijoje turi ekonominių ir politinių interesų, tačiau jų įgyvendinimas dažnokai stringa dėl vertybinio pobūdžio nesutarimų tarp ES ir Uzbekistano. Panašu, jog ideologijų ir politinių kultūrų skirtumai tarp Uzbekistano ir Europos Sąjungos sąlygoja situaciją, kai pernelyg stiprus vertybinio dėmens akcentavimas tolydžio didina įtampą tarpusavio santykiuose. Nagrinėjant šiuos santykius ryškėja, jog ES vyrauja tendencija žvelgti į įtampos didėjimą santykiuose su Uzbekistanu kaip į laikiną reiškinį, o ES iškylančias kliūtis siekti interesų Centrinėje Azijoje, vertinti kaip laikinus situacinius sunkumus. Abu šie reiškiniai lyg ir turėtų išnykti, kai tik Uzbekistanas sutiks priimti siūlomas standartines bendradarbiavimo schemas, apimančias be kita ko ir nuoseklų demokratijos principų diegimą visose valstybės ir visuomenės gyvenimo srityse. Kita vertus, tyrinėjant ES – Uzbekistano santykius, sunku atrasti tokio laikinumo prielaidų. Todėl iškyla klausimas apie ES požiūrio, lūkesčių bei jais besiremiančios politikos Centrinėje Azijoje pagrįstumą. Metodologiniu požiūriu, disertacija orientuojama kokybine-interpretacine linkme. Vertybių vaidmuo santykiuose tarp valstybių, priklausančių skirtingoms civilizacijoms, nagrinėjamas naudojant civilizacijų analizės metodą. Siekiama išsiaiškinti ar vertybės gali sąlygoti neatitikimą tarp valstybės užsienio politikos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Disertacija tiria vertybių ir interesų konfliktą, pasireiškiantį Europos Sąjungos politikoje Uzbekistane. Europos Sąjunga Centrinėje Azijoje turi ekonominių ir politinių interesų, tačiau jų įgyvendinimas dažnokai stringa dėl vertybinio pobūdžio nesutarimų tarp ES ir Uzbekistano. Panašu, jog ideologijų ir politinių kultūrų skirtumai tarp Uzbekistano ir Europos Sąjungos sąlygoja situaciją, kai pernelyg stiprus vertybinio dėmens akcentavimas tolydžio didina įtampą tarpusavio santykiuose. Nagrinėjant šiuos santykius ryškėja, jog ES vyrauja tendencija žvelgti į įtampos didėjimą santykiuose su Uzbekistanu kaip į laikiną reiškinį, o ES iškylančias kliūtis siekti interesų Centrinėje Azijoje, vertinti kaip laikinus situacinius sunkumus. Abu šie reiškiniai lyg ir turėtų išnykti, kai tik Uzbekistanas sutiks priimti siūlomas standartines bendradarbiavimo schemas, apimančias be kita ko ir nuoseklų demokratijos principų diegimą visose valstybės ir visuomenės gyvenimo srityse. Kita vertus, tyrinėjant ES – Uzbekistano santykius, sunku atrasti tokio laikinumo prielaidų. Todėl iškyla klausimas apie ES požiūrio, lūkesčių bei jais besiremiančios politikos Centrinėje Azijoje pagrįstumą. Metodologiniu požiūriu, disertacija orientuojama kokybine-interpretacine linkme. Vertybių vaidmuo santykiuose tarp valstybių, priklausančių skirtingoms civilizacijoms, nagrinėjamas naudojant civilizacijų analizės metodą. Siekiama išsiaiškinti ar vertybės gali sąlygoti neatitikimą tarp valstybės užsienio politikos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The dissertation explores the conflict between interests and values, manifested in the European Union‘s policy in Uzbekistan. EU has sound economic and political interests in Central Asia, however their implementation is often hindered by a dissension on values. The differences in ideologies and political cultures between the EU and Uzbekistan lead to the situation where further unilateral emphasis on values and principles may cause a buildup of tension in relations. Analysis of the EU-Uzbekistan relations implies, that dominant thinking on the EU‘s side is to take the growing tension in relations with Uzbekistan as temporal situational difficulties, which are supposed to cease as soon as the leadership of Uzbekistan will accept proposed standard schemes of cooperation, including inter alia, the continuous implementation of principles of democracy in various spheres of life of the society and the state. On the other hand, the analysis does not uncover any evidence in favour of the assumption that such temporal situation would change anytime soon. This brings into question both the approaches, providing a ground for the EU‘s policy in Uzbekistan, and the expectations for outcomes of such a policy. Methodologically, dissertation stays within the stream of qualitative-interpretive tradition. It employs the method of civilizational analysis, aiming to explain the role of values in the relations between states, belonging to different civilizations, and how they can cause the... [to full text]

The purpose of my thesis was to counter Samuel Huntington’s argument that the world’s conflict is over differing civilizations, religions, or cultures. Whether or not religion is declining or growing, it cannot be used to portray the world in a 'cosmic war,' or a battle between 'good and evil'. Natural resources, not religions, rest at the basis for the Islamic fundamentalist and militant movement due to its response to the Western structural pressures that are modernizing Muslim societies. Oil and water become vital tools for exercising power and authority of one nation over another, and are identified as the true culprits for a conflict that is often furtively concealed.