Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / In this thesis, I examine household strategies in response to water level fluctuations of Lake Chilwa. I also analyse the frequency and patterns of migration of fishers, conflicts due to migration of fishers and comanagement. The following are the key results:First, the seasonal and periodic lake level changes affect livelihoods of the households. As a coping strategy, the households depend on fishing in pools of water located in influent rivers and hunt birds for income and food while others migrate to find work as casual labourers. When the lake rises during the rain season, inundated areas become suitable for production of maize and rice. However, when the floods recede in the dry season, farming of winter maize and vegetables is common.Second, migration of fishers is common around Lake Chilwa. The pattern of migration varies according to the season and gear type. The northern marshes and floodplain where fishers land the highest catches composed mainly of Barbus paludinosus, attract more fishers operating different fishing gear types. Conflicts emerge due to the Nkacha seine operations,which require removal of aquatic vegetation. The local fishers believe that the aquatic vegetation is a source of food for fish. The conflicts are in various forms including access to fishing grounds, authority to grant access to fishing areas and fish price competition between the local fishers and migrants.Third, the household strategies towards recovery of the fishery after recessions are inherent within the households’ traditional system.However, the introduction of co-management does not recognise key actors that include fishers and river-based fishing households that participated in the formulation of conservation strategies for remnant fish stocks in lagoon and rivers during the 1995 recession. Co-management is characterised by limited participation of the fishers especially those operating seines, district assemblies and non-governmental organisations. Similarly, there is low transparency especially with respect to how the key stakeholders, Department of Fisheries and traditional leaders, take decisions. In stark contrast, accountability among Beach Village Sub- Committees is growing; hence more fishing households now perceive these as representing the interests of Department of Fisheries.Based on the above results, a diversified occupational change involving fishing, farming and trading is necessary. The co-management arrangement should be adaptive with consideration of the traditional customs and values of the participating households. Since these households are dependent on the availability of fisheries, it is thus imperative to promote maximum resource exploitation in between recessions and encourage a complete stop to fishing during recessions.September 2009

This study examines the extent to which principal-principal agency conflicts within venture capital (VC) syndicates lead to additional principal-agent conflicts in IPO firms in two institutional contexts. Using a matched sample of 274 VC-backed IPOs in the US and the UK, it shows that the diversity of a VC syndicate increases pre-IPO discretionary current accruals, used as a proxy for earnings management, but the impact of such diversity is higher in the US. There is also evidence of higher underpricing and lower aftermarket performance in firms with higher earnings management and VC diversity, and these negative performance effects are also higher in the US. Our findings indicate that local and informal institutions have a significant effect on multiple agency conflicts in IPO firms and performance outcomes.

ENJEUX ÉTHIQUES ET ESTHÉTIQUES DE QUELQUES REPRÉSENTATIONS LITTÉRAIRES DES CONFLITS AU PROCHE-ORIENT AU XXe SIÈCLERésumé : Le corpus à partir duquel cette thèse construit sa réflexion est composé des œuvres de :Myriam ANTAKI, Les Versets du pardon, en1999 ; d’Anouar BENMALEK, L'Amour loup, en 2002 ; de Hubert HADDAD, Palestine, en 2007 ; de Sahar KHALIFA, Chronique du figuier barbare, en 1978 ; de Jean-Marie Gustave LE CLÉZIO, Étoile errante, en 1992 ; de S. YIZHAR, (Sipur Hirbet Hiza, 1949), Hirbat-Hiza, en 2010 (trad. franç.).Pour ces écrivains, les crises apparaissent comme un puissant générateur d'écriture et permettent d’apprécier selon différents points de vue les conflits du Moyen Orient. En effet, d'aires géographiques et culturelles différentes, les auteurs retenus sont tous sensibles aux questions de conflits qui fragilisent cette partie du monde, leur écriture est un moment intense qui invite le lecteur à plonger dans cette histoire. Cette thèse ambitionne donc d’investir, à partir de six textes littéraires contemporains français et francophones, les conflits du Proche-Orient en général et singulièrement le conflit qui oppose l’État d’Israël aux Arabes palestiniens à partir de 1948 date à laquelle le statut des Juifs a été transformé par la création d’un État et où parallèlement celui des Palestiniens a été transformé en statut de peuple sans terre. Si la thématique pointe le Proche-Orient dans son ensemble, la lecture est davantage orientée sur le conflit israélo-palestinien comme générateur principal des guerres qui se jouent dans cette partie du monde depuis 1946 ; étant entendu que la majorité des conflits du Proche-Orient sont inextricablement liés les uns aux autres et tirent leurs origines dans la question palestinienne. Cette réflexion ne prétend pas résoudre ou trouver des solutions aux problèmes que connaît le Proche-Orient : telle n'est pas l'intention de la littérature. Les textes affrontent l’Histoire mais exposent, par des moyens littéraires et romanesques, ces tensions en représentations possibles de la vie des peuples et des sociétés en jeu. Elle propose un point de vue sur des écritures en quête d’altérité tout à la fois esthétique, éthique et épistémique, et tente d’apprécier la lucidité des personnages toujours à la recherche de l’Autre, afin de poser de nouveaux rapports entre Juifs israéliens et Arabes palestiniens. Non plus des rapports conflictuels de haine et d’intolérance mais des rapports de considération et de reconnaissance réciproque.Mots-clés : représentation, Shoah, Nakba, altérité, relation, éthique / Ethnic and aesthetic issues of literary representations of conflicts in the Middle-East during the twentieth centurySummary:The program (corpus) around which the reflexion this thesis revolves, is based on the literary books below:Myriam ANTAKI, Les Versets du pardon, 1999 ; Anouar BENMALEK, L’Amour loup, 2002 ; Hubert HADDAD, Palestine, 2007 ; Sahar KHALIFA, Chronique du figuier barbare, 1978 ; Jean-Marie Gustave LE CLÉZIO, Étoile errante, 1992; S. YIZHAR, (SipurHibertHiza, 1949), Hirbat-Hiza, 2010 (French trad.).For these writers, crisis acts as a powerful source of inspiration for their artworks and enable us to look upon and appreciate from numerous points of view the conflicts occurring in the Middle-East. Indeed, coming from different geographical and cultural regions of the world, the authors quoted above are significantly conscious about the conflict matters which disrupt this particular part of the world. And their writings enable the reader to experience a real submersion in this particular world. Thus theaim of this thesis, based on these six contemporary, modern literary artworks, is to commit to these conflicts of the Middle-East and have an overview of the matter, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which aroused from the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and intercommunal violence in Mandatory Palestine between Jews and Arabs. Despite the fact that the theme aims the Middle-East in general, the argument is focused on the Israeli-Palestine conflict. The latter being the main source of conflict and wars occurring in this part of the world since 1946, provided that the majority of these conflict matters are inextricably linked to each other and furthermore that they erupted due to the Palestinian matter in particular. This thesis will not attempt to solve or provide answers to the problems faced in the Middle-East: it is not the aim of literature. The texts face History but, by means of literary and Romanesque writings, they provide an overview, a picture of the lives of these societies, these nations out there. It provides with an angle on and about writings in search of otherness in both an aesthetic and ethnic way and furthermore in an epistemological way. Also, the latter tries to appreciate the lucidity of the characters which are in an everlasting search of otherness, in order to alight new relations between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. No more conflictual relationships based on hatred and intolerance but relationships based on mutual consideration, appreciation and acknowledgement.Key words: representation, Shoah, Nakba, otherness, relationship, ethnic

This study is about South Africa’s diplomatic initiatives in the DRC from 1990 to 2009. It concentrates on the implementation of the transitional phase to prepare for the elections in 2006 and the implementation of the post conflict reconstruction and development (PCRD) projects from 2006 onwards. The study argues that South Africa’s ability to facilitate peace which ended a full-scale war in the DRC should be highly commended as one of its diplomatic achievements. Its experience of negotiations and mediation to end apartheid has placed it in a favourable position amongst other global players. It supported its ambition of ensuring that the development of the African Continent is prioritized on the global agenda. However, South Africa does not have any experience in transitional diplomacy and this study has highlighted that it needs sufficient capacity and strategies first before it engages in it. Such capacity should be informed by a full understanding of the receiving country in order to prepare the diplomats accordingly. Clarity of South Africa’s national interest in pursuing transitional diplomacy seems weak and therefore confuses ‘teams on the ground’ as they are not always sure how to manouvre within a very complex and highly contested country like the DRC. The role of the international community, members of the Great Lakes and the Congolese population has been highlighted as being critical to assist the DRC to achieve stability and sustainable peace. Without political will and leadership from the DRC leaders themselves, all diplomatic efforts will be futile. Ten years is a very short time to assess the success of post-conflict reconstruction activities but useful lessons have been drawn from this evaluation. They have enhanced our understanding of transitional diplomacy and some of them can be used as models and guidelines which will improve intervention in future projects. / Dissertation (MDiplomatic Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

Le continent africain est aujourd’hui le théâtre de nombreux conflits caractérisés par une distribution inégale des « ressources naturelles ». Il est aujourd’hui avéré que les risques environnementaux tels que la pollution, les changements climatiques, ou la désertification font peser une menace supplémentaire sur les populations et les écosystèmes afférents. Le débat sur la « sécurité environnementale » a connu une expansion fulgurante en l'espace d'une vingtaine d'années, d'où tout notre intérêt de comprendre ses origines, ses fondements et les différents discours s’étant construits autour de cette notion. Pour autant le concept de « conflits verts » n’a jamais été analysé en profondeur en tenant compte des nombreux exemples touchant le continent africain, et ceci à la lumière de la constitution d’une nouvelle typologie afin de capturer ces nouveaux conflits contemporains d’une manière davantage efficiente.Notre recherche se donne ainsi pour objectif de comprendre en quoi et comment l’ « environnement » et les « ressources naturelles » comme nouveaux facteurs de puissance ont influé les conflits africains aux cours des dernières décennies. Nous aurons à cœur de mettre en lumière l’évolution du concept traditionnel de « sécurité » sur la base des discours changeants parmi les milieux politiques du XXe siècle. Enfin ceci impliquera par essence des discussions tenant à une amélioration de l’efficacité des mécanismes de prévention et de résolution tels qu’appréhendés aujourd’hui par la Communauté internationale, la création des « casques verts » et la notion de « crime environnemental » démontrant les limites en la matière. / Today the African continent is the heart of many conflicts characterized by an uneven distribution of “natural resources”. It is proven that the associated environmental risks such as pollution, climate change, and desertification pose an additional threat to the affected populations and ecosystems. The debate on “environmental security” has expanded tremendously in the space of twenty years, and our interest is thus to try to understand its origins, foundations and the various discourses built around this concept. The notion of “green conflicts” has never been thoroughly analyzed taking into account the many examples affecting the African continent, nor has this been done in the light of the construction of a new typology aimed at capturing these new contemporary conflicts in a more efficient manner. Thus our research aims to give an understanding of how “environment” and “natural resources” have become new factors of power that have influenced African armed conflicts in the recent decades. We wish to highlight the evolution of the traditional concept of security to one of “environmental security” based on the changing discourse among politicians of the 20th century. We will then naturally turn to discussions concerning the improvement of prevention effectiveness methods and the resolution of these new conflicts as faced by the international community, as well the creation of a “green helmets” force and the notion of “environmental crime”, both demonstrating the limitations we are still confronted to on this topic.

Teoretical aspects of family business. Analyse of historic roots of family business. Possible development of family business in the Czech republic. Family wars and conflicts in family business. Situation analyses of three particular family firms in the region of West Bohemia and conception of their development.

The graduation thesis describes some problems of Africa in last 50 years and it pays special attention to the case of Rwanda. It contains also a short history of the african continent as the roots of many conflits have originated hundreds of years ago. It concretely describes 6 african countries: Somalia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda and a special chapter is dedicated to the civil war and genocide in Rwanda.

This thesis demonstrates a comparative and analytic discussion of citizenship idea based on two distinct liberal doctrines of two contemporary political philosophers: Brian Barry and William Galston. Barry's egalitarian liberalism argues for 'common citizenship' notion in order to promote liberty and equal treatment of all individuals irrespective of any social differences. On the other hand, 'liberal pluralist citizenship' of William Galston's signifies his liberal pluralism to mitigate cultural and religious conflicts of liberal democratic society. The fundamental disagreements among these liberal approaches over the issues of public recognition of group rights and restricted state authority are analysed in this study. Finally, by analysing both the liberal positions under the challenge of multicultural issues the author defends Galston's liberal idea and judges it as more convincing than Barry's liberal approach.

Le développement portuaire est mis en perspective à partir des ports de Calcutta, la troisième métropole de l’Inde par sa population. L’objet d’analyse est le phénomène de régionalisation portuaire en Inde, défini par une gouvernance portuaire qui lui est propre. La recherche articule géographie portuaire, géographie régionale et géographie économique dans une démarche qui permet d’appréhender la gouvernance portuaire en Inde, ainsi que la relation métropole-port. Elle interroge ainsi deux notions en géographie portuaire : la régionalisation et la gouvernance portuaires en Inde. La thèse montre que la régionalisation portuaire s’insère dans les évolutions de la gouvernance portuaire qui caractérise Calcutta. Elle souligne la pertinence de la notion de gouvernance portuaire comme catégorie analytique du phénomène de régionalisation portuaire, comme processus et comme enjeu politico-socio-économique. Par ailleurs, le rôle joué par la gouvernance portuaire dans le rapport métropole-port est mis en évidence par l’étude des choix économiques ouvertement néolibéraux en opposition aux couleurs politiques du gouvernement du Bengale occidental, communiste depuis 1977. Dans ce contexte spécifique au Bengale occidental, la régionalisation portuaire évolue à travers une succession d’étapes marquées par l’initiation de réformes faisant progressivement appel à la participation des capitaux privés. En Inde, les décisions prises en matière de réformes portuaires, souvent au détriment des populations les plus vulnérables (paysans), ne sont pas sans poser de problèmes sociaux, qui ont déjà évolué vers de graves conflits entre ces populations et les acteurs impliqués dans la question portuaire. A Calcutta, les enjeux du développement portuaire régional posent la question de la place de ses ports comme outil de développement pour cette région de l’Inde, pays d’Asie du Sud devenu puissance émergente sur la scène internationale. / Port development is put into perspective from the ports of Calcutta, the third metropolis by population in India. The object of analysis is the port regionalization phenomenon in India, defined by a port governance of its own. The research focuses port geography, economic geography and regional geography in a process that allows us to understand the port governance in India, as well as the city-port relationship. It thus interrogates two concepts in harbor geography regionalization and port governance in India. The thesis shows that the port regionalization fits into the evolution of port governance that characterizes Calcutta. It stresses the relevance of the concept of port governance as an analytical category of port regionalization phenomenon as a process and as political, social and economic issue. Moreover, the role of governance in the port city harbor report is highlighted by the study of economic choices openly in opposition to neoliberal policies colors of the Government of West Bengal Communist since 1977. In this specific context in West Bengal port regionalization evolves through a succession of stages marked by the initiation of reforms gradually involving the participation of private capital. In India, decisions on port reforms, often at the expense of the most vulnerable populations (farmers) are not without social problems, which have evolved into serious conflicts between indigenous people and other actors involved in the port question. In Calcutta, the challenges of regional port development raises the question of the place of its ports as a development tool for this region of India, South Asia become an emerging power on the international stage.

The topic of the final thesis is the impact of oil on economic and political stability of petro-states. The first chapter summarizes basic data about oil, its reserves, production and consumption, as well as about oil trade and oil prices. Basic information about OPEC is included in this chapter.The second chapter includes different theories about effects of oil wealth on economic, political and social development in petro-states. The third chapter is an attempt to apply theories from chapter two on OPEC countries. The aim of the thesis is to present impacts of oil on OPEC countries.