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Comparative Political Theory (CPT) focuses on political ideas of non-western thinkers and compares these to their western counterparts. In recent years, works of CPT have demonstrated that a comparative perspective allows us to see the many parallels in the theoretical projects of western and non-western thinkers. This approach towards political theorizing opens up previously unexplored avenues to gain a better understanding of the political. CPT has also strongly challenged traditional western political theorists, and political scientists alike, to reconsider the validity of several existing theories about the political. This is a result of CPT’s awareness of the bias introduced by western dominance in a globalized world. Works of CPT attempt to neutralize this power imbalance between the west and the rest by attempting to revitalize the non-west in terms of its self-understanding. This dissertation argues that a comparative perspective must be adopted in political theory, because, while it helps us to interpret non-western ideas it also allows us to understand how the west has come to its present self-understanding. Hence, unlike previous comparative works which argue for CPT as a separate subfield of political theory in the west, this dissertation brings the CPT enterprise to the center of the vocational landscape of the western political theory. The dissertation supports this claim by presenting an in-depth analysis of four cases of east-west encounters in the pre- Enlightenment period. The analysis is based on several primary and secondary sources from the western and non-western civilizations which span a period of over four centuries. The significance of the dissertation is distributed along four dimensions. First, it presents a comprehensive review and critique of scholarship done by comparative theorists till now. Second, it highlights additional points of significance attached to the integral role of the non-west in the construction of the west itself. Third, it extends the range of comparative analyses to the pre and early modern periods. Fourth, it considers actual cases of east-west encounters as against CPT’s exclusive focus on constructing imaginary inter-civilizational dialogues.

This paper addresses the influence of a mechanistic world view of East-West relations. The "classic" model of mechanism orders reality into a relationship akin to a simple clock or pump. In the model, discrete and unmodifiable parts, with no natural functional relationship to each other, are balanced and engineered into functional unity. This study shows how "environmental" conditions at the international level (ambiguity, complexity, and prolonged conflict) limit the ability of policy makers to define objective limits to containment, influencing them instead to follow the universal application of the "logic" of mechanism--that any imbalance must be checked by the container.

This thesis offers an assessment of late medieval public response to the crusades through an investigation of emotional rhetoric in the Middle English crusading romances. It argues that the prevailing climate after the fall of Acre in 1291 and the evacuation of the last Christian strongholds in the Levant was characterized by a mixture of enduring enthusiasm and fascination, but also of concern, anxiety, and self-questioning, engendered by the enterprise's failures. The loss of the Holy Land had enduring repercussions on Christian crusading mindsets, marking a culminating point in Islam's seemingly relentless victories in wars believed to be ordained by God, and the collapse of Christendom's ambitions to secure lasting dominion over Christ's patrimony. The late thirteenth century was also a turning point in the history of insular romance, with the progressive displacement of Anglo Norman by Middle English, expanding the genre's audience. Reworking the emotional depictions of their sources, authors or adaptors of late medieval English crusading romances engaged with, and elicited reflection on, the cultural anxieties of the time: man's relation to God, the workings of divine providence, Christianity's ascendency over Islam, human agency, the connection between morality and fortune, the bearing of motives on actions, and the moral limitations of violence.

DESCRIPTION: The research is divided into five chapters (plus an introduction and a conclusion) as follows: INTRODUCTION, in which the work is introduced, the problem is identified, and the need for the research. is presented. CHAPTER ONE: The image of the Arab in the West (from the old sources up to the present time). CHAPTER TWO: The Arab view of the West, The development and the changing approach in viewing the World from pre- Islamic Arabia including the contemporary schools of thought in the Arab world. CHAPTER THREE: Political cartoons as a medium of communication, their influence and role in opinion changing and image making. CHAPTER FOUR: UK-Based Arab Owned Mass Media. A survey of the newspapers and the magazines published in the United Kingdom and owned by Arab personalities, companies, governments and political parties. That includes the 38 daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly publications. This chapter studies the attitudes and presentations of the Arab media in a definite period of time, in regard to the West. (from Dec. 1987 till March 1991) CHAPTER FIVE : The Case Study. The image of the West in the Arab-owned press through political cartoons (four London-based daily newspapers). The findings of the field work, categorising and analysing the main features and elements of the image. CONCLUSION: Room for Improvement. Recommendations for better understanding, presentation and improvement in the Arab-West International relations and presentations. The major, original, part of the thesis has been devoted to surveying the Britain-based Arab press, as well as an analysis of the coverage of some of these papers and magazines of the West, using the political cartoon as indicators of the public perceptions of the West. The research also makes an attempt to trace the main outline of the historical development of perceptions of the West in the Arab mind. Appendices; Appendix(A): Arab Political Cartoonists. Appendix(B): Cartoons of Arabs in the Western Media. Appendix(C); Cartoons of the West in the Arab Media. Bibliography

DESCRIPTION: The research is divided into five chapters (plus an introduction and a conclusion) as follows: INTRODUCTION, in which the work is introduced, the problem is identified, and the need for the research. is presented. CHAPTER ONE: The image of the Arab in the West (from the old sources up to the present time). CHAPTER TWO: The Arab view of the West, The development and the changing approach in viewing the World from pre- Islamic Arabia including the contemporary schools of thought in the Arab world. CHAPTER THREE: Political cartoons as a medium of communication, their influence and role in opinion changing and image making. CHAPTER FOUR: UK-Based Arab Owned Mass Media. A survey of the newspapers and the magazines published in the United Kingdom and owned by Arab personalities, companies, governments and political parties. That includes the 38 daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly publications. This chapter studies the attitudes and presentations of the Arab media in a definite period of time, in regard to the West. (from Dec. 1987 till March 1991) CHAPTER FIVE : The Case Study. The image of the West in the Arab-owned press through political cartoons (four London-based daily newspapers). The findings of the field work, categorising and analysing the main features and elements of the image. CONCLUSION: Room for Improvement. Recommendations for better understanding, presentation and improvement in the Arab-West International relations and presentations. The major, original, part of the thesis has been devoted to surveying the Britain-based Arab press, as well as an analysis of the coverage of some of these papers and magazines of the West, using the political cartoon as indicators of the public perceptions of the West. The research also makes an attempt to trace the main outline of the historical development of perceptions of the West in the Arab mind. Appendices; Appendix(A): Arab Political Cartoonists. Appendix(B): Cartoons of Arabs in the Western Media. Appendix(C); Cartoons of the West in the Arab Media. Bibliography / Hariri Foundation

Dans un contexte bipolaire Est-Ouest, l’accord de coopération spatiale franco-soviétique conclu lors de la détente demande la réalisation de programmes spatiaux engageant l’action des scientifiques. Cette recherche étudie les interactions entre les politiques publiques et la capacité d’agir des organismes délégués et des réseaux scientifiques en France et en URSS entre 1966 et 1988. L’analyse vise à appréhender la capacité des acteurs à répondre aux objectifs assignés à cette politique de coopération. L’objectif diplomatique vise à « dépasser l’affrontement entre les deux blocs » lancé en 1966 sur le long terme, faisant de la coopération bilatérale un instrument de diplomatie scientifique, et l’objectif visant à matérialiser la relation sous forme de projets spatiaux automatiques et de missions de vols habités. Des réseaux de scientifiques russes et français contribuent à l’internationalisation des sciences, comme le montrent en 1986 le projet VEGA et les missions de vols habités PVH et Aragatz. La manière dont ces objectifs interfèrent avec des facteurs structurels externes met en lumière la capacité des acteurs à établir une gouvernance au moyen d’une communication innovante, formelle et informelle. Dans un contexte de relations internationales parfois tendues, la démonstration de cette aptitude renforce le champ de la diplomatie spatiale. Il s’agira de contribuer à une histoire croisée de la coopération spatiale en France et en URSS. L’ambition est de rendre compte, par l’analyse des interactions des réseaux scientifiques du spatial avec le politique et dans le contexte des relations internationales des Etats, de leur capacité à coopérer en situation concurrentielle. Cette démarche entend contribuer à la relecture d’une séquence de la guerre froide que l’historiographie récente revisite par les circulations Est-Ouest. / In the East-West bipolar context, a Franco-Soviet space cooperation agreement demanding the implementation of space programs involving the work of scientists was concluded in 1966. This thesis examines the interactions between the public politics applied in centralised institutions between 1966 and 1988, and the capacity of delegated bodies and scientific networks in France and the USSR to act in a situation characterized by periods of retraction and détente.The analysis draws on the role of politics of cooperation having two distinct objectives: the superior and long-term political goal of "overcoming the confrontation of the two blocs" launched in 1966, for which bilateral cooperation becomes the instrument of scientific diplomacy, and the objective to materialise the relationship in the form of joint robotic space and human spaceflight projects. The way in which these objectives are influenced by external factors highlights the capability of actors to establish a system of governance through innovative formal and informal communication. In a context of sometimes tense international relations, the demonstration of this aptitude reinforces the field of a space diplomacy. This work will contribute to an intertwined history of space cooperation between France and the USSR. The ambition is to account for their ability to collaborate in a competitive situation by analysing the interactions between scientific networks in space and politics intertwined with international relations between the states.This approach aims to contribute to the re-reading of a sequence of the Cold War that recent historiography revisits through East-West circulations.

La crise de Suez de 1956 est avant tout synonyme d'une opération militaire menée par les Français et les Anglais, dont l'échec retentissant a sonné le glas de la politique colonialiste des deux États. Mais Suez 1956 représente aussi et surtout un véritable tournant dans les relations internationales pour plusieurs raisons. Tout d'abord parce que, pour la première fois depuis l'avènement de la Guerre froide, l'URSS et les USA vont faire front commun contre les puissances occidentales associées à Israël. Ensuite parce que concomitamment, les Soviétiques répriment l'insurrection hongroise, battant en brèche leur toute nouvelle théorie de la coexistence pacifique. Enfin parce que le Tiers-monde trouve naissance dans cet affrontement, et devient l'objet de conquête idéologique, notamment au Moyen-Orient. En quoi la crise a-t-elle modifié les interactions au niveau diplomatique, l’équilibre des institutions internationales, les relations géopolitiques, les relations bilatérales dans l'univers de la Guerre froide, les relations intra blocs Est-Ouest ? Quelles conséquences la crise aura-t-elle eue sur la stratégie et les objectifs politiques des différents acteurs ? / The Suez crisis of 1956 is generally synonym for a military operation led by the French and the English army, whose resounding failure sounded the end of the colonialist policy of both States. But Suez 1956 represents also and above all a real turning point in the international relations for several reasons. Firstly, because, for the first time since the advent of the cold war, the USSR and the USA are going to join forces against the western powers associated with Israel. Then, because concomitantly, the Soviet power repress the Hungarian revolution, damaging their quite new theory of the peaceful coexistence. Finally, because the Third World finds birth in this confrontation, and becomes the object of ideological conquest, especially in the Middle-East In what did the crisis modify the interactions at the diplomatic level, the balance of the international institutions, the geopolitical relations, the bilateral relations in the universe of the Cold war, the relations intra East-West blocks? What consequences the crisis will generate on the strategy and the policy of the various actors?