La rencontre historique entre Abdul Aziz Ibn Saoud et le président américain Franklin D. Roosevelt à bord de l’U.S.S Quincy en mer rouge en février 1945, donna lieu à l’instauration des fondements d’une véritable alliance à long terme, basée sur des intérêts communs très forts entre l’Arabie Saoudite et les Etats-Unis. Le royaume a joué d’ailleurs un rôle important dans l’endiguement du nationalisme arabe et dans l’empêchement de toute pénétration soviétique au Moyen-Orient. Il a joué également un rôle central dans l’endiguement de la révolution islamique iranienne de Khomeiny. Cette alliance va mettre cependant du temps pour atteindre le degré au quelle elle est arrivée lors de la guerre du Golfe de 1990-1991, qui a eu comme résultat une présence militaire américaine permanente sur le sol saoudien et la radicalisation de l’opposition islamiste. Les attentats du 11 septembre 2001, qui ont constitué un véritable choc pour les deux pays, provoquèrent un profond malaise dans les relations américano-saoudiennes. Riyad s’est trouvée dans une situation délicate, quinze des dix neuf pirates de l’air étaient Saoudiens ainsi que le chef d’al-Qaida, Oussama Ben Laden. On assista à une détérioration des relations entre les deux pays et une grande suspicion qui eut du mal à se dissiper, malgré les déclarations de bonne volonté des dirigeants des deux pays. Soumise à d’énormes pressions américaines, l’Arabie Saoudite lança une série de réformes en vue de rassurer Washington et faire face également à une situation très compliquée sur le plan interne (problèmes socio-économiques, le rôle de l’institution religieuse wahhabite, l’extrémisme religieux, droits de la minorité chiite, la question de succession…). Le réchauffement constaté dans les relations entre les deux pays à partir de 2003, qui culmina avec l’instauration du « dialogue stratégique » en 2005, laissa rapidement place à une graduelle prise de distance entre Riyad et Washington à propos de plusieurs dossiers régionaux (la situation en Irak, les ambitions régionales ainsi que le programme nucléaire et balistique de l’Iran, le processus de paix, la Syrie…). Cette prise de distance s’est confirmée avec l’éclatement du «printemps arabe » et le lancement par les Etats-Unis d’une nouvelle stratégie, axée sur un désengagement de la puissance américaine vers la zone du Pacifique. / The Historical meeting between Adul Aziz Ibn Saoud and the US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt on bord of U.S.S Quincy in the Red Sea at February, 1945, had set up a real long standing Alliance based on a strong common Interests between Saudi Arabia and the United States. It will take a time for this Alliance to be at the level it had during the Gulf War (1990-1991), Wich had as result a permanent US Military presence in the Kingdom and the radicalization of Islamist Opposition. The 9/11 Attacks, which was a real Choc for the two Countries and provocated an Embarassment in the US- Saudi relations. Riyad was in a delicate situation, Fifteen of the Nineteen Hijackers of September 9, 11 was Saudis such as head of Al-Qaeda Oussama Ben Laden. We assisted then to a deterioration of the relations between the two Countries and a great Suspicion although some declarations of good Intentions by leaders of two Countries. Subject of a tremendous US pressures, the Saudi Arabia has inaugurated a series of Reforms to reassure Washington and to face a complicated internal situation (Socio-economic problems, the role of the Wahhabi religious Institution, religious Extremism, rights of Chia minority, the problem of succession). The warming of the relations between the two Countries by 2003 wich culminated with the instauration of « Strategic Dialogue » in 2005, made rapidly room to a gradual taken distance between Riyad and Washington about some Regional matters (Iraqi situation, the regional ambitions just as the Nuclear and Balistic program of Ira ; Peace Process ; Syria…). This taken distance is confirmed by the events of « Arab Spring » and the New American Strategy of disengagement to the Pacific Zone.

This is a prospective study of a cohort sample of injured Kuwaiti First Gulf War survivors designed to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity due to combat and exposures to traumatic events. The study included two main phases. The first phase conducted in 1998, and in 2003 the second phase was executed. This study was designed to investigate the contribution of combat physical injury to the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), prevalence rates of PTSD, depression, anxiety and other psychological morbidity, and predictors of chronic PTSD. The first assessment was in 1998 and the second assessment in 2003 that involved biological investigations. Beside the clinical interview and the physical examination of the site of injury, multiple psychological scales and questionnaires were used. Based on DSM-IV criteria of PTSD, after the second assessment the population of this study were classified to: Chronic PTSD(have PTSD at both assessments), Delayed PTSD (have PTSD only on the second assessment), Recovered (have PTSD only in the first assessment), and Never PTSD (have no PTSD in both assessments). The biological assessment include: blood investigations, BMI, and visual analogue. The data of the study were analyzed based on the four PTSD subgroups. In the first chapter an introduction to the First Gulf War was presented followed by the second chapter that discussed literature review. The third chapter tackled the methods used in this study. The fourth to the sixth chapters discussed the results of this study regarding prevalence of Chronic PTSD, Cortisol and PTSD and Thyroid hormones and PTSD respectively. The last chapter presented the limitations and strengths of the study. There were three main hypotheses. First: combat injured survivors with chronic PTSD have cluster of symptoms severity similar to delayed PTSD after 13 years of the trauma and the prevalence of chronic PTSD is constant over time. Second: low cortisol levels observed in chronic PTSD are constant with chronicity, normalize with recovery, unrelated to degree of disability, and are influenced by comorbid disorders. Third: there is minor role for thyroid hormones in chronic PTSD. All of registered Kuwaiti combat injured survivors at the Social Development Office in Kuwait, were approached to voluntary participate in this study. Of 234 individuals 212 participate in the first stage, and out of these 123 participate in the second stage with the addition of 33 new cases that were not examined in 1998 but were registered in SDO after 1998. An informed consent was taken from the participants at both phases. The participants were assessed using General Health Questionnaire, Trauma Questionnaire, Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Symptom Checklist-90 Revised, and Life Event Scale. Questionnaires and scales applied in the first stage were applied in the second stage with the addition of Impact of Event Scale, Composite International Diagnostic Interview and Scale of Gulf War Syndrome. Biochemical assessment comprised cortisol level, thyroxine (fT4), free triiodothyronine (fT3) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). The blood samples were taken before starting the interview. Physical assessment involved measurements of: pulse rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, waist-hip circumference, body mass index and visual analogue before and after the interview. Data entry program using Statistical Package for Social Scientists was used to enter data and analysis. The prevalence rate of delayed onset PTSD (14.6%), chronic PTSD (15.4) recovered from PTSD (22.8%) and never had PTSD (47.2%). With chronic PTSD there are higher cluster of PTSD symptoms severity, not related to severity of physical injury, has more prevalence of PTSD associated symptoms, higher comorbid psychiatric disorders. Intrusions, avoidance and arousal are PTSD cluster of symptoms more predictive of future development of PTSD after the injury. There was a low baseline cortisol level with chronic PTSD, and it was significantly lower in participants with delayed PTSD. Furthermore trauma itself rather than PTSD diagnosis may have an impact on cortisol level. Other psychiatric comorbidity has an enhancing effect on cortisol level. The levels of thyroid hormones were within the normal range. The trend of thyroid function in delayed and chronic PTSD is lower fT3, and TSH and higher fT4 levels, with higher fT3 levels in delayed PTSD compared to chronic PTSD. It was found that the higher severity of trauma score with PTSD the higher fT3 mean values. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Medicine, 2008

Thesis (Master of Military Studies)-Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 2008. / Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Feb 11, 2010).

This thesis examines how the press of the erstwhile German Democratic Republic represented Iran in the years from 1949 – the year of the GDR’s formation – until 1989, the last complete year before its demise on 3 October 1990. The study focuses on key events in Iranian history such as the overthrow of the Mossadegh government in 1953, the White Revolution, the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and the Iran-Iraq war. It will be shown that although news and articles were based on selected facts, they still presented a picture of Iran that was at best distorted, the distortions and misrepresentations amounting to what could be described as 'factual fiction'. Furthermore, clear evidence will be provided that economical and political relations with Iran were a primary concern of the GDR’s leadership, and thus also of the GDR’s press and have therefore dominated the reporting on Iran. Whatever ideological concerns there may have been, they were hardly ever allowed to get in the way of amicable relations with the Shah or later with the Islamic Republic. Only in periods where the two countries enjoyed less amicable or poor relations, was the press free to critically report events in Iran and to openly support the cause of the SED’s communist Iranian sister party, the Tudeh. Despite East Germany’s diametric ideological environment and despite the fundamentally different role that the GDR’s political system had assigned to the press and to journalism, East Germany’s press was as reliant on the input of the global news agencies as any Western media. The at times almost complete reliance on Western news agencies as sources for news on Iran challenged more than just the hermeneutic hegemony the SED and the GDR’s press wanted to establish. After all, which news and information were made available by the news agencies to the media in both East and West was primarily determined by the business interests of said agencies. The study makes a contribution to three fields: Modern Iranian history, (East-) German history and media studies. The most valid findings were certainly made in the latter.

The administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1992 saw several firsts in both American foreign policy towards the Middle East, and in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At the beginning of the Bush Presidency, the intifada was raging in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and by the time it was over negotiations were already in progress for the most comprehensive agreement brokered in the history of the conflict to that point, the Oslo Accords. This paper will serve two purposes. First, it will delineate the relationships between the players in the Middle East and President Bush during the first year of his presidency. It will also explore his foreign policy towards the Middle East, and argue that it was the efforts of George H. W. Bush, and his diplomatic team that enabled the signing of the historic agreement at Oslo.

The objective of this study is to assess the growing role of Special Forces in modern warfare, with specific reference to the United States of America. The main question that the study seeks to address is what are the implications of the growing role of Special Forces in modern warfare? The study also seeks to ascertain why exactly this growth is occurring and whether or not this will have a bearing on the future of not only the manner in which the US conducts conflict but also global conflict as a whole. In order to address these issues the study will look at conventional and unconventional warfare and forces; the roles and missions of Special Forces and the composition of US Special Forces; the role of US Special Forces in modern warfare prior to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; and the role of the US Special Forces in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. An analysis of conventional and unconventional warfare as concepts, as well as the forces that constitute conventional and unconventional forces was first done in order to provide some perspective into what these concepts and forces are and more specifically, what differentiates them. Specific reference was made here to the United States’ approach to warfare from the days of the American Revolution up to and including the end of the Cold War. Emphasis is placed on the growing role of US Special Forces throughout the study and this is achieved through the use of four major case studies, namely the 1991 Gulf War; Somalia (1992-1993); the Balkans (1995-2001); and the 2001 ‘Special Forces war’ in Afghanistan. The case studies that dealt with the 1991 Gulf War, Somalia and the Balkans elucidated the growing role of both unconventional warfare and specifically US Special Forces and Special Mission Units since the end of the Cold War. The case study of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan provided the culmination of the shift from conventional to unconventional warfare and the execution of the campaign as a ‘Special Forces war.’ The study demonstrates that since the end of the Cold War in the 1990’s, unconventional warfare has increasingly become more ubiquitous and can be said to be replacing, or at least equalling in stature, conventional warfare. This has the possibility of dramatically affecting how warfare is executed both currently and more importantly, in the future. The study went on to show that unconventional warfare is not akin to conventional warfare, especially with regard to the forces needed to respond to such conflicts and that Special Forces are the forces most applicable and most effective in dealing with unconventional warfare. The study confirms that Special Forces are the solution to the growing prominence of unconventional warfare and that countries, and specifically the United States can more effectively counter the threat of unconventional warfare and unconventional forces by shifting Special Forces from a supporting component to conventional forces to a supported component. This would require a massive shift in alignment both for the United States as well as other major states’ militaries but as the study has shown, this is pertinent given that unconventional warfare and forces will most likely remain the primary threat that states and militaries will now face / Dissertation (MSS)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

This thesis deals with the current role of airpower in contemporary warfare. In last 100 years, the aircraft became an indisputable part of today's armed conflict. The aim of this work is to determine the mechanics behind airpower's functions in conflicts and to critically assess airpower's performance. The analyzed conflicts - Persian Gulf 1991, Kosovo 1999, Afghanistan 2001 and U. S.-led counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan - provide the diversity that is needed to reveal the position of airpower in contemporary strategy. The thesis is divided in three parts. The first part follows the evolution of airpower and its theory, providing context to further analysis of contemporary environment. The second part of the thesis identifies key theoretical concepts and modalities connected to airpower and analysis them on a general, theoretical basis. The third part of this thesis applies the concepts and modalities on the picked case studies in order to reach the suggested objectives by analyzing the conflicts and deriving empirical data. The conclusions of the thesis suggest that while slightly exaggerated, airpower grew to vital importance and became one of the key elements in today's conflicts.

No description available.

「情報」與「決策」存在著高度的密切關係，「情報」正確而及時則相對提高「決策」的正確性；反之，則降低「決策」的正確性。但同一個「情報」對不同的個人而言，會產出不同的「決策」結果，此即是「決策」不僅與「情報」有關，亦與個人的「認知」條件有著密切的關係。 　　因此，本文透過孫子兵法「情報」與「決策」的關係，架構出孫子的決策邏輯與位階性，再以此建構出情報決策「象限理論」，企圖系統性地解釋「情報」條件與決策者「認知」條件的複雜關係，並藉由第二次美伊戰爭的決策過程作為例證，說明導致決策錯誤的重要因素。並由「象限理論」中第一象限區域，及美伊戰爭決策缺失中，檢討並演繹出「國家安全決策新思維」，文中指出一個專業且中立的情報機關，除了要提升情報信息的客觀性外，更要避免、改變決策者先入為主的錯誤認知。經由本文所提出的「象限理論」、「決策方程式」、「個案分析」、「國家安全決策新思維」，將有助於瞭解並加速決策產出的質量與效能，進而有利於優質決策的產出。 / There is highly relationship between intelligence and decision-making. The correct and on time intelligence will make a good policy; but the wrong or slow intelligence will make a bad policy, on the contrary. The same intelligence for different individuals will result in different decision-making, which means decision-making has high relationship with intelligence and personal cognition. For this reason, this article constructs The Quadrangular Theory of Intelligence and Decision-making based on The Art of Sun-tzu theory, to explain the complicated relation between intelligence and personal cognition, as well as to state the important factor which leads to the wrong decision-making in the Second Gulf War. This article also point out an important concept: the professional and intelligence agencies will not only improve the objectively intelligence, but also will avoid policymaker's prejudiced cognition. The Quadrangular Theory of Intelligence and Decision-making will help to understand the whole situation and accelerate the high quality and high efficiency decision-making process.

Diploma thesis "Changing of a Media Coverage of the Iraq War ("Second Gulf War") in a Czech press in the Period 2003-2008" deals with news media position and their activities during the Second Gulf War. The goal of the thesis is to explain the media power during the public opinion influencing. This is the reason why the theoretical part of the thesis deals with a propaganda, agenda-setting function of the mass media and media framing. The Iraq war was the reaction to the September 11th 2001 events and president Bush claimed the war against global terrorism. This is the reason why the thesis deals with sociology of terrorism and connection of terrorism and the news media. Influencing of a public opinion deals with an extensive propaganda campaign of the USA and the UK politics in connection with an agenda-setting function of the mass media by political and media agendas. The goal of the analytical part of the thesis is to find media framing in Czech daily newspapers called Mladá fronta Dnes and Lidové noviny. Quantitative and qualitative research combination is focused on the Second Gulf War changing of media coverage during the six year period started by the allied invasion to the Iraq and ending by George Bush leaving a presidency.