Calcite stalactites ranging in length from several inches to a foot long are found forming on the southeastern slag pile at the former Gadsden Steel Mill of the Gulf States Steel Corporation. Analyses of samples collected per EISOPQAM guidelines include the following: petrographic, conductivity, pH, XRD, XRF, TDS, and major cations and anions. Preliminary field pH and conductivity measurements indicate that waters near the slag pile have a pH ranging from 11-12 and a conductivity ranging from 1115-6300 μS/ cm. Titration data indicate that the maximum pH value is 12.5. These calcite stalactites and stream coatings result from the dissolution of the steelmaking slag by rainfall. These alkaline waters precipitate calcite when they are in contact with atmospheric CO2. Improper management of slag products can lead to aesthetically impacted environments and ecosystems. Several studies and this study show that steel slag could be used to sequester atmospheric CO2.

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This study, using contemporary history and empirical research, updates traditional rentier state theory, which largely fails to account for the existence of opposition movements, by demonstrating the political capital held by Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study thus also fills a critical gap in existing literature on political Islam by examining previously unstudied movements in the smaller Gulf states that do not require Brotherhood organisations to provide services, to form social networks, or to contest elections (aside from in Kuwait). Through a divergent case study, we demonstrate the degree to which and the means through which the Ikhwan shapes domestic politics in the some of the world’s wealthiest oil states, the super-rentiers. This research helps to break the causal link established by rentier state theory between oil rents and lack of politically relevant Islamist organizations. As will be shown, Muslim Brotherhood organizations in the Gulf are politically influential entities. It is important to note, however, that these groups shape cultural and social ideas as readily as political notions. The division between these sectors is often blurred in the atmosphere of the socially conservative super-rentiers, as politics is often displaced to the social sphere in restricted political systems. We therefore elucidate a new model for understanding how Muslim Brotherhood movements influence government policies, in addition to cultural and social policies, in the wealthiest rentier states of the Gulf, which we call rentier Islamism.

In recent years, more small states have entered the arena of international mediation. While research generally recognizes that small states can use international mediation to further their own foreign policy goals, the implications of that notion remain understudied. Specifically in relation to engagement with proscribed armed groups, current research is lacking. Furthermore, most research on small-state mediation views small states as a unitary group of actors, leaving out of consideration the differences between states. This study aims to address this research gap by investigating the influence of foreign policy independence on engagement with proscribed armed groups when relevant to the peace process. Through a Structured, Focused Comparison of the mediation efforts of Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar in Yemen in the post-Arab Spring era, this study found preliminary support for the stated hypothesis that the higher the level of independence in a small state’s foreign policy, the more likely it is to engage with proscribed actors. For Kuwait and Oman, their behavior in Yemen was fully in line with the hypothesis. While Qatar showed limited engagement in Yemen despite having an independent foreign policy, its choices were still influenced by a certain level of dependence on Saudi Arabia.

This study is concerned with the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards under the relevant regimes in the GCC states, both local law and international conventions. The easy enforceability of arbitral awards is considered one of the main factors in the success of international commercial arbitration. Thus this thesis not only attempts a comprehensive analysis of the requirements of and procedures for recognition and enforcement of foreign awards in the GCC States, but also evaluates whether the GCC’s laws and practices comply with best international practice standards, especially as embodied in the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. The thesis comprises of seven chapters. The first chapter examines the legal framework of the GCC States, and provides a brief history of the rules governing arbitration and the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Chapter two looks at general principles regarding recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Chapter three covers jurisdictional elements in the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards in the GCC States. Chapter four examines the procedural steps demanded by each state for the enforcement of an award, looking particularly at the impact of relevant international conventions on these issues. Chapter five deals with the evidence which must be tendered and the conditions that must be satisfied in order to obtain the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the GCC States. Chapter six examines the grounds on which a respondent may apply to dismiss an application for recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award. Chapter seven then deals with the grounds on which a foreign arbitral award must be refused enforcement. The concluding chapter summarises the problems thrown up by the study, and suggests a common way forward for the legal systems of the states of the Arabian Gulf in dealing with these issues.

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The main objective of this diploma thesis is to analyze the nature of obstacles to the regional approach to Afghanistan through the lens of the Regional Security Complex Theory. I will focus on studying security dynamics within and among three security complexes surrounding Afghanistan, to see how these dynamics affect their interaction with the latter. Prospects of any regional cooperation on Afghanistan are hampered by security dynamics within these complexes whereby primary traditional political-military threats are perceived by the complex states as more threatening than the mostly transnational threats stemming from unstable Afghanitan. Particularly the Indo-Pakistani rivalry and to a lesser extent the Saudi-Iranian rivalry represent major obstacles as it is reflected also in their engagement in Afghanistan. On the other hand, weak Central Asia states are linked to Afghanistan security dynamics by mostly transnational threats and ethnic affinities but are generally too weak to extend their security dynamics beyond their respective complex. The thesis also seeks to analyze the possibility of Afghanistan's external transformation in terms of its inclusion into the South Asia complex and based on now stronger security interdependence among the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India triangle. This assumption could...