The extensive literature on public open space illustrates that it is of great importance to the quality of life. This is particularly true in Syria where public open spaces play a critical role in the urban structure of cities and in the inhabitant’s daily existence. There is published evidence that improving the quality of public open spaces requires a comprehensive analysis of these spaces in order to be able to evaluate their quality. This thesis is concerned with investigating and evaluating public open spaces in Hama, Syria both in terms of the quality of the spaces themselves and the process of creating and managing these spaces in order to offer suggestions for improving the quality of life in Hama through improving the quality of its spaces. The research strategy, the social spatial approach, involves understanding the investigative context as: (a) a social phenomenon, by exploring the residents’ perceptions, professionals’ perceptions and users’ behaviour, (b) a spatial phenomenon, by exploring the physical and spatial structure of Hama. The research adopts a case study method choosing three parks as examples for their distinctive features, and a range of different qualitative and quantitative techniques are applied systematically to these parks and their wider context. These techniques comprised: a questionnaire survey with residents in Hama; observation and behavioural mapping in the parks; semi-structured interviews with professionals involved in the design and management process; land use and urban form surveys; space syntax applied at micro and macro scale; and a desk-top study of documents. The findings of the evaluation illustrate that the qualities of the three selected parks could be enhanced. In addition, they show the there is scope for a participatory process of design and management to ensure that the final delivery of new parks and the development of existing ones meet the users’ expectations. The research draws a number of conclusions, which are developed into a set of general recommendations. Two of the key suggestions are (a) the provision of good quality public facilities which meet residents’ needs in the parks (b) the provision of training programmes by Hama City Council for those involved in the development and delivery process of public open spaces. Both are vital if the quality of the public open spaces is to be improved.

Este trabalho trata da trajetória de um intelectual e político do Níger, uma das colônias da então chamada África Ocidental Francesa, ao longo do século XX. Interessado pelas culturas de povos que compunham aquela região do continente, Boubou Hama trabalhou arduamente pela coleta e salvaguarda de costumes e tradições de modo a preservar e divulgar aquele arcabouço cultural. A partir da aproximação de algumas de suas obras escritas, buscamos investigar seus projetos político-intelectuais e relacioná-los à produção de uma coletânea em especial, intitulada Contes et légendes du Niger [Contos e lendas do Níger]. Tanto durante o período colonial quanto após a independência nigerina, que se deu em 1960, Boubou Hama procurou fazer com que a África conhecesse seus próprios valores e concepções de mundo. Para ele, a preservação da cultura compunha um passo chave para o que idealizava em relação ao futuro do Níger e do continente africano como um todo. / This thesis broaches the trajectory of a Nigerien intellectual and politician throughout the 20th century. Boubou Hama was a man deeply interested in the cultures of West African peoples. He worked hard to collect and safeguard costumes and traditions, so that the African past and present culture could be kept alive. Through the reading of some of his books, I aim to investigate his political-intellectual projects and relate them to one piece in particular, entitled Contes et légendes du Niger [Tales and legends of Niger]. During French colonial rule, as well as after Nigerien independence (1960), Boubou Hama channelized his struggle and actions to the spread of knowledge about African values and worldviews. For him, the preservation of culture was a key step in the plan he envisaged for Nigers future and for Africa as a whole.

Este trabalho trata da trajetória de um intelectual e político do Níger, uma das colônias da então chamada África Ocidental Francesa, ao longo do século XX. Interessado pelas culturas de povos que compunham aquela região do continente, Boubou Hama trabalhou arduamente pela coleta e salvaguarda de costumes e tradições de modo a preservar e divulgar aquele arcabouço cultural. A partir da aproximação de algumas de suas obras escritas, buscamos investigar seus projetos político-intelectuais e relacioná-los à produção de uma coletânea em especial, intitulada Contes et légendes du Niger [Contos e lendas do Níger]. Tanto durante o período colonial quanto após a independência nigerina, que se deu em 1960, Boubou Hama procurou fazer com que a África conhecesse seus próprios valores e concepções de mundo. Para ele, a preservação da cultura compunha um passo chave para o que idealizava em relação ao futuro do Níger e do continente africano como um todo. / This thesis broaches the trajectory of a Nigerien intellectual and politician throughout the 20th century. Boubou Hama was a man deeply interested in the cultures of West African peoples. He worked hard to collect and safeguard costumes and traditions, so that the African past and present culture could be kept alive. Through the reading of some of his books, I aim to investigate his political-intellectual projects and relate them to one piece in particular, entitled Contes et légendes du Niger [Tales and legends of Niger]. During French colonial rule, as well as after Nigerien independence (1960), Boubou Hama channelized his struggle and actions to the spread of knowledge about African values and worldviews. For him, the preservation of culture was a key step in the plan he envisaged for Nigers future and for Africa as a whole.

This research question is whether the social and political fear was used in the Syrian case to mobilize the Alawi minority and how. Therefore, this research is deductive research directed toward testing how applicable is the social theory of fear in the Syrian conflict. Whereas the Syrian regime has highly relied on the Alawi minority to sustain its existence in power. This in turn resulted in high casualties within the minority and bad living conditions for both the minority and the country total. However, this did not lead the regime to lose the support of the Alawis. Much of the research made on the topic presented the Alawi minority as the regime loyalists because of being privileged. This research gives a different view on the reasons which led this specific minority to support the Syrian regime. Where it presents a different approach to study the case through qualitative interviewing of a purposive sample, then analyzing the data through the narrative analysis method. The findings of this research fill the research gap presented by simply claiming Alawis are loyalists for being privileged. On the contrary, this research denies this assumption and presents findings that prove the usage of the social fear mechanism and in what method. This research does not only contribute to filling the gap in the existing research, but also to the theory of social fear applying to a further dimension than the author had explained. When it comes to the field of conflict studies, the research presents the mechanism that caused this conflict to become protracted and bloody. Those mechanisms if early detected may help avoid conflicts of the same nature in the future.

The purpose of the study was to contribute to the overall understanding of terrorist organizations' use of the Internet and to increase researchers' knowledge of Web site effectiveness. The methodological approach was evaluation of the perceived credibility of Web sites based on existing criteria derived from information users. The Web sites of four terrorist organizations were assessed: two secular nationalist groups, the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers); and two religious nationalist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. The findings of this analysis showed differences in perceived credibility factors among terrorist organizations' Web sites and positive levels of perceived credibility for the Web sites. These findings indicate the potential for positive impressions of the organizations' Web sites by information users, which would help empower the organizations with the capacity to reach their objectives. By using Web sites, these groups can effectively increase their support base through disseminating information, improving recruiting, and attracting monetary contributions, and can establish themselves as legitimate components of society.