This thesis examines the wave of regionalism currently being experienced in international trade, which is manifested by the proliferation of free trade areas and customs unions, regional trade agreements (RTAs). This thesis attempts to determine whether regionalism is welfare-enhancing and is liberalising the global economy as envisioned by GATT Article XXIV. The answer is: not necessarily. / Chapter One briefly discusses the principle of non-discrimination and provides a general account of the recent development of RTAs. Chapter Two examines the economic and political-economic aspects of RTAs, while Chapter Three examines their legal aspects. To put the two chapters into perspective, a case study of the North American Free Trade Agreement is conducted in Chapter Four. Chapter Five suggests that the global economy should revert its attention back to the multilateral trading system and/or RTAs should incorporate "open regionalism" into their framework to effectively counter the diversionary problems they cause. In closing, Chapter Five introduces the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which is the only regional trading arrangement that is openly pursuing "open regionalism" and "multilateralism", as a model for all RTAs and as a bridge between regionalism and multilateralism.

How does assistance for social, political and economic development interact with efforts to provide security in post-conflict societies? To study this interaction, this dissertation focuses on strategies for peace operations. Influenced by the human security agenda, peace operations have adopted a multi-sectoral approach, seeking to address the many sources of insecurity facing conflict-ridden societies. In fact, there is a growing awareness that to establish sustainable peace after an event of conflict or collapsed state, not only the domestic and/or international root causes of the conflict should be identified and addressed, but the elements fueling the vicious cycle of violence should also be tackled and eliminated. I found that several policy recommendations proposed to better integrate peace operations' activities reveal a strong disagreement about the relationship between development and security. From this debate, I derived three types of peacebuilding strategies; 1) the Security-only strategy proposes providing order and security first and leaving developmental assistance to specialized agencies, 2) the Sequential strategy promotes providing security and order first, and then assuming development-related tasks as a means to avoid contradictory effects, and 3) the Simultaneous strategy emphasizes the relationship between underdevelopment and conflict, thus urges the implementation of both security and development related tasks simultaneously. Using logitistic models corrected for temporally dependent data, I quantitatively test the effectiveness of these three strategies in establishing peace with a dataset I compile covering all civil wars from 1946 to 2006. This analysis shows that interventions designed with strategies prioritizing the establishment of security first (Security-Only and Sequential strategies) are more successful at terminating conflicts and achieving durable peace. The argument that multi-dimensionality increases the effectiveness of pe / Comment l'assistance apportée pour le développement social, politique et économique interagit avec les efforts pour rétablir et assurer la sécurité dans les sociétés sortant de guerre? Pour pouvoir étudier cette interaction, la thèse se concentre sur les stratégies des opérations de paix. Motivé par le souci de la sécurité humaine, les opérations de paix ont opté pour une approche multisectorielle, cherchant à identifier les diverses sources d'insécurité confrontées par les pays en question. En effet, on découvre de plus en plus que pour établir une paix durable dans un pays qui sort d'un conflit ou un pays effondré, il faut non seulement identifier et prendre en considération les causes originelles du conflit mais il faut aussi attaquer et éliminer les éléments qui causent le cercle vicieux de violence. J'ai noté que les recommandations de politiques proposées pour mieux intégrer les opérations de paix montrent des désaccords importants à propos des relations entre le développement et la sécurité. De ce débat, j'ai tiré trois types de stratégies de construction de paix: 1) la stratégie sécurité-seulement propose de fournir d'abord et avant tout l'ordre et la sécurité et de laisser l'assistance au développement aux services spécialisés, 2) la stratégie séquentielle promeut l'ordre et la sécurité avant le développement comme un moyen d'empêcher les effets contraires 3) la stratégie simultanée met l'accent sur la relation qui se trouve entre le sous-développement et le conflit, par conséquent propose l'implémentation des deux activités en même temps. En utilisant des model logistiques, j'ai testé quantitativement l'efficacité de ces trois stratégies pour rétablir la paix avec un dataset couvrant toutes les guerres civiles d'entre 1946 et 2006. Cette analyse montre que les interventions qui donnent la priorité à l'établissement de la sécurité avant tout ont obtenu un plus grand succès pour instau

An emerging phenomenon, which anticipates deregulation, liberalization of trade, and changes in competition law, is the increasing interaction among telecommunications carriers resulting in the formation of global alliances. These global alliances---on a larger scale---also involve broadcasting and computing companies that have been regulated in a totally different fashion. A likely consequence of this sweeping technological revolution is that telecommunications will gradually integrate and converge with these segments of the communications industry. / As part of this all-service-convergence trend, a number of key international telecommunications alliances (henceforth ITAs) are scrutinized. The thesis begins by canvassing leading business-organization theories that attempt to account for the emergence of ITAs. The first part concludes with the proposal of a multi-causal approach and the description of ITAs as hybrid organizations. The second part of the thesis canvasses legal responses to the emergence of ITAs and evaluates the institutional capacity of existing regulatory mechanisms. The goal of this study is to produce an analytical framework for how this newly globalized industry should be treated by legislators and policymakers.

The tragedy of Pan Am Flight 103 explosion over Lockerbie, Scotland shocked the world for we never get used to such atrocities. However, the scope of the tragedy was more than just an aircraft explosion. It shook the very foundations upon which the United Nations system rests. It also served as a catalyst to the reevaluation of the established United Nations legal order. The Security Council as well as the International Court of Justice found themselves thrown in a direct collision course by the exercise of their respective powers. This thesis will analyze the events that lead to such a legal and political impasse and look into the legal issues involved. / The first Chapter will retrace the events leading to the determination of the cause of accident as well as the identification of the suspects. Will also be examined the series of steps taken to bring the suspects to justice as well as obtain Libya's cooperation. We will finally look into the legal principles applicable to the situation such as those contained in the United Nations Charter, the Montreal Convention as well as those included in general international law. / The second Chapter will be devoted to the legal study of the United Nations Charter, specifically the provisions concerning the Security Council's and the International Court of Justice's powers as well as the general obligations the Charter imposes on them. / Finally, the last Chapter will focus on the complex issue of relationship between the Security Council and the International Court of Justice.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum composed of 21 member economies of diverse cultural heritage and varying levels of economic development. By deliberately avoiding to become a formalized free trade arrangement like the EU or the NAFTA, APEC has committed to the principle of "open regionalism", meaning that liberalization achievements are not preferential to APEC members only. APEC has evolved rapidly since its formation in 1989. Begun as an informal dialogue group, APEC has expanded to become the primary vehicle for promoting open trade and economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. / APEC is also one of the few multilateral economic organizations that actively embraces China as a committed partner in the global trade and investment dialogue. Economic reform and open door policies implemented over the last two decades have transformed China from a closed economy into a major trading power. China, which for more than a decade has unsuccessfully sought to join the GATT/WTO, finds APEC to be of immense symbolic and practical value. As a major member of APEC, China has made constructive role in the APEC process. With its dynamic economic growth and continuing economic reforms, China is poised to play an even greater role in APEC in the near future.

Since the late 1970s, the EU has attempted to alleviate gendered labour market inequality throughout its member states with the help of a set of gender equitable policies. While some progress was achieved, both the gender wage gap and the glass ceiling remain firmly in place. Subsequently, women throughout the EU are severely underpaid and under-represented in positions of leadership and power, suggesting that the problem is far from being solved. Why does such blatant gender inequality persist in spite of policies meant to alleviate it? Policies are only as effective as the degree to which they are implemented. This thesis will suggest that the implementation of equity policy is impeded due to a process that renders EU equitable policy less effective than it could be otherwise. Consequently, the policy process needs strengthening and policies need wider utilization by multiple stakeholders, as well as domestic employers to yield greater results. / Depuis la fin des années 1970, l'UE s'est efforcée de réduire les inégalités entre les hommes et les femmes dans le marché du travail des pays membres en établissant des politiques de traitement équitable entre les sexes. Bien qu'on ait fait certains progrès, la disparité salariale entre les sexes et le plafond de verre sont encore fermement en place. En conséquence, les femmes de l'UE sont remarquablement sous-payées et sous-représentées dans les postes de leadership et de pouvoir, ce qui semble démontrer que le problème est loin d'être résolu. Pourquoi une inégalité aussi criante persiste-t-elle malgré les politiques visant à redresser la situation? Les politiques ne sont efficaces que dans la mesure où elles sont mises en œuvre. Cette thèse suggère que la mise en œuvre de la politique d’équité de l’UE est entravée par un processus qui nuit à son efficacité. Par conséquent, si l’on veut atteindre les objectifs visés, il faut renforcer le processus de mise en œuvre de la politique et voir à ce que cette dernière soit plus généralement appliquée par les nombreuses parties intéressées et les employeurs des pays membres.

No description available.

Abstract: There is a near-consensus among governments, scientists, and the media that climate change poses a genuine threat to state security. Despite this consensus, the results of cooperative efforts to deal with this threat have been unimpressive. This thesis attempts to explain the divergence between the discourse on climate change and state behaviour by constructing a neorealist theory of cooperation on climate change. The argument comprises two central hypotheses. First, as the vulnerability of a state to climate change increases, it will be more willing to cooperate. Second, as the military threat to national security decreases, states will be more willing to cooperate. These hypotheses are supported by secondary hypotheses that posit a relationship between system-level variables and the level of cooperation. Statistical methods are used to test these propositions. The results do not support the hypothesized relationships. / Résumé:Les gouvernements, les scientifiques et les médias sont presque unanimes au sujet des changements climatiques. Selon eux, ces changements menacent la sécurité étatique. Malgré ce consensus, les résultats de la coopération pour résoudre ce problème ont été décevants. Cette thèse vise à expliquer cette divergence entre les déclarations et les actions des états en construisant une théorie néoréaliste de coopération au sujet des changements climatiques. La thèse comprend deux hypothèses centrales. Premièrement, alors que le niveau de vulnérabilité d'un état aux changements climatiques augmente, l'état sera plus enclin à coopérer. Deuxièmement, tandis que la menace militaire diminue, il est plus probable qu'un état coopère. Ces deux hypothèses centrales sont complétées par des hypothèses secondaires qui proposent une relation entre des variables au niveau systémique et la coopération. Des méthodes statistiques ont été utilisées pour tester ces relations. En fin de compte, les résultats ne supportent aucuns des relations proposées.

The purpose of the present thesis is to investigate how socially embeddedinterpretations of Israeli identity influence Israel's warring foreign policy towardsPalestinians and conversely, how this warring foreign policy contributes tosecuring and stabilizing the underlying identity narratives of the dominant Israelinational identity. Based on an interpretative Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)framework which adopts a Foucauldian conceptualization of discourse as socialpractice, this thesis argues that today's dominant Israeli discourse of identityprovides the interpretative framework for enabling and legitimizing the formulationof a warring foreign policy. It further contends that this formulation is pivotal tothe cultural governance of the Israeli state by reproducing the dominant Israelipolitical identity and dismissing alternative Israeli and Jewish subjectivities. Thecase under study is the 2008 Gaza War, bearing the Israeli code name OperationCast Lead. Borrowing from a CDA maxim which insists that analysis should bemultimodal, this thesis takes the “aesthetic turn” and provides a reading of theIsraeli film Waltz with Bashir (2008), showing how this popular cultural productionmay provide alternative critical discursive narratives about the Self and the Other,that may offer a challenge to war-as-policy. / L'objectif du présent mémoire est de questionner comment des interprétations socialement construites de l'identité Israélienne influence la politique étrangère guerrière d'Israël envers ses voisins Palestiniens, et inversement, comment cettedernière contribue à sécuriser et stabiliser les tropes et le narratif identitaire sousjacent. À l'aide d'un modèle épistémologique interprétatif que fournit l'Analyse Critique du Discours et qui adopte une conceptualisation Foucaldienne du discours comme pratique sociale, la thèse tu présent mémoire est que le discours identitaire Israélien actuel fournit le cadre interprétatif pour rendre possible et légitimer laformulation d'une politique étrangère guerrière et que cette dernière est un outil central pour la gouvernance culturelle the l'État Israélien afin de reproduire le discours identitaire dominant et rabattre des discours identitaires alternatifs et contestataires. À ces fins, le cas sous étude est la Guerre de Gaza (2008), aussi appeler sous le nom de code Israélien de Operation Cast Lead. En tenant compte de l'aspect multimodal de la CDA, ce mémoire prend le Aesthetic turn et fournit une lecture du film Israélien Valse avec Bashir (2008) pour démontrer comment ce produit culturel populaire peut offrir un discours identitaire critique à propos du Soiet de l'Autre ainsi qu'offrir un discours critique quant à la formulation de la politique étrangère guerrière.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brown University, 2006. / (UMI)AAI3227922. Adviser: Thomas J. Biersteker. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-08, Section: A, page: 3149.