Since 9/11, counterterrorism policies have been one of the crucial policy issues facing the United States. After the attacks on the United States, counterterrorism in this country transformed. Fifteen years later, counterterrorism is typically organized as a one-size fits all approach. This approach generalizes all terrorist threats, trying to target terrorism as a whole. This thesis explains how this is an improper approach to counterterrorism. Instead, policies should be case-specific and created in regards to the specific characteristics embodied by each terrorist organization. These characteristics include history and ideology, organizational and leadership structure, finances, and tactics and targets. These characteristics have been proven to comprise the composition of a one-of-a-kind terrorist organization. Each group expresses these characteristics differently, even if they share the same geographical location or religious background. Through research utilizing academic journal articles, current events, government publications, and published books, it is discovered how the unique characteristics displayed by Islamic Fundamentalist groups have counterterrorism policy implications. In order to portray this, this thesis analyzed characteristics of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Taliban. Through these case-studies, it was shown how distinct these groups are from one another and how these differences should be accounted for in counterterrorism policies. Once these differences are implemented into individualist counterterrorism policies, the United States can provide effective policies that target specific aspects of each terrorist organization instead of trying to combat terrorism as a whole.

Souvent traitées dans le cadre général de la fête, les cérémonies religieuses font rarement l'objet d'études à part entière. Si on se place dans une perspective anthropologique, ces manifestations extérieures sont pourtant riches en informations en tant que construction socioculturelle significative. Expérience observable, une cérémonie se caractérise par divers éléments déterminants (des lieux de célébration, des acteurs, un moment, un but et un scénario composé de paroles et de gestes codifiés) et elle implique également une certaine solennité, une forme d'apparat et de dramatisation qui permettent l'exacerbation du message identitaire. Le champ de recherche retenu ici est celui des cérémonies du culte d'Isis dans les provinces occidentales entre le IIe s. av. J.-C. et le Ve s. apr. J.-C. Déesse d'origine étrangère dont le culte devient officiel à Rome au Ier s. apr. J.-C., Isis offre des pistes de recherche particulièrement intéressantes par les implications identitaires propres aux pratiques cultuelles qui lui sont attachées. A travers le prisme des célébrations religieuses, il s'agit ainsi de s'interroger sur l'intégration et la visibilité du culte d'Isis dans le paysage religieux des cités occidentales, sur les liturgies cérémonielles au sein du sanctuaire de la déesse ainsi que sur l'impact des célébrations isiaques sur l'individu. Cette étude passe par l'exploitation de toutes les sources disponibles et s'inscrit par ailleurs dans un effort d'interdisciplinarité en tentant notamment de faire appel aux autres sciences sociales à l'exemple de l'anthropologie religieuse qui ouvre de nouvelles perspectives éclairantes pour la science historique / Often treated in the general framework of the feast, the religious ceremonies are rarely the object of full studies. Nevertheless, from an anthropological perspective, religious ceremonies, as significant sociocultural constructions, are rich in information. As a religious experience, a ceremony is characterized by diverse determining elements (places of celebration, actors, moment, a purpose and a scenario consisted of words and codified gestures) and it also implies a certain solemnity, a shape of pomposity and dramatization which allow the exacerbation of the identity message. This work focuses on the ceremonies of the cult of Isis in the western provinces between the 2nd B.C. and the 5th A.D. Goddess of foreign whose cult becomes official in Rome in the Ist A.D., Isis offers interesting tracks of research thanks to the particular identity of the religious practices bound to her. Through the prism of the religious celebrations, we have to question about the foreign character of its ceremonies. The second axis of approach of this work focuses particularly on the ceremonial liturgies within the sanctuary of the goddess whereas the third turns towards domestic and indiviudal religious practices, and the impact of isiac celebrations on the individual. This study wishes to use al lthe available sources (literay, archaeological, epigraphic, iconographic, etc.)and makes an effort of interdisciplinary by trying in particular to appeal to the other social sciences, like religious anthropology, which opens new perspectives for the historic science.

Die im Oktober 2011 verteidigte und mit der Note "summa cum laude" bewertete Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Auswertung aller bis 2011 bekannt gewordener Zeugnisse, die im Nahen Osten auf eine Kenntnisnahme und Verehrung der ägyptischen Götter Isis, Sarapis, Apis, Harpokrates etc. hindeuten. Eine grundlegende Materialaufnahme mithilfe eines DAAD-Stipendiums erfolgte 2003 bis 2004 in allen Levanteländern. Die im Zuge dieser Recherchen allerdings ausufernde Materialbasis führte dazu, den Fokus der Dissertation auf die südliche Levante zu richten. Zeitlich wurden vor allem die Jahrhunderte der hellenistischen und römischen Beherrschung des Gebiets näher untersucht. / This thesis, defended in October 2011 and rated "summa cum laude", evaluates testimonies that became known until 2011, which in the Middle East point to a recognition and worship of the Egyptian gods Isis, Sarapis, Apis, Harpocrates, etc. , Basic material was collected with the help of a DAAD scholarship in 2003-2004 in all Levant countries. However, in the course of these researches, a sprawling material base led to the focus of the dissertation on the southern Levant. In particular, the centuries of Hellenistic and Roman domination of the area were examined more closely.

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This thesis set out to research why ISIS combatants use sexual violence when they target the Yazidi community in particular. The aims have been to provide an understanding of why ISIS target Yazidi women and girls with sexual violence and develop a better understanding of both groups and thus hopefully provide assistance that is contextually adapted to the needs of Yazidi women and girls who have been targeted by ISIS. This has been done through a case study, where ISIS has been the case and the Yazidi population has been the subunit of analysis. Materials that have been released by ISIS, as well as witness statements that have been made available as secondary sources have been analysed, by applying the three theories/conceptual frameworks evolution theory, feminist theory, and the strategic rape concept to this data. The results are that the three frameworks separately cannot provide an explanation for the phenomena. Evolution theory did not provide any explanations for ISIS’ behaviour at all, not even when combined with the other frameworks. However, feminist theory in combination with the strategic rape concept explains the behaviour of ISIS, to a certain extent. There is however, a gap today in wartime sexual violence conceptualizations that need to be filled with an overarching theory that includes elements of both feminist theory and the strategic rape concept. The reasons for ISIS’ use of sexual violence are multi-layered. Sexual violence is used as strategy of war for political and religious reasons, as well as, to an extent, because of misogyny. ISIS are aiming to assimilate the area of the caliphate, while at the same time violently targeting the Yazidi population, by using their interpretation of religion as a justification, and until they reach this target of homogeneity for the caliphate, they will continue using sexual violence as a strategy of war and for the appropriation of territory and justify it with religion.

In 2014, the terrorist organization Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) emerged and carried out a brutalattack on ethnic minorities in Irak, especially northeastern Iraq. Several minority groups fell into thehands of ISIS and were tortured. One ethnic minority group that this study focuses on is the Yazidis.  The aim of this research for bachelor's degree in POLITICAL SCIENCE, is to draw attention to how therights of the Yazidis were violated after the ISIS attack in 2014 until today. The main question of thestudy is structured as follows: How were the rights of the Yazidis violated in connection with theemergence of ISIS in 2014 and onwards? The question will be answered based on Kymlicka’s theory ofmulticulturalism, which is based on three main pillars: self-government rights, polyethnic rights andspecial representation rights. The method used for this study was a qualitative case study that collecteddata to thoroughly and nuanced investigate the study's cases. In relation to the theoretical framework,method and empirical analysis, the purpose of the study has been achieved and the question has beenanswered. The results of this study are consistent with previous research that noted that ISIS had committed seriousand systematic human rights abuses and including war crimes. The Yazidis demand autonomy becauseof the prevailing circumstances in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, which are struggling to control the Yazidis.This has hampered the Yazidis' opportunities for employment in economic and political institutions,integration and political representation. Yazidis are in a vulnerable situation in Iraq where they areforced to assimilate or identify as either Kurds or Arabs in order to gain their rights. The ISIS attack leftan open gap that has not yet been resolved, and tensions between the groups are rising. The decisions ofthe majority society must take into account the views and interests of minority groups in order to reducethe barrier. Hard work by international bodies is needed to ensure and guarantee the survival and identityof the Yazidis in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.

This paper reviews foreign influences on Êzîdîism from 19th Century travelogues to the 2014 Şengal Genocide.  The author introduces a broader definition for ‘Êzîdîism’ than previously used to show that the affects of external mistreatment are pervasive throughout the community.  Using examples of Êzîdî orthopraxy, the paper demonstrates the changes occurring within Êzîdîism due to foreign influence.  The author suggests that outsiders consider varying their literary and linguistic treatment of Êzîdîism.  In light of the Êzîdîs’ current situation, this paper concludes with the possibilities that religious and cultural re-definition might provide.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’exploration des enjeux philosophiques, religieux et littéraires d’un motif qui apparaît dans trois œuvres majeures de la latinité : celui de la révélation finale. Le dernier livre du De republica de Cicéron avec le « Songe de Scipion », le dernier livre des Métamorphoses d’Ovide avec le discours de Pythagore, et le dernier livre XI des Métamorphoses d’Apulée avec le dévoilement d’Isis, présentent en effet tous trois la particularité de mettre en scène une expérience de révélation. Il s’agit alors non seulement d’étudier la façon dont Cicéron, Ovide et Apulée élaborent une écriture de la révélation à partir de matériaux philosophiques et religieux qu’on aura préalablement replacés dans leur contexte historique ainsi que dans l’économie générale des œuvres et des interrogations respectives de ces trois auteurs, mais aussi de déterminer les effets produits par la place de ces révélations en ce lieu traditionnel de polarisation du sens qu’est la fin d’une œuvre : quel dialogue ces trois révélations entretiennent-elles avec la structure qui les précède ? dans quelle mesure ces révélations finales dans les textes sont-elles aussi des révélations finales des textes eux-mêmes, auxquels elles apportent une élucidation rétrospective ? et quelle Weltanschauung, quelle conception de la quête de la vérité cette dynamique traduit-elle dans chacun des cas ? Cette enquête sera précédée d’un chapitre préliminaire où l’on établira les outils conceptuels nécessaires à l’étude de ce motif et où l’on analysera les antécédents grecs de celui-ci, à savoir le deus ex machina dans la tragédie et le mythe eschatologique final chez Platon. / This doctoral thesis is devoted to the investigation of the philosophical, religious, and formal aspects of a motif which appears in three major works of Latin literature : that of final revelation. The last book of Cicero’s De republica with its “Dream of Scipio”, the last book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses with its discourse of Pythagoras, and the last book of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses with its unveiling of Isis, all share, indeed, the specificity of representing a revelatory experience. The aim of this research is then : on the one hand, to study the way Cicero, Ovid and Apuleius dream up a pattern of revelation on the basis of philosophical and religious material that we shall first replace in each case in its historical context and in the frame of the respective literary output and pervasive themes of thinking of our three writers ; on the other hand, to determine the effects given off by the setting of these revelations at the place that traditionally focuses meaning, the ending of the work : what kind of dialogue is set up between these three revelations and the preceding structure ? to what extent do those final revelations in the texts function at the same time as final revelations of the texts themselves, on which they cast retrospective lighting ? and what worldview, what conception of the search for truth does this dynamics convey in the three cases ? This investigation will be preceded by a preliminary chapter where we shall establish the conceptual tools required for the study of this motif and analyze its Greek antecedents, i.e. the deus ex machina in tragedy and the final eschatological myth in Plato.

No description available.

The Internet traffic is constantly increasing following the emergence of new network applications like social networks, peer-to-peer, IP phone or IP television. In addition, these new applications request better path availability and path quality. Indeed the efficiency of these applications is strongly related to the quality of the underlying network. In that context network operators make use of traffic engineering techniques in order to improve the quality of the routes inside their network, but also to reduce the network cost of increased traffic handling with a better utilization of existing resources. This PhD thesis covers several topics of Traffic Engineering and Fast Restoration in IP/MPLS networks. Our first contribution is related to the definition of a well-engineered network. In the literature mathematical formulation of Traffic Engineering (TE) requirements are very diverse. We have thus performed a comparative study of many objective functions, in order to differentiate them and choose in a rational way the one that best reflects Traffic Engineering goals. We have also designed a method approaching optimal TE, whereby we divide the traffic matrix in N sub-matrices and route them independently, based on the derivatives of the objective function. The second topic addressed in this work concerns link weight optimizers (LWOs). Link weight optimization is the traffic engineering {it "standard"} technique in networks running link state routing protocols (which are widely used in transit networks). These link weight optimizers suffer from several limitations due to the BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) Hot-Potato rule, which is basically not considered by such optimizers. Therefore we have proposed a BGP-aware link weight optimization method that takes problematic Hot-Potato effects into account, and even turns them into an advantage. We have also studied how LWOs behave in big networks which have to use BGP route reflectors. Finally we have studied whether forwarding loops can appear or not when traffic is split among multiple equivalent egress routers, an optional BGP feature that we did use in our Hot-Potato aware LWO. Our last contribution concerns network resilience. We have proposed a solution for a rapid recovery from a link or node failure in an MPLS network. Our solution allows a decentralized deployment combined with a minimal bandwidth usage while requiring only reduced amount of information to flood in the network. This method is the first that makes possible a decentralized deployment combined with an optimal resource consumption. To easily simulate and test the methods proposed in this work, we have also contributed to the development of TOTEM - a TOolbox for Traffic Engineering Methods.