The US-Israel relations were based on the US political and strategic interests in the Middle East. The beginning of relations resulted from the Israel&rsquo / s strategic importance for United States to contain the Soviet sponsored-communism and its location to easy access oil reserves. The bilateral relation, especially after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, was transformed into a special relation. However, following the election of George Bush as President of the US, the US-Israeli relations rose and reached its peak in the 8-year period of his Administration. For that reason, this thesis aims at analyzing the role of the Jewish lobbies, in the context of the US-Israeli relations from 1948 to 2008, particular focusing on the Bush Administration period. This study tries to answer the question of to what extent does the Jewish lobby influence foreign policy or to what extent does the Jewish lobby has the relative strength of influence than other ethnic groups or lobbies in the US foreign policy-making process is another aim of this study. This thesis argues that the Jewish lobby has been highly affectively to influence the US foreign policy-making process. In addition, it also argues that the US foreign policy is based on importance of presidency and therefore it is impossible to explain American foreign policy without highlighting the personality and belief system of Presidents.

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) - Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Uluslararası İlişkiler Anabilim Dalı, 2008. / Kaynakça var.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed February 11, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 681-712).

No description available.

This thesis examines nationalism and colonialism in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and asks the questions: What is the relationship between these ideologies and "national narratives" constructed of collective historical memory? How do these ideologies produce recognizable, sexualized, national bodies? What are the defining characteristics of these national bodies and how do they perform roles from the national narratives? These questions are addressed through a discussion of the role of masculinity in modern Zionism and the state of Israel, in particular how it relates to the land of Palestine and the Palestinian "other". This thesis also addresses anti-colonial resistance movements in Palestine and argues that performative nationalism produces a fetishized commodity that can me labeled "militancy". This militancy is found institutionalized in the popular culture of everything from poetry to political posters. Finally, Palestinian female suicide bombers, like women nationalists before them, do little to challenge how specific nationalist acts of resistance are defined by patriarchal nationalists and sexualized within a "gendered space of militancy".

The ideology of jihad as propounded by the Islamic Resistance Movement of Palestine (H&dotbelow;amas) is the subject of this thesis. It examines what this organization specifically means by jihad. To properly ascertain this meaning, the ideology of jihad from two different time periods has been examined. In the first period, the "classical" age, the ideology of several jurists concerning jihad is introduced. It can be seen that during this period jihad was applicable to both the expansion and protection of Islamic social/political hegemony. In the second, or modern period, the interpretations of jihad by four thinkers commonly known as "Islamic revivalists" are presented. The definitions of jihad in this era were mostly responses of defending and liberating land from colonialism and imperialism; however, in some cases it was also understood as a means to implement the shari'a in Muslim societies. The jihad of H&dotbelow;amas can, for its part, be seen as an amalgam of these ideologies, in that it is largely connected to liberating the land of Palestine from Israeli rule, establishing an Islamic state, and continuing to assist in struggles in other areas beyond the borders of Palestine.

My thesis focuses on modern Palestine and the role of nationalism and fundamentalism in the construction of Palestinian national identity. H&dotbelow;amas provides a case study of Islamic fundamentalism in Palestine. The movement developed during the late 1980's as a reaction to the failures of the secular project. H&dotbelow;amas is a reflection of a region-wide phenomenon. It is not solely a reaction to modernity. Rather, H&dotbelow;amas is the result of specific condition that led to the politicization of Islam after the Intifad&dotbelow;a . Today the nationalist PLO and H&dotbelow;amas struggle to define Palestinian identity and to shape the emerging Palestinian state. / Palestinian national identity like that of other modern nations has been constructed. Nation-building or identity construction in Palestine can be divided into four historical stages. Each stage is characterized by overlapping and competing identities: Ottoman, Arab, religious, local and kinship. These identities are not mutually exclusive and often a combination of identities became prominent historically depending on the internal and external forces pressuring society. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Boston University, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 560-575).

These (Ph.D.)--University of Waterloo, 2007. / Title from PDF title page. Available through UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-131). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.