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This thesis focuses on various aspects of the social and political history of the Yazidi Kurds of Jabal Sinjar ( Iraq)during the British mandate. When relevant to the history of mandatory Sinjarit also deals with the neighbouring Yazidicommunity of Iraqi Shaikhan. Chapters I and II are primarily concerned with the society and economy of Jabal Sinjarin theperiod under consideration with particular emphasis on the socio-economic and political organization of the Yaziditribes settled in the area. They also provide a general historical perspective of the socio-economic development ofthe region. Chapter III discusses the late Ottoman period in detail with a view to defining community-state relations andthe development of Yazidi inter- tribalaf fairs in Jabal Sinjar. Chapters IV and V examine the history of the YazidiMountain in the years of the British mandate when the emerging structures of the Iraqi state had significantrepercussions on Sinjari society, especially on the attitude of a number of Yaziditri al leaders. These developments areanalysed primarily in the context of the policies implemented in the northern Jazirah by the British and Iraqiadministrations and by the French mandatory authorities who controlled its Syrian section. Particular emphasis is placedon the dispute between Great Britain and France concerning the elimination of the Syro- Iraqi border in the Sinjar areawhich affected relations between the Yazidis, the British mandatory administration and the Iraqi authorities ChapterVI gives an account of the Sinjari Yazidis' quest f or autonomy which became increasingly associated with theAssyro-Chaldean autonomist movement in the last years of the mandate.

The advent of the New World Order has challenged Syria's role in the Middle East. Traditionally viewed as a pariah state, and a Soviet satellite, Syria's future looked uncertain. Syria, however, has been able to accommodate the transformation in the world order. The New World Order amounted to a redistribution of global power. The transmutation of Soviet power towards the US culminated in a unipolar world order. The withdrawal of Soviet support through the advent of the New World Order threatened Syria's quest for regional hegemony. Existing in a state of anarchy, the co-ordinates of Syria's foreign policy have been founded upon the principles of self-help, national security, and national interest. These principles have found their expression through Syria's intractable struggle with Israel. Syrian foreign policy has been determined by two factors: primarily, by the international political system, and secondarily, by the influence of domestic politics. Omni balancing provides an explanatory model for foreign policy behaviour that bridges the divide between the determinants of the international political system and the influences of the domestic arena. Following a rational policy, the Syrian state was compelled to realign with the US- led world order, in order to pursue regional hegemony. It was able to display its accommodation of the New World Order by joining the US-led coalition forces in the liberation of Kuwait in 1990/1991. Syria's adjustment to the New World Order was rewarded with a place in the post-war regional order, and a central role in the Madrid Peace Conference.

This thesis examines the impact of the New World Order on the Arab-Israeli peace process. It argues that, since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the old bipolar World Order has disappeared and a new unipolar one has emerged. The United States of America, as the only remaining single superpower, has enjoyed a great degree of influence and a kind of hegemony in international affairs. Its military superiority and economic, technological and diplomatic strength, in the absence of any competing power, have given it the upper hand to pursue its own policies and its own interests. This American unipolarity and hegemony are clearly demonstrated in the Middle East peace process. The United States' unipolarity on the international level and its hegemony on the regional level have allowed it to pursue policies to resolve the Arab- Israeli conflict. Regional states, released from the constraints or protection of the patron- client relationships fostered under the bi-polar Old World Order, have adjusted their own policies to take into account this New World Order. A neo-realist understanding of this has been developed which assesses this process in terms of international and regional balance of power and "rules of the game”. This method had been used to understand the reasons for and nature of the Arab- Israeli peace negotiations that started at Madrid in 1991 and developed in Oslo in 1993. The thesis argues that these negotiations were in fact a single process which was the direct result of this American-led New World Order. Whether through direct or indirect American involvement or through the indirect or direct acknowledgement by regional actors of the nature of the New World Order, American interests and preferences have been strongly reflected in the peace process.

The flow of foreign direct investment has long been regarded as the main engine of growth in developing countries. Lebanon has aimed at attracting foreign direct investment to contribute to its economic recovery in the post-civil war period. EU countries were expected to be a major source of investment inflows, partly, due to their rich historical relationship, and partly, as an expected result of the new Euro-Med approach, adopted in the 1990s.This thesis assesses the EU private business interests in Lebanon during the reconstruction period, and investigates to what extent EU business engagements involved FDI. Within this framework, this thesis examines the role of the EU in encouraging the flow of EU private investments into Lebanon. This thesis falls into two parts. The first assesses the history of economic relations between Lebanon and Europe in the modern period, and the development of these relations after the establishment of the EC, examining the role of the latter in reshaping these relations. It also assesses the development of the Lebanese economy since independence from France. In the second part of the thesis, the theoretical framework of FDI is applied to a survey of EU private businesses operating in Lebanon. This helped in answering two questions: what business activities did involve FDI, and why EU firms engagement in FDI was very shallow. The thesis concludes that the lack of FDI activities in Lebanon, whether EU or non-EU, was a result of the lack of comparative location-specific advantages. It also suggests that the Lebanese government should assume a stronger role in improving Lebanon’s comparative advantages in order to attract FDI. The EU should provide substantial help - within the Euro-Med approach - to encourage EU private business investments in the country.

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