Cette thèse étudie la configuration télévisuelle de l’identité arabe moderne à travers un des programmes phares de la chaine satellitaire libanaise LBC-Sat : la Star Academy Middle East. Elle interroge, d’un côté, les motivations et les contraintes institutionnelles et commerciales qui orientent le processus de création de sens à la télévision et se penche, de l’autre, sur le produit fini qui porte en lui les traces des tensions et des confrontations qui ont accompagné sa conception. Elle cherche à décoder la représentation de l’arabité proposée par la chaine libanaise dans un contexte régional instable, marqué par des bouleversements profonds. Les télévisions satellitaires panarabes, reflets des nouvelles technologies qui ont inondé le marché régional à une vitesse déconcertante à partir des années 1990, ont, en effet, entrainé une contraction de l’espace et du temps oriental ainsi qu’une abolition symbolique des frontières. Elles ont permis aux citoyens arabes, urbains comme ruraux, locaux comme de la diaspora, de s’informer, en temps réel, sur l’actualité arabe et mondiale et d’interagir avec des individus proches et lointains. Elles ont, de ce fait, facilité l’émergence d’un réseau d’échange horizontal et d’un espace public transnational qui a fait renaitre de ses cendres, mais sous une forme distincte, le rêve d’unité arabe. À travers leur discours dirigé vers la « rue arabe » et orienté par des considérations plus économiques que politiques, elles ont, d’une part, fragilisé les régimes autocratiques en place, en les dépossédant de leur monopole historique sur les médias, et de l’autre regroupé, à l’échelle internationale, un ensemble d’individus partageant les mêmes convictions, les mêmes attentes ou les mêmes centres d’intérêt. En accélérant l’autonomisation des opinions publiques par rapport aux idéologies officielles, elles ont obligé les régimes arabes à se repositionner vis-à-vis de ces producteurs de sens à l’influence grandissante. Leurs discours, qu’il soit inspiré d’une rhétorique islamique ou libérale s’élabore dans une sphère publique chargée de sens et de références et s’expose à des critiques qui témoignent de l’imbrication du politique, du religieux et du culturel dans le secteur médiatique arabe. La LBC-Sat, chaine satellitaire généraliste libanaise, née de l’association entre des entrepreneurs libanais et saoudiens, a intégré cette arène symbolique en 1996. Fille de la LBCI, la télévision la plus populaire du pays des Cèdres — celle qui représente, aux yeux des téléspectateurs arabes, l’essence de la culture libanaise — elle a très tôt affiché sa volonté de séduire l’audience régionale à travers une narration qui se démarque de celle de ses concurrentes. Constituée d’un mélange d’émissions à l’esthétique occidentale, au contenu audacieux, et au ton libéré et souvent frivole, sa programmation prend ses distances vis-à-vis des conservatismes régionaux et dénote une volonté de configurer une représentation différenciée de l’identité arabe, proche d’une conception singulière de l’identité libanaise, porteuse, selon les termes des idéologues du Liban moderne, d’une mission civilisatrice auprès des pays arabes et d’un pouvoir de conciliation entre les deux cultures occidentale et orientale. Les émissions de la LBC-Sat témoignent de son rôle autoproclamé de trait d’union entre ces deux mondes et participent à populariser cette vision auprès du public arabe. Son plus grand succès transnational, l’adaptation orientale de la télé-réalité d’Endemol Star Academy, montre, en effet, qu’il est possible d’imposer cette image dans l’imaginaire collectif régional à travers la construction d’un discours sur la jeunesse orientale, caractérisé par son d’hybridité et sa position à mi-chemin entre le global et le local. / This thesis studies the representation of modern Arab identities through one of the most influential reality shows in the Arab World: Star Academy Middle East.It seeks to understand the strategic and ideological discourse over Arabism constructed by one of the leading Lebanese satellite channel in the MENA region: LBC-Sat.Through the study of both the professional and commercial context of emergence of this discourse, as well as a qualitative content analysis of the first four seasons of the show, it tries to understand its rationale as well as its impact in the Arab World.We believe that this narrative is unfolding in an arena of controversies where a multitude of positions regarding Arab identities are debated. Indeed, since the establishment of the first Arab satellite channels that led to a prosperous television industry, a pan Arab public sphere arose. TV shows became political fields in which opinions were exposed and theories regarding political and social issues were considered. The once monopolistic control over media contents of authoritarian regimes gave way to a more liberal environment, where citizens were given the chance to participate in the debates framing there lives. Today, Arab satellite channels act as a lightning rod for what is known as “New Arabism”, a sense of belonging to an imagined community that is no longer imposed by a higher power but developed by the base. With their liberal aesthetic and messages that oppose those of more conservative Arab televisions, Lebanese channels play a crucial role in redefining Arab identities. Their discourse, inspired by a cultural and ideological interpretation of Lebanon’s position in the Arab world, translates into a plea to rebuild bridges between the East and the West. As a symbolic object composed of hybrid forms and ideas, Star Academy Middle East echoes this position.

Thesis (Master of Military Studies)-Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 2008. / Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Dec 29, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

In the historical tapestry of the development of the Goddess, from 10,000 - 330 BCE one golden thread shines through. Despite the vicissitudes of differing status, she remained essentially the same, namely divine. She was continuously sought in the many mysteries, mystic ideologies and through the manifestations that she inspired. In all the countries of the Ancient Near East, the mother goddess was the life giving creatrix and regenerator of the world and the essence of the generating force that seeds new life. While her name may have altered in the various areas, along with that of her consort/lover/child, the myths and rituals which formed a major force in forming the ancient cultures would become manifest in a consciousness and a spiritual awareness. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Language and Culture)

Iran's foreign policy is consistent and is fundamentally realist with a revolutionist vision while the means are rationalist is the central argument of this dissertation. I make use of the English Schools three traditions of realism, rationalism and revolutionism in analyzing the speeches of Iranian statesmen to identify the ways in which the dynamics of the three traditions have evolved since 1997 and what it means for interpreting the developments of Iran's foreign policy ventures. I utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis in examining the speeches of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, the presidents since 1997. The quantitative method employs a customized software generating figures that represent the recurrence of realist, rationalist and revolutionist terminologies in all the documents downloaded from the official websites of the Iranian statesmen as well as the United Nations and select news agencies and affiliates. The quantitative phase of the analysis, meanwhile, carefully examined selected statements of the supreme leader and the presidents uncovering the foreign policy argumentations and justifications, which were studied alongside foreign policy actions and classified under the three traditions. The findings suggest that Iran's foreign policy is the same as in the other states of international society – it is consistent and dynamic. It is simultaneously realist, rationalist and revolutionist with each tradition serving a specific purpose, which cannot be disentangled from the other two.

Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)) / The Fertile Crescent, due to its geographical characteristics, has always been an area troubled with conflict and warfare. The men who participated in these wars, from ca 2000 BCE to 1000 BCE operated from an ethos which was governed by a system of rules, all which were conceived to be the creation of divine will, to which kings and their warriors (keymen) were subject. The cuneiform texts from Mari, Ugarit, Ebla, Amarna and others, have not only thrown light on the political, social, religious and military aspects of those turbulent times, but have also given insight into the formation of armies as well as the commanders who led those armies and the royal officials who governed cities and provinces, all appointed by the monarch in order to effect the smooth running of his kingdom. They also shed light on the formation of coalitions and alliances in order to promote peace, arrange marriages to the daughters of other ruling powers and to promote trade relations. These were no easy tasks, considering the diversity of peoples, the birth and fall of kingdoms and empires, and the ever shifting and changes of loyalties of greedy kings and their men, to attain power and conquest for themselves.. However, these texts also give glimpses of the human side of the king and the close relationships between himself and his men of authority, whilst the women of the court also played their role in some areas of the social field. The responses, of these people towards matters and events, whether they were confrontations, marriage alliances, trade ventures or hunting expeditions, occurred within an ever changing world yet, it was also a world with an ethos of ancient traditions, which did not disappear but instead remained, albeit in adapted or altered form, to be a part of their contextual reality. / Biblical Studies

The bull was a potent symbol of power, strength, and, to a lesser degree, fertility to the peoples of the ancient Near East from the twelfth century until 330 BCE. This symbolism was manifested in several iconographic motifs. These motifs reveal the bull as a manifestation of divine characteristics and as an expression of the power of man, and particularly the authority of the king. The use of these iconographic motifs was not consistent across the entire area of the ancient Near East; some differed in appearance and use in the different areas of the region, and many changed over time even in the same area. In all areas and during all periods the basic core symbolism stayed the same, and the bull was always held in a special respect. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

The attacks of September 11, 2001, have changed America forever. In a horrific manner the vulnerability of the highly developed states was demonstrated and exposed in world politics. The event is ushering a new political era where far reaching shifts in international relations are under way. In the post Cold-War international world it appears that the ideological conflict between capitalism and socialism has been replaced by a new world order. One that has retained the binary conflict structure of the Cold War, except that this binary is now presented by political Islam and consumerist's capitalism (Martin, 2000:155). Indeed, in the previous bipolar world order, the acute distinction between capitalism and communism served to attenuate the discord in and between religions. This complex blurring of distinctions has been systematically heightened since the end of the Cold War, as it has allowed Western governments to maintain controlling interests outside of their dominions (Gupta, 2002:6) . This struggle has since been conceived in a variety of different, but related ways: A 'Clash of Civilizations' (Huntington 1996), or as an inescapable dialectic typical of the process of globalization itself (Barber, 1996:245). In the case of Huntington's (1996:19-20) genealogical narrative, he refers to global politics and the way in which the future will be reconfigured according to cultural identities. The division along these cultural lines, will furthermore "shape" the patterns of cohesion, disintegration, and conflict in the Post-Cold War world" (Huntington, 1996:20). Huntington's thesis is rather overriding in explaining the clash between the supposedly 'West' vs. 'Rest', whose interaction is historically determined. Yet, the genealogical narrative is not sufficient in taking into account the dynamics of globalization. Benjamin Barber's structural narrative, on the other hand, goes to great lengths to illustrate the paradoxical relationship between Jihad and McWorld, and how both forces tend to survive in a world that they inevitably create. By' acknowledging the relevance of both binaries (East/West), it is hoped to transcend them by presenting a structural-genealogical grand narrative, which will essentially allow one to understand Jihad as being a structural moment of the genealogical narrative. Given this general strategy, it will become perceptible that Jihad is one form of anti-globalization as the structural narratives become part of the genealogical and the genealogical part of the structural. In essence, then, this thesis is attempting to come to grips with the phenomenon of September 11, from a political-philosophical perspective. More specifically, this study will firstly be looking at two different, but related narratives that have emerged post-September 11, to make sense of the event. Given the structural-genealogical approach, the central concern in this study is consequently to look at two separate but related interests. The one pertains to history and the other to historiography.

The administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1992 saw several firsts in both American foreign policy towards the Middle East, and in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At the beginning of the Bush Presidency, the intifada was raging in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and by the time it was over negotiations were already in progress for the most comprehensive agreement brokered in the history of the conflict to that point, the Oslo Accords. This paper will serve two purposes. First, it will delineate the relationships between the players in the Middle East and President Bush during the first year of his presidency. It will also explore his foreign policy towards the Middle East, and argue that it was the efforts of George H. W. Bush, and his diplomatic team that enabled the signing of the historic agreement at Oslo.

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This practice-based research addresses the challenges that face the animation practitioner in the Arab region. In engaging with this topic it highlights the contrast with international animation producers, and also seeks to analyse how Arab animation cinema is represented and understood in the West. It introduces Arab animation history, and the animation industry as it currently exists in the Middle East. I suggest the reasons why there have been so few animated shorts and feature-length films successfully produced in the Arab world, in spite of their being a rich literary and cultural heritage. This study reveals a number of cultural, religious, political and economic issues related to Arab animation cinema, both in relation to its history and in regard to its place domestically and internationally. This research explores how YouTube and other social media became the main platform for Arab animation artists to distribute their political works during and since the 'Arab Spring' in the Middle East. The immediate consequence of this is an explosion in the exposure of Arab animation artists and their work to the world, in comparison to the very limited opportunities and freedoms of the past. Moreover, this study seeks to open up a conversation about the possibility of showing animated films that include Arabic content to Western audiences. This is complex in the sense that the place and presence of Arab animated stories are affected by how the representation is perceived within its production context and conditions of exhibition. My research will result in original knowledge, to be made available to Arab filmmakers, the Arab film industry and international academics addressing and championing animation, by engaging with conceptual questions, creating a critical practice methodology, and applying research-led practice methods.