The dissertation examines in detail the concept of neutrality in political theory literature and assesses the arguments of the defenders and critics of Turkey’s laicism in light of such an examination. After showing the weaknesses and problems in the arguments of various political actors in Turkey, the dissertation defends “modus vivendi liberalism” as a possible solution for the conflicts about Turkey’s laicism. In that regard, the dissertation argues that certain aspects of liberal political theory can be appropriated for Turkish politics for the sake of ensuring stability and peace even if there might be problems with the possibility and desirability of neutrality. The dissertation also discusses what can constitute Turkey’s modus vivendi and offer certain ideas about what may and may not ensure stability and peace in Turkey.

The thesis represents an attempt to relate and analyse the relations between neutral Norway and the major belligerent powers in the war of 1914-1918. Part 1 consists of an introductory survey of the position of neutrality as a legal status at the outbreak of war, illustrating the illusoriness of trying to regulate the position of neutrality without some measure of foresight into the nature of the coming conflict. The main body of the thesis is chronologically arranged and divided into two parts - Part II and Part III - roughly corresponding to the first and second halves of the war period. The belligerent measures that directly affected Norway, and most othar neutral states as we11, were the attempts of the two parties to interrupt commercial intercourse with the enemy. On the psrt of the Central Powers this aim was chiefly pursued through tue use of mines and submarines The Entente, by their ability to control oversees supplies to the neutral nations around the North Sea, sought to obtain the desired effect through agreements with the neutrals, achieved by economic pressure. The development of the measures referred to was rather slow and hesitant, and their effect on the political relations between the belligerents and Norway did not attain considerable dimensions until after the middle of 1916. Part 11 opens with an account of the foundations of Norwegian foreign policy, as it developed during the nine years between the dissolution of the union with Sweden and the outbreak of the First World War; a period marked by concentration on internal tasks and issues and a consequent lack of concern for international affairs. Also described is the strategic situation of Norway as the constellations of the war were formed at tbe beginning of August 1914, as well as the immediate steps taken by the government to avoid involvement. The economic warfare of the belligerents began on a modest scale through German mine-laying and Allied attempts to control neutral trade with Germany through the visit and search of merchant ships. The resulting inconveniences to neutral trade led the Scandinavian countries to attempt a closer co-operation in defence of their common interests. ln February 1915 the Germans attempted to institute a blockade of the British lsles by submarine. It was met with protests from the neutral governments and its extent was soon reduced both for this reason and because the submarines were insufficient for a blockade of the intended dimensions. The German declaration however provided a point of departure for more extensive Allied measures to prevent trade with the enemy. By using their command of the seas and their control over overseas supplies they sought to convince or press the neutrals to co-operate with their methods of economic warfare. Norway, highly vulnerable to pressure both against her imports and her shipping, was thus gradually brought to acquiesce and in particular to allow agreements to be signed between the British Government and private Norwegian business interests. So far the Entente's economic pressure on Norway was aimed mostly at preventing re-export to Germany of goods received from overseas. Late in 1915, however, the first attempts were made to obtain control of the trade in the country's own products. Germany had by then already shown an increasing interest in the products of the Norwegian fisheries. These functioned mainly on supplies and tackle received from foreign sources under the control of the Entente, and in the sumiaer of 1916 the British by using this control as well as the promise of a purchasing agreement got the Norwegians to consent to a severe reduction in fish exports to Germany. At about the same time the British Government also obtained Norway's agreement not to export her valuable copper and pyrites except in exchange for equivalent amounts of refined copper, most of which could only be obtained via Britain. Both these agreements had been arranged with the connivance of the Norwegian Government, and resulted in radical cuts in German imports of goods that were vital to the German war effort. The political conflicts that ensued from the conflicting demands of the belligerent parties form the subject of the more detailed account in Part III of the thesis, covering the period 1916-1918. In the autumn of 1916 Norway's relations with Germany, already severely tested by the reduction in Norwegian exports, were brought to a critical point as a result of the activities of German submarines in tha Arctic Sea. Replying to public outcries against the sinking of several Norwegian merchant ships, the Norwegian Government by decree banned submarines from territorial waters, and a German protest was followed by strained re- lations through the autumn and winter months. At the same time exports of fish and pyrites from Norway to Germany led the British Government to suspect that a deal had bean arranged in violation of Norway's obligations to Britain. Failing a satisfactory explanation the British Government atopped coal exports to Norway, and bitter exchangee ensued. The crisis between Norway and the two main belligerents was only solved in February 1917. With Germany an understan- ding was reached on the basis of a temporary arrangement of trade relations together with certain changes in the submarine decree. The situation concerning the Anglo-Norwegian dispute had in the meantime been altered by the start of the unrestricted submarine campaign. Tha coal embargo was lifted after the Norwegian Government had agreed to suspend further pyrites de- liveries to Germany. The traffic across the North Sea was now resumed, but with enonormous casualties due to the German submarines. In order to prevent continued losses the Norwegian shipowners with the knowledge of the Norwegian Government arranged with the British for a transfer of tonnage, mostly on charter basis, to British and allied service. The situation in the wake of the submarine campaign, together with other incidents during the spring and early summer of 1917, led to another critical period in German-Norwegian relations. At times the British Government thought a breach was imminent, and appealed for American promises of co-operation if necessary to assist Norway. The crisis, however, passed soon after a coincidental exchange of German envoys at Kris- tiania. To Norway, the main significance of America's entry into the war was the possibility that the blockade might be strengthened, so as to endanger Norwegian imports from the United States. The Norwegian Government sent a Mission of prominent negotiators to Washington, but negotiations were complicated on the Allied side by American suspicions that the British intended to press Norway beyond limits considered by Washington as safe and on the Norwegian side by persistent German pressure against accepting terms that meant too severe restrictions on German imports from Norway. Only after a new Norwegian declaration of neutrality had been issued could a precarious balance be reached, and the trade agreement with the United States was then signed in April of 1918. The final crisis for Norwegian neutrality came in August 1918, when after long preparations the Allied navies were nearing completion of a mine barrage between Shetland and the Norwegian coast. To prevent the German submarines from bypassing the barrage the British Government demanded the mining of adjoining Norwegian sea territory, either by the Norwegian or the Allied navies. After circumspect diplomatic preparation the Norwegian Government at the end of September announced that the minefield would be laid by Norwegian naval vessels.

Recreational drug use, whether publicly acknowledged or privately hidden, has long been a common activity within human societies. Though this comes with serious hazards, it also produces benefits, which often go unrecognized. Given the current prohibitory policies, it is important to consider whether such use ought to be restricted. I will do just that, focusing on whether recreational drug use can be part of a reasonable conception of the good life, as well as whether restrictions constitute an infringement on freedom. I will argue that, in moderation, recreational drug use constitutes a positive good for a large group of people, and that criminalization places an unfair burden upon these people, which breaches the liberal principle of neutrality.

Liberal neutrality – as understood in current legal and political debates – has two underlying intuitions and therefore two distinct elements. On the one hand it refers to the intuition that there are matters the state has no business getting involved in (hands-off element). On the other hand it is motivated by the idea that the state ought to treat citizens as equals and show equal respect and for their different conceptions of the good life (equality element). This thesis defends this two-fold understanding of neutrality with reference to Rawls’ conception of society as a fair system of cooperation and the idea of citizens as free and equal persons. In particular, the idea that citizens are to be treated as free justifies the hands-off element and argues that the state must be involved in nothing but justice. In the context of political decision making this requires the state to be justificatorily neutral. Treating citizens as equals requires the state to grant its citizens equal political rights and also to ensure that these rights have “fair value.” Given the danger that cultural bias undermines the equal standing of citizens the state has to ensure procedures of political decision making that are able to take citizens’ different conceptions into account. Treating citizens as free and equal therefore requires that the state bans all considerations of the good from being part of the justification of state action while at the same time taking these considerations into account when deliberating the way how these regulations are to be implemented.

This investigation is concerned with the determination of the exact nature of Anglo-Spanish relations during World War I. It examines the nature of these relations in an attempt to define Spain's commitment to her neutrality policy and the amount of pressure placed upon Spain by Britain in order to force Spain to adopt a policy of at least "benevolent neutrality." Most historical accounts heretofore have accepted the idea that Spain simply refused to abandon her neutrality policy.

A hipótese da neutralidade da moeda tem como marco teórico a Teoria Quantitativa da Moeda (TQM), que é fundamentada a partir da equação de trocas de Fisher, supondo que a velocidade-renda da moeda é constante, sendo o produto real determinado exogenamente por variáveis não-monetárias, tais como a tecnologia, o estoque de capital e a oferta de trabalho. Mas, o produto real é realmente exógeno no Brasil? Ou, em outras palavras, é válida a hipótese de neutralidade da moeda? Esse tema tem sido objeto de muitos estudos empíricos. Ademais, o efeito Tobin e as teorias de crescimento endógeno sugerem que pode haver um efeito real da moeda no longo prazo. Este trabalho investigou as possíveis relações de longo prazo entre a oferta nominal de moeda, o nível de preços e o Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) real para o Brasil de 1946 a 2008, utilizando dados de baixa frequência (anuais). Para a parte empírica foi utilizado o teste de cointegração de Johansen e integração das variáveis, com destaque para o estudo de estacionaridade da velocidade de circulação da moeda, que se mostrou ser constante apenas na presença de quebras estruturais. Principalmente, foram utilizados testes de exogeneidade, com o objetivo de permitir ao pesquisador trabalhar com um conjunto de informações o mais amplo possível, vale dizer, que englobasse as informações que proviessem da teoria econômica e do processo gerador de dados. Quanto aos testes de raiz unitária, encontrou-se que as variáveis em estudo (y, m e p) são I(1), ou seja, são estacionárias apenas em primeira diferença. Os resultados encontrados vão no sentido de validar a exogeneidade do produto real, apesar de os resultados provenientes do teste de causalidade Granger não ter sido conclusivo. Dessa forma, este trabalho cria evidências a favor da hipótese da neutralidade da moeda. / The hypothesis of neutrality of money is the theoretical framework of the Quantity Theory of Money (QTM), which is based from the Fishers equation of exchange, assuming that the income-velocity of money is constant, the real output is exogenously determined by nonmonetary variables, such as technology, capital stock and labor supply. But the real output is truly exogenous in Brazil? Or, in other words, it is valid the hypothesis of neutrality of money? This theme has been the subject of many studies. In addition, the Tobin effect and the endogenous growth theories suggest that there may be a real effect of money in the long run. This study investigated the possible long-run relationships between the nominal money supply, the price level and real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Brazil from 1946 to 2008, using low frequency (annual) data . For the empirical test was used the Johansen cointegration and integration of the variables, especially the study of the stationarity of the velocity of money circulation, which provided to be constant only in the presence of structural breaks. Mainly, we used exogeneity tests in order to allow the researcher to work with a set of information as broad as possible, ie, encompassing the information come from the economic theory and data generator process. For the unit root tests, it was found that the study variables (y, m e p) are I (1), ie, are stationary only in first difference. The results are in line to validate the exogeneity of real output, although the results from the Granger causality test was not conclusive. Thus, this work creates evidence for the hypothesis of neutrality of money.

How has the question of Swedish neutrality been taught in the Swedish school during the 1950s, 1960s and 2000s? Neutrality is changeable and can be linked to shifts in history culture, conscious and contemporary perceptions during time. The material has been interpreted through the hermeneutics guidelines, which means that I have made the interpretation. At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, the Swedish government declared the country neutral. Sweden was represented during the war by a collective government led by Per Albin Hansson and declared the country as "non-warring". The consequence of this was that Sweden was not drawn into any armed conflict. In our school books, the knowledge is conveyed that Sweden was not included in the Second World War. Between historians and within history science, it is continuously debated to what extent the Swedish government maintained and protected the neutrality. The essay will analyze and study material in which Sweden’s neutrality is portrayed and in what way the transit agreement is reported in the textbooks and how it differs. Differences in history consciousness will be investigated with the help of current research. Compared to previous research, this study provides a more complex understanding of neutrality changes in school textbooks. The analysis has concluded that the historiography appears different over time and that the ethical aspect is becoming increasingly apparent.

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Il est bien connu que la responsabilité civile appliquée aux intermédiaires techniques de l’internet gouverne bien au-delà de ses destinataires directs. Par le biais de sa fonction normative, elle peut inciter les fournisseurs d’accès et les hébergeurs à restreindre la liberté des utilisateurs du réseau. Pour cette raison, la loi a limité leur responsabilité dès le début des années 2000. Alors que le régime de responsabilité qui en découle est régulièrement au cœur de l’actualité juridique, la neutralité de l’internet fait aujourd’hui l’objet de toutes les attentions. Ce concept émergeant est présenté, tour à tour, comme la condition de la liberté sur le réseau et comme le complice des pires excès. À l’heure où sa consécration légale est proposée avec insistance, il apparaît indispensable de s’enquérir de ses interactions avec une responsabilité civile qui s’inscrit, depuis les origines, au cœur du « droit de l’internet ». La présente recherche illustre, qu’au-delà d’une opposition apparente, les deux concepts peuvent s’enrichir l’un l’autre, pour peu que l’on en fasse une lecture raisonnable. Dans cette optique, les limitations de responsabilité dont bénéficient les intermédiaires techniques épousent les contours de la neutralité. La responsabilité civile appliquée à l’internet s’en trouve éclairée d’un nouveau jour. En retour, la neutralité acquiert une considération pour les dommages qu’elle cause. Elle y gagne un caractère raisonnable qui lui était, jusqu’ici, inconnu. L’espoir est alors permis que, loin du concept destructeur parfois dénoncé, la neutralité de l’internet contribue à équilibrer les relations tumultueuses entre libertés et responsabilité sur le réseau. / It is widely known that the civil liability applied to internet intermediaries governs well beyond its direct recipients. Through its normative function, it can encourage hosters and internet service providers to restrict freedom of network users. For this reason, the law limited their liability in the early 2000s. While this system of liability is regularly at the heart of legal news, the net neutrality is now the subject of all attention. This emerging concept is presented, alternately, as the condition of freedom on the network and as an accomplice of the worst excesses. At the time when its legal consecration is suggested with insistence, it is essential to inquire about its interactions with civil liability recorded at the heart of the "internet law". This study demonstrates that, beyond an apparent opposition, the two concepts can be enriched each other, as long as we make a reasonable reading. In this context, the limitations of liability of the technical intermediaries are close to fit with neutrality. It sheds a new light on the civil liability applied to the internet. In return, neutrality becomes a consideration for the damage it causes. It earns a reasonable characteristic that was unknown so far. Far from a destructive concept often denounced, we can hope that the neutrality of the internet helps balance the tumultuous relationship between freedom and responsibility in the network.

Durant la dernière décennie, des FAI ont été accusés de discriminer certainstypes de trafic utilisateur générés par des applications gourmandes en bandepassante (peer-to-peer, streaming vidéo) ou par des services concurrents(Voice-over-IP). La neutralité des réseaux, un principe selon lequel un réseaudevrait traiter tous les paquets entrants de la même manière, a été largementdébattue. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons ChkDiff, un nouvel outil pour ladétection de la différentiation du trafic dans le réseau d'accès. Contrairementaux travaux existants, notre méthode est agnostique à la fois vis-à-vis desapplications testées et des mécanismes de shaping déployés. ChkDiff comprenddeux phases dans lesquelles nous testons séparément le trafic montant etdescendant capturé auparavant dans la machine de l'utilisateur. Dans ladirection montante, ChkDiff rejoue le trafic sortant de la machine del'utilisateur avec une valeur TTL modifiée afin de pouvoir tester les routeursaux premiers sauts. En comparant les délais et les pertes des paquets des fluxqui ont traversé les mêmes routeurs et en analysant les résultats sur latopologie des routeurs traversés, nous montrons que nous pouvons détecter lescas de différentiation et localiser les shapers. Notre étude sur la réactivité desrouteurs aux sondes avec TTL limité consolide notre choix de mesures dansl'expérimentation sur le trafic montant. Dans la direction descendante, nousrejouons le trafic entrant dans la machine de l'utilisateur à partir d'un serveurde mesure et analysons pour chaque flux les délais unidirectionnels et lespertes, tout en tenant compte la possibilité de trajets multiples entre le serveuret l’utilisateur. Le long des chapitres de cette thèse, nous fournissons unedescription détaillée de notre méthodologie et une validation de notre outil. / In the last decade, some ISPs have been reported to discriminate againstspecific user traffic, especially if generated by bandwidth-hungry applications(e.g., peer-to-peer, video streaming) or competing services (e.g. Voice-over-IP).Network neutrality, a design principle according to which a network shouldtreat all incoming packets equally, has been widely debated ever since. In thisthesis we present ChkDiff, a novel tool for the detection of trafficdifferentiation at the Internet access. In contrast to existing work, our methodis agnostic to both the applications being tested and the shaping mechanismsdeployed by an ISP. The experiment comprises two parts, in which we check fordifferentiation separately on upstream and downstream traffic that wepreviously dump directly from the user. In the upstream direction, ChkDiffreplays the user's outgoing traffic with a modified TTL value in order to checkfor differentiation on routers at the first few hops from the user. By comparingthe resulting delays and losses of flows that traversed the same routers, andanalyzing the behaviour on the immediate router topology spawning from theuser end point, we manage to detect instances of traffic shaping and attempt tolocalize shapers. Our study on the responsiveness of routers to TTL-limitedprobes consolidates our choice of measurements in the upstream experiment.In the downstream experiment, we replay the user's incoming traffic from ameasurement server and analyze per-flow one-way delays and losses, whiletaking into account the possibility of multiple paths between the two endpoints.Along the chapters of this thesis, we provide a detailed description of ourmethodology and a validation of our tool.