The following article deals with a somewhat neglected aspect of Stuart Hall’s manifold activities and its relevance for his theoretical work: his interest in and commitment to the promotion of black British art.

Amidst the countless and seminal contributions by Stuart Hall to discourses around race, representation, politics and identity, it is easy to overlook the equally countless essays about ‘minor’ fields in which he covered a broad range of related topics. One of these texts is an article about football hooliganism from 1978, entitled “The Treatment of ‘Football Hooliganism’ in the Press” from a volume edited by Hall and his colleagues Roger Ingham, John Clarke, Peter Marsh and Jim Donovan. The collection of essays is based on a conference held that previous year at the University of Southampton about football fans and violence, a topic that had become a major concern in the British public and that in consequence became a mainstay for research in the field of sociology. As this is Hall’s only text dealing with violence around football, the essay fills only a minor niche in his oeuvre. Within the field of hooligan studies, however, his contribution to the discipline is still seen as an important addition.

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This dissertation seeks to conceptualise and operationalise the concept of soft balancing in international relations by articulating a “theory of tripartite strategic balancing” which is applicable to both international and regional unipolar systems. It has a twofold purpose: one theoretical and the other empirical. First, it seeks to develop a theory of tripartite strategic balancing which encompasses three forms of strategic balancing: internal, external, and soft balancing. The second part seeks to test the theory’s utility in explaining international political outcomes in the post-Cold War international system. In particular, it seeks to ascertain whether and how “second-tier great powers” have strategically balanced against the United States on a global level since the end of the Cold War. The analyses will focus largely on the foreign policies of Russia and France – the chief soft balancers. However, this dissertation also seeks to extend the concept of soft balancing into the regional level of analysis by examining whether and how minor-regional powers soft balance against regional unipolar leaders. For instance, it will examine whether and how the Russian Federation has been soft balanced against by states in the “European Near Abroad.” The analyses will focus primarily on the foreign policies of Poland – the chief soft balancer in the region. The dissertation will employ three in-depth case studies – the Kosovo Crisis (1999), the Iraqi wars (1991-2003), and the Georgia Crisis (2008) – to verify whether or not tripartite strategic balancing is actually occurring as the theory predicts. It will heavily rely on sources and interviews conducted during my time working at the United Nations Security Council and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These findings seek to contribute a more nuanced strand of thinking to the realist paradigm in international relations, and they offer practical implications for both US and Russian foreign policymaking.

Le Moyen-Orient représente un « Sud » souvent occulté dans l’analyse de la politique étrangère de la Russie. Or, la politique de Moscou au Moyen-Orient constitue un indicateur souvent révélateur des dynamiques, des atouts et des limites de la puissance russe. Sur la période étudiée (2000-2013), la poursuite d’objectifs « rationnels » – maximisation de la sécurité de l’État dans un système international perçu comme anarchique – n’exclut pas une quête identitaire éclairant la manière dont la Russie se perçoit au monde, souvent en opposition à l’Occident. Notre recherche interroge ainsi le réinvestissement du Moyen-Orient par la Russie de Vladimir Poutine en se penchant sur les logiques internes et extérieures de la politique russe. D’une part, à sa prise de fonctions, Vladimir Poutine est ainsi confronté au double défi d’éviter la polarisation ethnique et religieuse de la population russe et d’améliorer l’image de la Russie dans le monde arabo-musulman après les guerres de Tchétchénie. D’autre part, le Moyen-Orient reste le lieu traditionnel de l’affirmation de la puissance russe. À travers les grands dossiers sécuritaires de la région, Moscou jauge celle-ci à l’aune de l’Occident, en particulier des États-Unis, tout en faisant le pari, depuis la crise financière internationale et la guerre de Géorgie en 2008, d’un déclin inexorable de la puissance américaine. À partir de 2011, les « printemps arabes » révèlent une politique russe conservatrice par instinct, prudente dans son exécution, faite de manœuvres et de compromis si nécessaire et privilégiant les partenariats tactiques aux alliances contraignantes. / A highly and recurrent belligerent region, the Middle East represents a “South” which is often neglected in the study of Russian foreign policy. However, Moscow’s policy in the Middle East constitutes a particularly relevant indicator of the dynamics, assets, and limits of the Russian power. In our study period (2000-2013) the pursuit of “rational” objectives – the maximization of the state’s security within an international system perceived as anarchic – does not exclude an identity quest which enlightens the way Russia sees itself in the world, often in opposition to the West. Our research thus questions the reinvestment of the Middle East by Vladimir Putin’s Russia by addressing both the domestic and external rationales of Russian policy there. Once elected president in 2000, Vladimir Putin faced the twofold challenge of preventing an ethnic and religious polarization of the Russian population, and of improving Russia’s image in the Arab-Muslim world after the two wars fought in Chechnya. On the other side, the Middle East remains the traditional area for asserting Russia’s power. Through the main security issues in the region, Moscow mainly gauges the Middle East with regard to the West, most notable the United States, while betting, since the world financial crisis and the Georgia war in 2008, an inexorable decline of the American power. Since 2011, the “Arab Spring” uprisings have revealed a conservative by instinct and a cautious in its execution Russian policy, made of maneuvers and compromises if necessary and favoring tactic partnerships to constraining alliances.

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This thesis examines the internal dynamics of the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone over the course of the civil war waged from 1991-2002. It does so in two parts, looking first at the RUF’s organizational capacity—its ability to emerge and survive as a group; and second, at its material viability—the logistics and procurement of food, weapons, and other resources required to sustain war. The RUF has become a paradigmatic case for the study of war and rebel groups in Africa. Although much has been written on the group and its violence, comparatively little is known about the inner-workings of the organization and how a largely forcibly recruited group of ill-equipped thousands managed to pose a viable threat to the state for over a decade. Through a fine-grained, case-based analysis, this study applies research on the microdynamics of violence in civil war to the structural and logistical mechanics that underpin it. Doing so contextualizes debates about resource wars, collective violence, and mobilization and onset within the RUF’s own strategies for controlling these aspects of war- making. New primary material, including rebel archive documents, describes the extensive military and civilian governance structures through which order and cohesion were established and enforced. Tracking the success and failure of these mechanisms helps explain the disconnect between rebel rhetoric and behaviour. A detailed examination of the RUF’s material capacity applies this organizational analysis to the group’s strategic priorities for survival. It reorients the resource war debate toward what actually fuels fighting on the ground. Food has long been overlooked as the primary requirement for group survival, and ammunition the basic element of military viability. These ‘low politics’ of survival explain the nature of the war and underscore the importance of shifting factors, such as territorial control, in shaping rebel behaviour. Finally, the ‘high politics’ of international arms trades and global diamond markets illumine changes in the RUF’s firepower and personalization of power, returning to the organizational failings that ultimately led to the group’s dissolution.

In 1948 the international community in reaction to the horrors of the holocaust sought to eradicate genocide forever by creating the 'Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide'. This Convention criminalised the preparation and act of genocide by international law, making all individuals accountable irrelevant of status or sovereignty. But the Convention has not been enough to deter the act of genocide from occurring again, and again, and again. Worst, the international community has been slow to react to cases of genocide. The problem with preventing and punishing genocide is hindered by the power and right of veto held by permanent members of the UNSC. The UNSC has been given the responsibility to maintain international peace and security and is the only entity that can mandate an intervention that overrides the principle of non-intervention. The aim of this thesis is to show that the veto has been a crucial factor in stopping the prevention of genocide, thus it is imperative that the veto change. This study argues that to effectively prevent and punish genocide the veto needs to be barred from use in cases of genocide. It looks at different cases since the Armenian genocide during WWI through to the Darfur genocide which is still in process. The case of Armenia is significant because for the first time, members of the international community were prepared to hold leaders of another state accountable for their treatment of their own citizens. However the collective will to bring justice to those accountable waned coming to an abrupt end in 1923. The holocaust followed in WWII; six million Jews died, and numerous other groups were targeted under the Nazi's serial genocide. The shock of the holocaust led to the Genocide Convention. But thirty years later during the Cold War, Cambodia became embroiled in a genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. The international community silently stood by. The USSR, China, and the US all had their reasons to stay out of Cambodia, from supporting a regime with a likeminded political ideology to war weariness from Vietnam. In the 1990s, genocides in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Kosovo) followed. The former was neglected by the US's unwillingness to be involved in another peacekeeping disaster. The two genocides in the former Yugoslavia were affected by Russia and China's reluctance to use military force even after the clear failure of serial negotiations. Finally, in 2003 Darfur became the latest tragedy of genocide. Again, Russia and China have been timid of calling the conflict genocide thus avoiding any affirmative action to stop it. These cases all show that where one state is unwilling to be involved in stopping genocide, their right and power to the veto stops or delays the international community from preventing and punishing genocide, regardless of whether the veto is used or merely seen as a threat. Therefore, for future prevention of genocide, the veto needs to be changed to prevent its use in times of genocide.

當前主權國家仍是人民利益的最高集中表現，亦是人類歷史發展形成現代文明的主要標誌，這事實命題預告著主權國家的功能與地位，在國內與國際之間的中介重要性。概括地說，研究西方國家的理論與方法，構成了認知現代文明標準的途逕和框架，對於邁向現代化國家的參照體，實有具體的模仿對應。環顧國際社會，對於西方國家所建立的現代文明，具有潛在挑戰性或威脅性的最大變數應屬中共，即強調有「中國特色」的因素，在於中共與國際接軌的同時，亦是「麻煩製造者」的產生，特別是在冷戰後的中共所代表的意義與影響。 　　從兩極格局瓦解所開啟冷戰後的新歷史時期，中共益顯自信對於「時代問題」的預判。換言之，強調「經濟因素」在國際層面上，是主導國際政治格局未來發展的關鍵力量，憑藉著槓桿原理將國家由邊陲位置轉向至核心地位，在制高點透過規範機制予以設計出有利於中共的國際政治、經濟新秩序。而在國內層面上，「經濟因素」亦是共產主義理論再創新的活力源泉，專注於中共治理的主權國家內部範疇，並保證共產黨執政的最大績效與人民的滿意度。構成了當前中共以共產主義中國化的本質，卻採取西方國家的市場經濟制度，即在綜合國力逐漸提升之際，西方國家深信地認知「中共崛起」的相對意義，卻是「中國威脅論」的序幕開始。 　　本文運用「認知途逕」去分析中共的世界觀，據以觀察其對國際形勢的變遷，是由於中共內因作用的影響，來理解中共的對外思維，實係有別於西方國家的世界觀，此部分亦說明了雙方結構性矛盾之所在。特別是在冷戰後的中共，在國際政治格局轉換的期間，表現出對於國際機制積極參與者和建構者的旺盛企圖，譬如以國際政治權力和利益的水平分權化為原則的多極化格局推動，認知是中共朝向大國之林的外交奮鬥目標。又例如2001年中共成為「世界貿易組織」第143個會員國，代表著中共經濟地位的戰略轉變。這是在中共與西方國家互動行為的歷史經驗積累，所得到「實力政治」的總結，使得中共在冷戰後的整體表現更傾向是現實主義的維護者。 / The thesis contends that an understanding of the effective and significant intermediate role of sovereignty both in the national and international relations. Sovereignty is not only the most advanced development of collectivity, but also the reform process of the modern civilization. The importance of this research is brought into focus by recent changes in broader economic and social reform programmes, political decentralization and reforms in China. By 1978 China was ready for major shifts in political and economic policy. Hong Kong had become essential as a vital source of foreign exchange for the Chinese economy. In addition, the return of Hong Kong by Britain in 1997 and of Macau by Portugal in 1999 formally heralded the end of European extra-territoriality in China. 　　After the Cold War, China seems to be potentially regarded as a ‘trouble maker’ in western societies. Unlike Russia, with the emergency of Chinese historical assessment, strategic analysis, contingency planning and policy reformulation, China has adopted a gradualist part-privatization policy based on ‘the characteristics of Chinese nationalism’, slowly opening its economy to the global economy while resisting democratic political reform. The thesis examines whether the reform and pace of reform is shaped by the desire to avoid political and social unrest which could, potentially, threaten the harmony of the Chinese central apparatus. 　　In addition, China has succeeded in combining stability with political-economic change on the mainland. The thesis views the fact that China has drawn the increasing attention from international perspectives in the western world. With its confidence, Chinese government has predicted the epoch belonging to China in terms of the powerful economic growth at the turn of the century. Although the successful EU integration and such international factors as the strategic perceptions of the USA may partially determine the future of the configuration of world power, China has taken a special position on the establishment of diplomatic relations from marginal position up to the vital status. Moreover, by concentrating on the internal affairs within China, Chinese government could remain the authority and legitimacy of the communism party. Chinese communism party has adopted the western marketization (free marketing system), which is now implicit in the development of successful ‘China Rising’; meanwhile, it has the potential to be propelled by the powerful trends of globalization and policy reformulation transferred into the stage of ‘China Threatening’ in international relations. 　　In this study, the perceptive approach is the main research methodology in analyzing Chinese global perspective on the diplomatic development as well as the political economy and international diplomatic relations of transition in China. Clearly, this study includes an examination of the influence of the powerful economic growth on the reproduction of the communism party in China. With ‘backdoor privatization’ through opening up the economy and the encouragement of foreign direct investment and non-state owned enterprises in the form of township-and village-owned enterprises, the Chinese economy has undergone dramatic transformation during the past two decades. However, control remains firmly in the hands of the Chinese communist party. 　　The thesis concludes that, to broaden the horizon in the western community, after the Cold War, China has been active and proactive on the establishment of diplomatic relations with western countries, and China has a tendency to commit itself to the guardian of realism. For example, China became a party of the 143rd member in World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, which formally marked the milestone of the Chinese economic power in the world. These consistent changes have indicated that China embarked on its open policy and the western community evolved into the major economic and political force in the world.