The thesis identifies a lack of research in the general subject area of sports geography and in particular Scottish sports geography. A new conceptual framework for the analysis of the geography of sport is developed from an extensive review of the literature. This framework is then used to illustrate three case studies of the sports landscape in Scotland at three geographical scales. Case study one considers a national sport and traces curling, from its origin to the international Olympic sport it is today, through time and the geographical concepts of space, place, and environment. The sport of curling is shown to be a distinctively Scottish despite influences of modernisation and internationalisation. At the regional scale, case study two identifies two key sporting attributes. Recent survey data are used to highlight regional variations in sports club membership and volunteering in sport. For example the highest rate of sports volunteering in the population is found in the north of Scotland, while the biggest contribution to the sport volunteer workforce comes from large urban towns nearer the central belt. Finally case study three examines a local sportscape. Factors relating to the local population and to the individuals within the sportscape are combined to propose a model for the analysis of sports places. Each case study has added to the knowledge of sports geography in Scotland, however the real benefit of the thesis is to the overall understanding of sports geographical analysis. A new conceptual framework has been developed for the geographical analysis of sport and this has been applied to three case studies to illustrate its efficacy. This is a first Geography of Sport in Scotland.

One of the goals of the economic, social and territorial cohesion is to reduce regional disparities between member states of the European Union. For this purpose the structural funds and the Cohesion Fund were established(among other things). The theoretical part of this thesis presents the issue of regional disparities and ways how to measure them. In view of the lack of consistent definition of this concept, there are number of measurement and evaluation methods. Furthermore, the work focuses on the implementation of cohesion policy and ways of measurement of their impact on development and growth of regions. The practical part of this thesis presents, evaluates and compares the regional disparities between the regions of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic via selected methods and assesses the impact of the financial support provided from the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund in the programming period 2007 - 2013 on economic growth of regions in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Following indicators are included: gross domestic product, unemployment rate, gross fixed capital formation and the rate of economic activity. The influence of the subsidy on the economic growth of regions is validated through the panel data analysis, namely a panel model with fixed effects, and Granger causality test. First, we investigated the impact of this support on the economic performance of regions where it is verified whether there is a relationship between economic performance of NUTS III regions in the Czech and Slovak Republics, characterized by gross domestic product and the unemployment rate, and the amount of the subsidy. Furthermore, it is verified whether the amount of subsidy depends on the level of regional gross domestic product. Dissertation contributes to the discussion about the impact of support from EU funds in the Czech and Slovak Republics, focusing on the regional level, and answers the question of reducing regional disparities using the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund.

Studies of the role of East-West trade in Soviet economic development often assume that Siberia and the Far East play an important role in trading relations, but few studies have examined the extent of that role and the relationship between trade and economic development within the region. This study addresses two interrelated questions: firstly, what is the role of Siberia and the Far East in trade with the West, and secondly, what is the role of East-West trade in Siberian development. Regional trade participation data are not available. The study therefore examines the composition of Soviet trade with the West and the industrial structure of the Siberian economy, in order to deduce the extent of regional participation in trade. Soviet exports to the West are dominated by natural resources, while imports from the West comprise machinery and equipment, manufactured goods and agricultural products. Analysis of the Siberian economy reveals a specialisation in the production and processing of natural resources. Estimates of export participation show that since the late 1970s the region has become the Soviet Union's most important source of foreign currency. Imports of Western technology are shown to play an important part in natural resource production and in the creation of Siberia's Territorial-Production Complexes. In many instances compensation agreements tie the use of imports to export production. Overall the value of Siberian exports exceeds the cost of imports of Western technology, so that the region generates a sizeable foreign currency surplus. In conclusion, a simple model of the trade and development process is presented which relates the pattern of foreign trade participation to the process of regional development. The impact of Western imports is felt mainly in the European core region where they provide additional resources to feed the population and renovate the industrial base; the impact of exports to the West is felt mainly in Siberia and the Far East where they increase demands for natural resource production. Thus, East-West trade serves to perpetuate the existing core-periphery pattern of Soviet regional development. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (MA (Political Science. International Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Europe and Africa share a long history that is characterized both by oppression and development. The relationship between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries is a particularly important aspect of EU development cooperation policy. The developmental history between the EU and Africa started with the Yaoundé Conventions of 1963 and 1969, which were replaced by the Lomé Convention. Unfortunately, the favourable terms and preferential access for the ACP countries to Europe failed and the Lomé Convention was replaced by the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) in 2000. As a result of a WTO-waiver, the discriminatory non-reciprocal trade preferences, which were previously enjoyed under the Lomé Convention, continued until December 2007. The Cotonou Agreement points out that these trade preferences will be replaced by joint WTOcompatible Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). During the EPA negotiations, the EU preferred to negotiate on a regional basis instead of negotiating with the ACP as a whole or with individual countries. Consequently, Sub-Saharan Africa formed two negotiation groups; the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) EPA group and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA group, represented by the five Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries, together with Mozambique and Angola. Although Southern Africa is the region that leads the continent; from an economic perspective, the Southern African states show considerable disparities. Due to the economic differences between South Africa and the BLNS countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland), the interests of the individual SACU countries are diverse and often contradictory, which resulted in complicated EPA negotiations. However, maintaining a favourable long-term trading relationship with the EU is of great importance to the economic and political well-being of the SADC, since the EU is the main trading partner of most African countries. By December 2007, an interim EPA (IEPA) was initialled by the BLNS countries as a result of the pressure to fall back to the unfavourable Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Due to the bilateral Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) that is in force between South Africa and the EU, South Africa was not negatively influenced by the expiry of the WTO-waiver. The EPA will have a negative impact on regional integration within SADC and will promote distinction within the regional economic communities. Duty free, quota free access was offered to the BLNS countries, but the EU did not extend this offer to South Africa because of the developmental status of the country and the pre-existing TDCA. Consequently, South Africa will be required to export at higher prices and will experience increased competition within the region. The downside of the removal of import tariffs for the BLNS countries is that government revenues will decrease, which might result in income losses and will accentuate poverty. The standstill-clause of the IEPA prevents the SACU countries from diversifying economically and from developing new industries. The Most- Favoured Nation clause primarily impacts negatively on South Africa, since it prevents South Africa from negotiating freely with other countries such as Brazil and China. Furthermore, the strict intellectual property rules of the IEPA undermine access to knowledge and hereby fail to support innovation. The content of a chapter on liberalization of services, that will be included in the full EPA, is still being negotiated. Liberalization of services might lead to more foreign investments in the BLNS countries, as a result of which the quality of services will increase, leading to better education, infrastructure and more job opportunities. However, foreign companies will gain power at the expense of African governments and companies. South Africa is the main supplier of services in the BLNS countries and will therefore be confronted with economic losses when the services sector is liberalized. From an economic nationalist perspective, the EU included numerous provisions in the IEPA that were not necessary for WTO compatibility. However, the EU is aware of the importance of trade agreements for the BLNS countries and found itself in the position to do so to fulfil its own interests. By making use of the expiry date of the WTO waiver; the IEPA was initialled by the BLNS countries within a relatively short period of time. South Africa, in its own national interests, opposed the provisions of the IEPA, which has led to the negotiations deadlock. Because of the economic power and negotiating tactics of the EU and the selfinterested attitude of South Africa in this respect, regional integration is undermined and the poorest countries are once again the worst off. Although Economic Partnership Agreements have to be established, the partnership-pillar is, in my opinion, hard to find.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:49:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 Tese_Heidtmann_Neto.pdf.jpg: 19506 bytes, checksum: 7a7f3d2bebf1623cb7e22950de96d491 (MD5) Tese_Heidtmann_Neto.pdf.txt: 378075 bytes, checksum: fc91081115a56f528ae30074230f516a (MD5) Tese_Heidtmann_Neto.pdf: 4638422 bytes, checksum: 68e19a668f52429d49914f1c312153d0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-29T00:00:00Z / Este trabalho compõe-se de um estudo das comunidades de Suruacá, localizada no município de Santarém, e de Baixinha, localizada no município de Baião, ambos no estado do Pará, na parte oriental da Amazônia brasileira. O problema geral de pesquisa é até que ponto a territorialização da política pública considera a territorialidade dos lugares onde elas incidem. Em seu objetivo geral, esta pesquisa visou contribuir para essa discussão a partir da análise in loco do processo de políticas públicas para povos ribeirinhos em comunidades amazônicas. Esta é uma territorialidade específica e menos visível que a territorialidade de outros lugares. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório que busca conhecer até que ponto as políticas públicas são capazes de promover ações adequadas às realidades das comunidades ribeirinhas amazônicas, e como isso é realizado. Das duas comunidades estudadas, a de Suruacá é considerada por outras comunidades e por atores sociais da região como uma comunidade modelo em termos de organização comunitária e qualidade de vida, com forte presença de atuação da ONG Projeto Saúde e Alegria, mais a atuação do Estado. Já a comunidade de Baixinha possui outro tipo de organização e não conta com a interferência direta de uma ONG com legitimidade comunitária, como na primeira. A metodologia aplicada ao estudo das duas comunidades é parte de um estudo comparado para se observar o contraste entre ambas e se verificar como as políticas públicas incidem nas comunidades, procurando observar a participação da ONG em uma e a sua ausência em outra. A postura adotada no terreno de pesquisa foi a noção da Observação Participante e, para análise dos resultados, adotou-se a Análise de Interface Centrada no Ator. O estudo contou com um suporte conceitual baseado na interdisciplinaridade para trabalhar os resultados da pesquisa. Utilizou-se a noção de política pública como sendo o governo em ação e de ação pública como sendo a política pública mais a ação social. As noções de espaço e territorialidade foram encontradas em Henry Lefebvre (2000) e Milton Santos (2001), somando-se à noção de lugar de Peter Spink (2001). Utiliza as noções de intervenção, poder e conhecimento de Norman Long (2001) para compor o quadro analítico dos resultados da pesquisa. Os resultados da pesquisa propõem que uma política pública só é efetiva se ela se territorializar e se capilarizar. São condições essenciais para isso a presença de agentes capilares, internos ou externos à comunidade, a ação em rede entre eles e a conexão e a interface que deve haver entre as políticas públicas. A pesquisa procura contribuir com o debate sobre territorialização de políticas púbicas em comunidades ribeirinhas da Amazônia, propondo que quanto maior o número de agentes capilares melhor será a territorialização e capilarização das políticas. Também contribui do ponto de vista metodológico, na medida em que propõe que a análise microssocial pode ser de grande valia para trabalhos sobre políticas públicas. / This work is a study of the communities of Suruacá, located at the city of Santarém, and of Baixinha, located at the city of Baião, both in the state of Pará, in the eastern part of the Brazilian Amazon. The underlying research question is: to what extent the localization (territorialização) of the public policy considers the territoriality of the places upon which they act? The general goal of the research was to contribute to this discussion with the in loco analysis of the public policy process in the ribeirinho peoples in Amazon communities. This is a specific and less visible territoriality than that of other places. It is an exploratory study that aims to understand to that extent are the public policies capable of promoting actions that are adequate to the realities of the Amazon ribeirinho communities, and how this is carried on. Of the two communities studied, that of Suruacá is considered by other communities and by local stakeholders to be a model community in terms of community organization and quality of life, with a strong presence and work of the NGO Projeto Saúde e Alegria (Health and Joy Project), plus the State participation. The Baixinha community, in its turn, has a different kind of organization and does not have the direct interference of a NGO with community legitimacy, as the former. The methodology applied to the study of the two communities is part of a comparative study to observe the contrast between both and to verify how the public policies act upon the communities, seeking to account for the participation of the NGO in one and the lack of it in the other. The posture adopted in the researched territory was the notion of Participant Observation, and for the analysis of the results the Personcentered Interface Analysis was used. The study relied upon a interdisciplinary conceptual support to interpret the results of the research. The notion of public policy was used, it being the government in action, and of public action as being the public policy plus the social action. The notions of space and territoriality were drawn from Henry Lefebvre (2000) and from Milton Santos (2001), in addition to the notion of place from Peter Spink (2001). The notions of intervention, power and knowledge by Norman Long (2001) were used to compose the analytical framework of the results of the research. The results of the research suggest that a public policy can only be effective if it is able to localize and ingrain itself. Essential conditions for it are the presence of grassroots agents, internal or external to the community, their networking, and the connection and the interface that should exist among the public policies. This work aims to contribute to the debate regarding localization (territorialização) of public policies in ribeirinho communities of the Amazon, suggesting that the greater the number of grassroots agents, the better the localization and the capillarity of the public policies will be. It also contributes from the methodological viewpoint, in the sense that it suggests that the microssocial analysis can be of great value to public policy studies.

Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Recent years have seen new ideologies and political factors being introduced into the Sudanese political landscape. The new war in Darfur has revealed that the traditional North-South conflict is not necessarily a religious war but rather a war that goes beyond religion and ethnicity. Several factors underpin the civil wars in Sudan; principally disputes over religion, identity, inequality, resources, governance, self-determination, autonomy and secession. The attempt is therefore to define the various actors, factors and issues underlying both the North-South conflict and the new war in Darfur, and to analyse and compare the differences and similarities between the two wars. Both the conflicts in Southern Sudan and in Darfur have their origin in the decay of the Sudanese state and in both cases did political marginalisation resulted in political exclusion. Another resemblance between the two wars is the acute identity crisis that resulted from the long history of stratification and discrimination. Both warring groups want to reassert their distinguishing characteristics in the respective conflicts where ‘Arab’ and ‘African’ have distinctive meanings and are used as racial, cultural, and political identities. The third similarity between the South and Darfur is the ethnic cleansing tactics and policies the Sudanese government has adopted. The differences between these two wars is that Southern Sudan has developed into a war over national resources while Darfur does not share the same strategic commodities. The second is secession. The South started as a secessionist war while neither of the rebel groups in Darfur have demanded any form of self-determination. Darfur has also seen relatively timely international attention compared to Southern Sudan. Comparing the two conflicts do reveal that neither religion nor race is at the heart of Sudan’s wars. Instead, the root of the insurgencies is largely founded upon culturally and regionally imposed economic and political marginalisation coupled with the politicization of ethnic identities. The challenge for Sudan will be to create a new consciousness of common identity and a new meaning of belonging that grants peace, dignity, development and fundamental human rights.

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It is generally recognised that diversity of laws may act as a barrier to the development of trade, both at international and regional level. In a globalised era, trade is necessary for economic development and ultimately for the alleviation of poverty. Although the WTO has done extensive work towards the removal of tariff barriers, there is also a need to focus on addressing non-tariff barriers which include legal barriers to trade. Institutionalised legal harmonisation at an international level has provided the necessary impetus for the development of harmonised laws in the area of international trade. The creation of regional economic communities within the purview of the WTO has also given rise to the necessity of legal harmonisation to facilitate intra-regional trade. A number of regional economic communities and organisations have noted legal harmonisation as one of their areas of regional cooperation. This study focuses on the need to harmonise the law of international sale within the SADC region in order to facilitate cross-border trade. The study points out that the harmonisation of sales laws in SADC is important for the facilitation of both inter-regional and intra-regional trade with the aim of fostering regional integration, economic development and alleviating poverty. Although the necessity of harmonising sales laws has been identified, no effort to this end exists currently in the SADC region. This study addresses the mechanisms by which such harmonisation could be achieved by analysing three models which have been selected for this purpose, namely the CISG, the OHADA and the proposed CESL. The main issues addressed include whether SADC Member States should adopt the CISG, join OHADA, emulate the CESL or should use any of the other instruments as a model for creating a harmonised sales law for SADC. In conclusion, it is observed that SADC has its own institutional and operational mechanisms that require a process and instrument tailor-made for the unique needs of the region. It is recommended that SADC should create its own common sales law based on the CISG but taking into account lessons learnt from both the OHADA system and the CESL. A number of legislative, institutional and operational transformative and reform mechanisms are recommended to enable the creation of such a community law and ensure its uniform application and interpretation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit word algemeen aanvaar dat regsdiversiteit die ontwikkeling van internasionale en regionale handel kan strem. In 'n geglobaliseerde ekonomie is internasionale handel noodsaaklik vir ekonomiese onwikkeling en die uiteindelike verligting van armoede. Alhoewel die Wêreldhandelsorganisasie reeds belangrike werk doen om handelsbeperkinge te verlig, is daar ook 'n behoefte om, afgesien van tariewe, ook ander nie-tarief beperkinge op internasionale handel aan te spreek. Regsdiversiteit is een van hierdie beperkinge. Geïnstitusionaliseerde regsharmonisering op 'n internasionale vlak het reeds elders die nodige stukrag verleen vir die harmonisering van die reg van toepassing op internasionale handel. Die totstandkoming van regionale ekonomiese gemeenskappe binne die raamwerk van die Wêreldhandelsorganisasie noodsaak egter verdere regsharmonisering ten einde inter-regionale handel te kan bevorder. 'n Aantal streeksgemeenskappe en –organisasies hanteer reeds regsharmonisering as een van hul areas van samewerking op streeksvlak. Hierdie studie fokus op die behoefte om die internasionale koopreg binne die SAOG streek te harmoniseer ten einde oorgrenshandel te fasiliteer. Die studie toon aan dat harmonisering van die koopreg in die SAOG belangrik is ten einde beide inter-regionale asook intra-regionale handel te fasiliteer met die oog op die bevordering van streeksintegrasie, ekonomiese ontwikkeling en die verligting van armoede. Alhoewel die noodsaaklikheid van 'n geharmoniseerde koopreg geïdentifiseer is, is daar nog geen poging aangewend om dit binne die SAOG streek te bewerkstellig nie. Die studie spreek die meganismes aan waardeur harmonisering bereik kan word deur drie modelle wat vir hierdie doeleindes gekies is te ondersoek, naamlik die Internasionale Koopkonvensie (CISG), OHADA en die voorgestelde gemeenskaplike koopreg-regime van die Europese Unie (CESL). Van die kwessies wat aangespreek word is of the SAOG lidlande die Internasionale Koopkonvensie moet aanneem, by OHADA moet aansluit, alternatiewelik die Europese koopreg of enige van die ander instrumente as model gebruik vir die skep van ‟n geharmoniseerde SAOG koopreg. Ten slotte word daarop gewys dat die SAOG sy eie institusionele en operasionele meganismes het wat vereis dat die proses en instrument pas gemaak moet word vir die streek se unieke behoeftes. Dit word aanbeveel dat die SAOG sy eie gemeenskaplike koopreg moet skep wat op die CISG geskoei is, maar wat ook die lesse geleer uit die OHADA en die EU in ag neem. Ten einde so 'n gemeenskapsreg te kan skep en die uniforme toepassing en interpretasie daarvan te verseker, word 'n aantal wetgewende, institusionele en operasionele hervormingsmeganismes aan die hand gedoen.

Près de deux décennies, après la libéralisation de l’économie tunisienne, les disparités régionales se sont fortement accentuées. Les amples écarts de développement entre les régions du littoral et de l’intérieur sont révélateurs d’une grande hétérogénéité en termes de niveaux de revenus, de croissance, de chômage, de répartition entre activités à forte et à faible productivités et de pauvreté. Si les régions du littoral font partie de l’axe de compétitivité et constituent le centre des branches phares de l’industrie tunisienne, les autres régions de l’intérieur disposent de moins de compétences stratégiques et affichent des performances moyennes, voire même faibles. Aucun processus de convergence régionale n’est enclenché. L’objet de la thèse est de quantifier et d’appréhender les impacts macroéconomiques et microéconomiques de sept réformes de politiques économiques susceptibles de réduire les disparités régionales, dans le cadre d’une approche macro-micro. Approche qui conduit inévitablement à privilégier un cadre d’analyse qui se compose de deux modèles reliés: un modèle d’équilibre général dynamique et multirégional et un modèle de micro simulation. L’implémentation de ces deux modèles a permis de réaliser un exercice de projection et un autre de simulation. Le premier exercice a étudié l’évolution future de l’économie tunisienne, en absence de toutes réformes économiques et/ou choc exogène. Les résultats montrent que le clivage littoral-intérieur devrait s’accentuer si des mesures de correction ne sont pas mises en œuvre. Les résultats de simulation suggèrent qu’une politique de libéralisation commerciale bénéficie plus aux régions du littoral. Pour stimuler la croissance des régions de l’intérieur, il est préférable d’entreprendre des politiques de discrimination positive qui visent à augmenter leurs niveaux d’investissements public et surtout privé. Par ailleurs, la réduction de l’écart de performance économique entre le littoral et l’intérieur du pays ne peut se faire rapidement qu’au moyen d’un changement technologique important dans les régions de l’intérieur. Tous les scénarios envisagés dans ce travail rejettent la nécessité d’un arbitrage entre croissance et pauvreté régionales et confirment donc les possibilités d’une croissance pro-pauvre. / Almost two decades after the liberalization of the Tunisian economy, regional disparities have been accentuated severely and are expected to grow further. The existing gap between the coastal regions and those inland is showing high inequality in terms of levels of income, growth, unemployment, productivity and poverty. The industry in the littoral regions remains the most competitive leading the Tunisian industry, while other regions in the interior lag behind with fewer strategic competences and skills and medium or even low performance. Hence, the process of regional convergence has been broken rather than achieved. The purpose of this research is to assess and quantify the macroeconomic and microeconomic impacts of seven economic policies which aiming to reduce regional disparities in Tunisia. For that purpose, we will use a micro-macro based approach with two interconnected models: A multiregional dynamic general-equilibrium model and a micro-simulation model. The implementation of these two models has enabled a projection exercise and simulation one. The first exercise studied the future evolution of the Tunisian economy in its national and regional dimensions without any economic and / or exogenous shock reforms. The results show that the littoral-internal cleavage is expected to increase if corrective measures will not be implemented. Simulation results show that trade liberalization policy benefits more to coastal regions. However, to stimulate growth performance on behalf of inland regions, positive discrimination action policies, as public and especially private investment increase, will be necessary. Moreover, reducing the economic gap performance between the coast and the interior can be done quickly through a major technological change for regions in the interior. All scenarios in this study reject the possibility of trade-off between growth and regional poverty and thus confirm the potential for pro-poor growth.

The local food movement in the Portland Metro Region of Oregon is as prevalent as anywhere in the Country. To a large degree this is driven by the Portland Metro area food culture and the diverse agricultural landscape present in the Willamette Valley and throughout the State. Portlanders demand local food and thus far the rural periphery has been able to provide it; driving a new food economy that has economic implications throughout the region. As this regional food economy emerges much attention has been focused on harnessing its power for economic development perpetuated by the belief that there exists an opportunity to foster a cluster of economic activity pertaining to the production, processing, distribution and sale of regional foods that might generate economic opportunities throughout the value chain. The research presented here constitutes an attempt to characterize the local and regional food system that currently exists in the Portland Metro Region and to bring to light the opportunities present at the regional scale that link the agricultural periphery to the urban core. I present two different definitions of local and regional food systems and show how these different conceptions have very different implications for economic development. Once defined, I test for differences between local and regional food systems and the export-oriented, agro-food sector by analyzing aspects of geographic space and processes of knowledge accumulation and innovation in the context of aspects of regional economic development such as agglomeration economies, knowledge spillovers, business life cycle and industrial location. My analysis showed that there are significant differences between local and regional food systems and the export-oriented agro-food industry specific to supply chains, actors and products of the different systems. Furthermore, through spatial analysis, I found that there are differences in terms of the spatial structure and distribution between producers who participate in the different systems. Local and regional producers tend to cluster closer together at smaller scales, are smaller in size and are found to be closer to the urban core. Through a qualitative inquiry I found that this clustering facilitates forces of agglomeration economies specific to food producers who participate in local and regional supply chains, particularly non-pecuniary effects of knowledge accumulation. This underlying structure has significant effects on economic outcomes and as such has implications in terms of regional economic development when local and regional food systems are considered in terms of the city-region.

Ocean tides worldwide have exhibited secular changes in the past century, simultaneous with a global secular rise in mean sea level (MSL). The combination of these two factors contributes to higher water levels, and may increase threats to coastal regions and populations over the next century. Equally as important as these long-term changes are the short-term fluctuations in sea levels and tidal properties. These fluctuations may interact to yield locally extreme water level events, especially when combined with storm surge. This study, presented in three parts, examines the relationships between tidal anomalies and MSL anomalies on yearly and monthly timescales, with a goal of diagnosing dynamical factors that may influence the long-term evolution of tides in the Pacific Ocean. Correlations between yearly averaged properties are denoted tidal anomaly trends (TATs), and will be used to explore interannual behavior. Correlations of monthly averaged properties are denoted seasonal tidal anomaly trends (STATs), and are used to examine seasonal behavior. Four tidal constituents are analyzed: the two largest semidiurnal (twice daily) constituents, M2 and S2, and the two largest diurnal (once daily) constituents, K1 and O1. Part I surveys TATs and STATs at 153 Pacific Ocean tide gauges, and discusses regional patterns within the entire Pacific Ocean. TATs with statistically significant relations between MSL and amplitudes (A-TATs) are seen at 89% of all gauges; 92 gauges for M2, 66 for S2, 82 for K1, and 59 for O1. TATs with statistically significant relations between tidal phase (the relative timing of high water of the tide) and MSL (P-TATs) are observed at 55 gauges for M2, 47 for S2, 42 for K1, and 61 for O1. Significant seasonal variations (STATs) are observed at about a third of all gauges, with the largest concentration in Southeast Asia. The effect of combined A-TATs was also considered. At selected stations, observed tidal sensitivity with MSL was extrapolated forward in time to the predicted sea level in 2100. Results suggest that stations with large positive combined A-TATs produce total water levels that are greater than those predicted by an increase in MSL alone, increasing the chances of high-water events. Conversely, negative correlation between sea level and tidal properties may mitigate somewhat against sea level rise; changes in total water levels in 2100 at stations with a negative combined A-TAT are less than that predicted by MSL rise alone. Climate change scenarios that take into account greater increases in MSL due to increased Antarctic ice melt show larger changes in total water levels over the same time period. Part II examines the mechanisms behind the yearly (TAT) variability in the Western Tropical Pacific Ocean. Significant amplitude TATs are found at more than half of 26 gauges for each of the two strongest tidal constituents, K1 (diurnal) and M2 (semidiurnal). For the lesser constituents analyzed (O1 and S2), significant trends are observed at ten gauges. Frictional mechanisms related to the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are found to be important in influencing tides in the Western Pacific, as well as resonant triad interactions, a nonlinear coupling that exchanges energy between the M2, K1, and O1 tides. Both of these factors contribute to the observed tidal variability in the Solomon Sea region. Part III analyzes the seasonal behavior of tides (STATs) at twenty tide gauges in the Southeast Asian waters, which exhibit variation by 10-30% of mean tidal amplitudes. A barotropic ocean tide model that considers the seasonal effects of MSL, stratification, and geostrophic and Ekman velocity is used to explain the observed seasonal variability in tides due to variations in monsoon-influenced climate forcing, with successful results at about half of all gauges. The observed changes in tides are best explained by the influence of non-tidal velocities (geostrophic and Ekman), though the effect of changing stratification is also an important secondary causative mechanism. From the results of these surveys and investigations, it is concluded that short-term fluctuations in MSL and tidal properties at multiple time scales may be as important in determining the state of future water levels as the long-term trends. Global explanations for the observed tidal behavior have not been found in this study; however, significant regional explanations are found at the yearly time scale in the Solomon Sea, and at the seasonal time scale in Southeast Asia. It is likely that tidal sensitivity to annual and seasonal variations in MSL at other locations also are driven by locally specific processes, rather than factors with basin-wide coherence.