The overall purpose of this thesis can be put as the search for the prospects of the establishment of a renewable energy paradigm in a conventional example of an oil-rich state. The sample actor of the oil paradigm is chosen as the United Arab Emirates, as it represents the overall character of the Arab Gulf region, as well as being an appropriate example of what is termed as the &lsquo / rentier state&rsquo / . Within this framework, firstly it is aimed to shed light on the negative impacts of the oil paradigm in terms of economic problems, social imbalances, and environmental consequences. Secondly, it is sought to answer the question of what has been done for the incorporation of a renewable energy policies into various aspects of Emirati governance, ever since the country&rsquo / s independence in 1971. Thirdly, the causal relationship between the country&rsquo / s renewable energy policies and certain positive outcomes will be highlighted. This thesis would be informative to show whether United Arab Emirates could be a model for other rentier states of the region and beyond, towards the embracing of renewable energy paradigm in the face of depleting oil resources.

This thesis focuses on three state theories that aim to define the structures of the Third World states by the West. The terms of the &lsquo / rentier&rsquo / , &lsquo / failed&rsquo / and &lsquo / rogue&rsquo / states are critically examined in an attempt to understand how they define the difference, how they negate the different, and how they legitimize certain policies towards the different. By concentrating on the liberal theorizing that analyzes the state on the basis of the claimed civil society-state divide, and from an orientalist perspective, this study aims to demonstrate that these state theories refuse the possibility of transformation of those states by their own internal dynamics. It is argued that with the help of such discourses, rather than being simple theoretical constructs these state theories have become functional means to legitimize certain historical practices.

Why do states tolerate large numbers of refugees? This dissertation offers an answer to this puzzle by examining changes in policy responses by the international community toward Iraqis displaced after the U.S. invasion of 2003. From 2003-2006, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt remained quiet about the growing humanitarian needs of displaced Iraqis. From 2007-2010, these countries abruptly shifted policy to claim that they were hosting millions of Iraqis, and to allow Iraqis greater access to public goods and humanitarian assistance. I argue that this policy shift occurred because of new opportunities to extract strategic rents from the international community in the form of foreign aid and development assistance tied to the presence of refugees. I also explain how and why the UN Refugee Agency facilitated host country behavior during these two time periods, even in contradiction with its mandate under international law. I ground my argument in more than 100 interviews with UN Agency officials, NGO workers, government officials, and Iraqi refugees conducted in Jordan, Syria, and Egypt and at the UN Refugee Agency Headquarters in Geneva between 2007 and 2010. I also utilize research in the archives of relevant newspapers, national departments of statistics, and the UN Refugee Agency Headquarters. Previous political science literature largely conceives of refugees as a burden on state infrastructure, or as a potential security risk. This dissertation challenges this literature by suggesting that, under some conditions, states may derive political and economic benefits from the presence of refugees, explaining why they tolerate displaced populations. This dissertation also contributes to the understanding of how authoritarian regimes adapt to new opportunities for strategic rents. This dissertation also explores how an international organization can operate as both a principal and an agent, constrained by the preferences of its member or donor countries, yet autonomously advancing its own interests while shaping the political environment in which it operates. I show how the malleability of international refugee law has helped actors to manipulate humanitarian assistance for their own gain. Finally, this dissertation explores how the destabilization of Iraq affected international relations within a region that has been forever changed. / Government

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Yes / This paper critically revisits the debate on natural resource rent, curse and conflict, interrogating some of the key assumptions that have become received knowledge in extant discourses. The paper demonstrates how orthodox theories’ preoccupation with issues of resource rent and resource curse tend to be marred by slants of ahistoricity and state-centricity. Adopting a stakeholder approach to the issues of resource rent and conflict in Africa, the author argues that natural resource rents produce and attract a multiplicity of competitive stakeholders, both domestic and external, in the resource-rich states. The competition and jostling of stakeholders for access to, and appropriation of, rentier resources is too often an antagonistic process in many emerging economies that has consequences and implications for violent conflict. The paper attempts a new conceptual explanation of how natural resource rents dialectically generate stakes, stakeholders and political conflict. The paper concludes by proposing the need for the more conflict-prone African rentier states to transition to a more functional state model, the transformative state.

Les guerres civiles en Afrique sont multiples, désastreuses et multicausales. Cependant les analyses privilégient fréquemment les causes identitaires liées à l‟ethnique ou à des faits historiques. Il est proposé ici, une analyse différente par une approche économique. Si au sens de l‟économie classique ou néoclassique, les ressources naturelles sont une dotation constituant un avantage absolu ou comparatif, en Afrique, elles contribuent à alimenter les guerres intra-étatiques pénalisant ainsi tout effort de développement. L‟exploitation d‟uranium au Niger, loin de permettre une performance économique grâce aux revenus qu‟elle génère, représente a contrario une double source de « malédiction » : Conforme au « syndrome hollandais » accompagné de la médiocrité économique qui le caractérise mais constitue également un enjeu autour duquel se fonde la rébellion armée. / The civil wars in Africa are multiple, disastrous and multicausal. However analyses privilege frequently the identical causes connected to the ethnic or to the historic facts. It is proposed here, a different analysis by an economic approach. If in the sense of the classic or neo-classic economy, natural resources are an endowment constituting an absolute or comparative advantage, in Africa, they contribute to feed the intra-state wars punishing any effort of development. The exploitation of uranium in Niger, far from allowing an economic performance thanks to the income which it generates, represents a double source of "curse": in compliance with the "dutch disease" accompanied with the economic mediocrity which characterizes it but also constitutes a stake in which bases the armed rebellion.

Un « mode de coordination » est un concept qui définit l’interaction entre les rapports sociaux et l’économie. Celle-ci, qui ne peut pas être séparée du politique, se développe grâce au fonctionnement des différentes formes institutionnelles. Plusieurs modes de coordination ont été identifiés par la littérature, à savoir, le « mode de coordination par le marché », le « mode de coordination éthique » et le « mode de coordination bureaucratique ». Vahabi (2010) a introduit un nouveau type de coordination qu’il a nommé : « mode de coordination destructive ». Celui-ci privilège la violence et les moyens coercitifs dans les relations sociales et assure une allocation appropriative des ressources. Vahabi présente la République iranienne comme un exemple-type du « mode de coordination destructive » étant donné son capitalisme rentier et la corruption de son système politique dans la gestion des ressources. Nous nous intéressons, dans ce travail de recherche, à étudier dans quelle mesure le cas du Liban peut être analysé à la lumière de ce mode de coordination destructive. / A « mode of coordination » is a concept that define the interaction between social relations and economy. The latter, which cannot be separated from politics, develops through the functioning of different institutional forms. Several methods of coordination have been identified in the literature, namely, the « market mode of coordination », the « ethics mode of coordination » and the « bureaucratic mode coordination mode ». Vahabi (2010) introduced a new type of coordination that he called it: the "destructive mode of coordination." This mode privilege violence and coercive means in social relations and provides an appropriate allocation of resources. Vahabi present Iranian Republic as a typical example of "destructive mode of coordination" because of the nature of its capitalism and corruption of its political system in the management of resources. We are interested in this research, to examine to what extent the case of Lebanon can be analyzed as a destructive mode of coordination.

Cette étude examine les élaborations de politique fiscale en se concentrant sur un cas particulier: celui du Venezuela sur la période 2000-2010. La sélection de ce cas particulier permet d’intégrer deux aspects marquants, connus pour avoir des effets importants sur la performance rentière: un saisissant choc pétrolier de 2004 à 2008 et l’introduction d’un nouveau régime politique de type semi-autoritaire. Au cours de la première décennie du 21ème siècle, le régime politique du Venezuela a substantiellement été transformé. Les modes de gouvernance du pays et précisément ceux du secteur pétrolier ont connu une profonde mutation. L’institution fiscale du Venezuela changea considérablement dans les années 2000 avec une nouvelle conception du management des ressources politiques. Le paradigme ‘semer le pétrole’ fut remplacé par un modèle de distribution directe et centralisé des rentes pétrolières. Grâce à un gouvernement récemment élu et l’adoption d’une nouvelle constitution en 1999, une série de changements substantiels débuta, amorçant de véritables métamorphoses institutionnelles et de nouvelles dynamiques au sein des sphères politiques, économiques et sociales. Plusieurs réformes légales ont été progressivement introduites pour modifier les normes du système de Management des Finances Publiques (PFM) ainsi que les normes budgétaires, générant ainsi de nouvelles dynamiques dans l’aménagement des dépenses publiques, dans les modèles d’allocation de rente, et dans l’ensemble de la gestion des ressources. Ces mesures créant de nouvelles élaborations fiscales, et plus important encore, une nouvelle architecture de finances publiques. / This study examines fiscal policy designs by focusing on one particular case: Venezuela during the period 2000-2010. The selection of this particular case of study allows to integrate two prominent aspects known to have important effects on rentier performance: a striking oil boom from 2004-2008 and the introduction of a new political regime. During the first decade of the 21st century, the political regime of Venezuela was substantially transformed modifying the overarching governance modes of the country and more specifically, those of the oil sector, the most important sector of the country’s economy. The fiscal institution of Venezuela considerably changed in the 2000s with a new conception over the management of oil rents. The ‘sowing the oil’ paradigm was displaced by a model of direct distribution of oil rents through a centralized spending system. With a newly elected government and the enactment of a new Constitution in 1999, a series of substantial changes were begun, introducing institutional makeovers and new dynamics across political, economic and social spheres. These multiple institutional rearrangements drew a dividing line from previous time periods, progressively developing a discernible preference for centralizing policy-making decisions, circumventing institutional structures and restructuring policy arrangements to make them compatible with the newly established governance modes. In this sense, the assessment of Public Financial Management (PFM) system adjustments in the light of controlling expanding resource rents can potentially contribute to the study of fiscal implementation distortions in naturally endowed economies in particular.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:48:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Giordanno Nader.pdf: 2014490 bytes, checksum: 5d246c8f2ff948afb14ec335109b04f8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Around a non-consensual discussion about the macroeconomic policy under President Dilma Rousseff, this thesis aims to analyze the limits and obstacles of Brazilian monetary policy, in light of post-Keynesian political economy. Based on the concepts of liquidity preference, convention of interest rates and the relationship of financial and rentier sectors in the capitalist mode of production, this paper seeks to show that the failure of the attempt of inflection in monetary policy is closely related to the influence financial sectors and rentiers play in the Brazilian economy / Em torno de uma discussão não consensual a respeito da condução da política macroeconômica durante o primeiro governo Dilma Rousseff, a presente dissertação tem por objetivo analisar os limites e os obstáculos da política monetária brasileira nesse período à luz da economia política pós-keynesiana. Baseando-se nos conceitos de preferência pela liquidez, convenção da taxa de juros e as relações dos setores financeiros e rentistas no modo de produção capitalista, este trabalho busca evidenciar que o malogro da tentativa de inflexão na política monetária possui estreita relação com a influência que os setores financeiros e rentistas exercem na economia brasileira

What is the relationship between gender inequality and resource wealth in the Middle East? Why has progression of women’s rights in the Middle East advanced at a comparatively slower rate than most of the world? Conventional wisdom attributes the continued significant gaps in gender equality to the region’s strong patriarchic culture associated with Islam. However, recent statistical analysis conducted by Michael Ross suggests a correlation between oil production and women’s rights. This thesis examines an emerging schism in the literature and evaluates the relationship between social and political emancipation of women relative to Islam and oil wealth. The findings of this examination conclude that Ross’s theoretical framework is incomplete: Islamic law is a key causal mechanism left out of his examination. Furthermore, Islamic law has a more comprehensive negative impact on women’s social and political rights than oil wealth.