Introduction. Humanity is now witnessing one of the highest rates of displacement since the beginning of its history, with an unprecedented 79.5 million people around the world being forced to leave their homes; among whom are 26 million refugees. Since 2011, the protracted Syrian war has threatened the stability and well-being of all persons affected by the war. In these complex emergencies, regular access to resources, pathways to building social ties, and utilization of existing service networks (such as education, healthcare, and protection) are disrupted. Method. Nine Syrian refugees and Lebanese host currently living in Lebanon screened positive for clinical depression and receiving interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) by Lebanese providers were recruited for the study. A novel social network assessment tool using a dynamic network framework was designed and preliminarily tested to explore social support and conflict in the sample during IPT. Changes in social support and conflict resolution were assessed pre-and post-IPT in the depressed selection. Results. To our knowledge, this is the first-of-its-kind study to adopt a dynamic, multiplex, open-system approach to identifying, classifying, and exploring temporal changes in the social network roles in both refugees and host population(s) with specific goal orientation. This is also the first to study these in the context of individuals with a mental health problem receiving IPT for depression treatment. Outcomes indicate promise of the use of the dynamic network theory’s survey approach (aka network goal analysis) among depressed participants and provides important insights about pathways through which persons activate social support and resolve conflict in a humanitarian emergency setting. Discussion. Amidst war, economic downturn, COVID-19 pandemic, and recent bomb blasts, communities have been fragmented and their social ties, severed. Increasing rates of common mental disorders have worsened peoples’ capabilities for survival. This novel dynamic network approach to the study of social support and conflict resolution brings into focus pathways and social roles among depressed individuals crucial for social support, with implications for policy makers and mental health practitioners. Keywords. Dynamic networks, Interpersonal psychotherapy, Social support, Conflict, Cohesion

Research within the interdisciplinary field of linguistic landscapes, traditionally concerned with the study of language on fixed signage in public places, has under the last decade broadened its focus to transient linguistic landscapes, including those that unfold during acts of protests and demonstrations. The present study examines a linguistic landscape of protest in a context that has previously been overlooked within the field, namely the Syrian revolution and the case of Kafr Nabl, a town that over several years attracted international attention to the creative protest signs displayed during weekly anti-regime demonstrations. Through a qualitative analysis of a sample of 177 protest signs from a six-month period in 2013, this study explores the discursive and linguistic resources and strategies employed in the protest signs. Focusing on a selection of actors identified in the data set and using the concepts of intertextuality, interdiscursivity, resemiotization, and entextualization, the analysis shows how different discursive and linguistic strategies were employed to counter other actors’ discourses about the Syrian revolution, and to construct images of the involved actors and of Kafr Nabl itself. The study contributes to research on linguistic landscapes of protests, especially in the Arab world, as well as to further an understanding of the use of discursive strategies in both textual and visual modes, multilingualism, and varieties of Arabic in protest discourse.

Throughout history, radical individuals have caused violence and tarnished the reputation of many communities and beliefs. Following 9/11, Islamic Terrorism put fear into many individuals. New fronts of the War on Terror began to open as militaries began to engage terrorist groups who sought to take action through radical beliefs. Al Qaeda had opened up a new front and joined the ranks of the Sunni Insurgency to confront the armed forces of the United States as the Invasion of Iraq began to unfold. This new group had radical leaders who were able to incite a stiff and violent campaign against their enemies. The U.S. was able to slow down the group, but not the ideology, tactics, and leadership once it withdrew from the conflict zone. As leaders in the area began to divide their societies by violence and marginalization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria were able to come into power and create small, quasi-legitimate caliphate. Although the group may be somewhat defeated in the region, the ideology will carry on. By using organizational theory, we can better compare both groups and learn from their strengths and weaknesses. Through analyzing this parallel case study, new doors may be opened up for research to be able to slow down radical ideologies and thwart violent actions. / Master of Arts / Following 9/11, we begin to see the United States devote countless amounts of resources and energy to combat radical Islamic ideologies. In this, we study Al Qaeda and its Iraq branch, AQI, and how its remnants were able to create one of the most successful and notorious Islamic terror organizations. This thesis allows growth to the study of terrorism, primarily by comparing two terror groups and understanding their rise to success and failures. This thesis also helps study how groups can split apart and form new offshoot organizations. Looking into groups' ideologies allows for the researchers to also how they may affect success. As groups rise and fall, there may a continuation of an ideology. New platforms can assist in this, and play large parts of a groups success. Leadership can be a large factor, guiding a group to success or hurting its image. To combat terror organizations, the military can affect how they grow, thus showing the power of settings and where terror organizations can thrive. By comparing and contrasting organizations, it allows for a different approach of research that can help in preventing violent actors to continue on a similar path.

Résumé : Ni une narration chronologique, ni une exploration détaillée d'un ou de quelques événements, cette thèse aborde l'ensemble de la période mandataire d'un angle particulier, celui de la réponse française au nationalisme arabe en Syrie telle que révélée dans les archives et autres sources françaises. Elle s'intéresse aux mécanismes de pensée par lesquels une pionnière de l'idée nationale s'est trouvée à combattre cette idée chez un autre peuple. Le Mandat accordé par la Société des nations a pour but déclaré d'accompagner les sociétés nouvellement libérées de l'occupation ottomane sur le chemin de la maturité politique complète et, donc, de l'indépendance. Utilisant ce cadre juridique qu'elle a elle-même mis en place de concert avec la Grande-Bretagne et d'autres vainqueurs de la Première Guerre mondiale, la France occupe la Syrie et le Liban entre 1920 et 1946 et administre jusqu'en 1943 leur vie politique, leurs finances et leur économie. Or, ne ré-pondant ni au texte ni à l'esprit du Mandat, ses agissements soulèvent des interrogations sur les vrais objectifs. Cette thèse propose une réponse en montrant que le but ultime de la France est d'assurer une position dominante pérenne au Levant, militairement, culturellement et politiquement, et qu'elle conçoit le Mandat comme une mainmise coloniale, adoucie, peut-être, mais aucunement différente dans son essence des autres conquêtes coloniales entreprises dès le XIXe siècle. Un obstacle majeur se dresse toutefois contre l'ambition française : le nationalisme des Syriens. La thèse fait état des méthodes utilisées pour mettre au pas le mouvement nationaliste. La France qualifie la Syrie d'agglomération de communautés, une antithèse du concept de nation. Elle entame son Mandat par une division du pays en plusieurs petits États, une division qu'elle finit par abandonner en 1936 au prix de luttes politiques et de révoltes sanglantes, sans toutefois renoncer à sa perception irrémédiablement communautariste de la population syrienne. En plus de la division politique, les manipulations de l'économie, des finances et des classes sociales font partie de l'arsenal exploré dans la thèse, de même que les méthodes militaires et policières ininterrompues tout au long du Mandat, quoique avec une intensité variable. La thèse attribue l'échec, que l'on constate inévitable, de la France à réaliser aucune de ses ambitions à des idées préconçues sur la région, au refus de prendre en compte les réalités et à une intransigeance condescendante dans les relations avec les Syriens. / Abstract: This thesis is neither a chronological narration, nor a detailed exploration of events. It examines the French response to Arab nationalism in Syria during the entire Mandate period as revealed in the archives and other French sources. A thorough look is given to the mechanisms of thought by which a pioneering country of the national idea fights this very idea embraced by another population. The Mandate granted by the League of Nations has the stated aim of guiding populations that are newly liberated from Ottoman occupation on the path of full political maturity and, therefore, independence. Set up in concert with Great Britain and other victors of the First World War, this legal framework was used by France to occupy Syria and Lebanon militarily between 1920 and 1946 and, until 1943, to administer their political life, as well as their finances and economy. However, observing neither the letter nor the spirit of the Mandate, her actions cannot but raise questions about the real objectives. This thesis proposes an answer. It shows that France's purpose is to ensure in the Levant a lasting dominant position, militarily, culturally and politically, and that she perceives the Mandate as a license for a colonial grip, similar at its base – but not in its form – to other colonial conquests undertaken since the 19th century. However, the nationalism of the Syrians stands as a major obstacle against the French ambition. The thesis describes the methods used to bring the nationalist movement to heel. France perceives Syria as an agglomeration of communities, an antithesis of the concept of nation, and she began the Mandate by dividing the country into several small states. The division ends in 1936 at the cost of political struggles and bloody revolts, although France never renounced her communitarian perception of the Syrian population. In addition to the political division, the thesis explores the manipulations of the economy, finances and social classes, as well as the military and police methods exercised through-out the Mandate, albeit with a varying density. The thesis attributes France's inevitable failure to realize any of its ambitions to her rigid, preconceived, perception of the region with a refusal to adapt it to the realities, and to a condescending intransigence in relations with the Syrians.

The county of Tripoli (Lebanon) was one of four “crusader states” established in the Levant after the First Crusade (1095-99). Compared to the other states, the county of Tripoli has suffered from a disproportionate level of historiographical neglect. What has been produced has taken an institutional and Eurocentric approach to the subject and its sources. The present thesis jettisons this in favour of a post-institutional methodology, approaching the county from the perspectives of geography and demographics, which together ensure that it is treated within its proper Syro-Lebanese context. Chapter one looks at the role of local geography in shaping the political frontiers of the county of Tripoli and its neighbours, arguing that topography was more important than the agency of the European settlers. Chapter two continues to challenge traditional assumptions regarding European influence, arguing that the specifically southern French origins of many of the county’s settlers were of little significance. Chapter three analyses the use of Arabic by the Frankish government of the county, informed by an awareness of diglossia. It argues that the Franks were more likely to know spoken Arabic than written, but remained reliant upon local intermediaries when ruling over Arabophones. Chapter four looks at popular religion, arguing that the cross-fertilisation of religious beliefs and practices was widespread but poorly understood by the contemporary intelligentsia, upon whose sources historians rely. As a whole, the thesis argues that the county’s inhabitants lacked a distinctive culture, identity, religion or language. The sole justification for viewing the county as an integrated unit is geographical.

This work explores the role of the watermill in the history and society of Jordan, Syria and Cyprus from the 12th to the 19th century. Previous studies in this area have been limited, and have usually assumed the watermills in the Levant to date from the Ottoman period. This work aims to suggest that many of the mills still extant today in fact date from an earlier period. A review of the historical documentation and archaeological material is the main background of this study, while an examination of the watermills themselves aims to provide a permanent record of these before they disappear due to rural and urban development. A review of available reference material regarding the role of the mill in Levantine economy and society from the medieval to late Ottoman periods emphasises the importance of the watermill in rural and urban areas of the Levant in a historical period of fluctuating economic stability. The reference material consists mainly of historical accounts by travellers and chroniclers, legal documents such as treaties, charters and waqf documents, as well as archaeological, environmental and socioeconomic studies of the Levant from the medieval to the early modem period. The broad nature of this study aims to form a basis for future research with a more detailed focus in these disciplines.

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This essay presents and discusses John Rawls’s ‘The Law of Peoples’ and it’s ability to be used in practice. The theory’s ability to judge right and wrongful actions in liberal intervention is tested when applied to the current conflict in Syria, and is used to evaluate the actions made by the liberal state France, during its involvement in the crisis. The essay will discuss shortcomings in the theory, and possible solutions to these and will also come to discuss central ideas in the theory and the liberal ism. Other writers such as Michael Doyle and Simon Caney are discussed and presented more briefly. The essay will argue that the theory in The Law of Peoples is not sufficient to alone evaluate the conflict it is applied upon, and therefore not comprehensive enough to be used in practice without adjustments.

Cette thèse de doctorat constitue une première étude de synthèse de la céramique de cuisine (Brittle Ware), de l’époque romaine à l’époque omeyyade en Syrie. Cette recherche repose sur une approche méthodologique combinant un classement typologique des formes et un classement par groupes de pâtes. Le corpus étudié provient de plusieurs sites archéologiques de Syrie du nord, dont la céramique de cuisine est encore inédite et pour laquelle on ignore les centres de production (Apamée, Andarin, Alep et Dibsi Faraj). Ce travail a entrepris d’identifier le nombre d’ateliers et leur localisation, leur profil de production et leur aire de diffusion. Les objectifs sont de caractériser la production de Brittle Ware depuis la manufacture jusqu’aux contextes de consommation, L’étude chrono-typologique a permis de définir le répertoire de la Brittle Ware et de situer sa production entre l’époque hellénistique (3e av. J.-C.) et l’époque mamelouke (13e s. apr. J.-C.). Aux époques romaine, byzantine et omeyyade, un même assemblage formel, constituant un service de cuisine se diffuse dans toute la province antique de Syrie. Ce service de cuisine est constitué d’un pot à cuire haut et fermé qui devait servir aux liquides et aux bouillies, d’une casserole ouverte pour les plats mijotés et d’une cruche. L’analyse minéralogique et chimique des pâtes a identifié cinq groupes de pâte, correspondant à cinq zones de production. L’origine des matières premières exploitées a pu être localisée dans le nord-ouest de la Syrie, à proximité de l’Euphrate et dans le sud-ouest de la Syrie. L’étude des pâtes et des formes de Brittle Ware dans leur contexte géographique et chronologique a de surcroît montré que ces cinq sources d’argile correspondent à cinq centres de production. Les profils de ces centres de production ont pu être définis : leur durée d’activité et l’aire géographique de leur diffusion varie pour chacun d’entre eux. Quatre sont des ateliers syriens alors que le dernier semble être localisé plus au sud. Deux centres de production ont une diffusion supra-régionale (couvrant plusieurs zones géographiques). L’un diffuse ses produits de Syrie occidentale jusqu’à l’Euphrate et l’autre, moins attesté à l’est, constitue l’unique fournisseur de la ville d’Apamée. Les trois autres centres ont une distribution régionale. La plupart de ces ateliers partagent le même service de cuisine, témoignant de la transmission d’un savoir-faire technique et formel sur plusieurs générations. Alors qu’à l’époque hellénistique, on note sur quelques sites la présence d’une vaisselle culinaire différente, qui s’apparente aux traditions de l’Âge du Fer et de l’Âge du Bronze syrien, l’étude de la distribution de la Brittle Ware en Syrie révèle que celle-ci représente l’unique céramique de cuisine utilisée aux époques romaines et byzantines. En outre, les formes typiques de la Brittle Ware ne sont pas attestées en dehors des limites de la province antique de Syrie : en Cilicie, en Palestine ou à Chypre. Les céramiques culinaires des régions limitrophes de la Syrie constituent d’autres faciès régionaux qui partagent néanmoins des traditions formelles et techniques avec les productions de Brittle Ware. Ces autres faciès sont caractérisés par leurs répertoires typologiques spécifiques, par ailleurs inconnus en Syrie. Les cartes de distribution de la Brittle Ware et la comparaison avec les productions des régions limitrophes montrent par conséquent que la production de Brittle Ware représente un commerce à échelle supra-régionale, tourné essentiellement vers l’intérieur de la Syrie. Le fait que ce commerce ne dépasse pas les limites de la province, loin d’être un facteur négatif, indique que la production de Brittle Ware est suffisamment prospère pour défier la concurrence. L’étude des contextes de production de la Brittle Ware montre que cette catégorie de vaisselle, bien qu’utilitaire était l’objet d’une production de masse, diffusée à l’échelle d’une province et provenant sans doute de grands centres de production spécialisés. Cette recherche couvrant trois périodes historiques contribue à notre connaissance de l’économie syrienne, car elle illustre la pérennité des centres de production et de certains réseaux d’échange, depuis l’époque romaine jusqu’à la fin de l’époque omeyyade.

The Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party was established in Syria during the mid-twentieth century, originally championing Arab unity and freedom from foreign influence. The party eventually managed to rise to power in Syria and Iraq, thereby concluding the widespread political instability that had previously plagued both countries. In each of these contexts, autocratic leaders emerged at the forefront of the ruling regimes and manipulated the party to bolster their rule for over three decades. This paper examines the Ba’ath party’s history and ideology to understand the party’s source of strength. It also discusses the party’s role in achieving power as well as the different functions it undertook in Syria and Iraq once autocratic rule was established. Finally, it studies the fall of both regimes and the status of the Ba’ath party today.