Abstract  In 2011, the war broke out in Syria, affecting a significant portion of the Syrian population. Many have been forced to flee the war in search of a safe and secure life. However, those who have left Syria have also left their loved ones behind and carry with them the traumas of war. The main purpose of this essay is to examine the challenges that Syrian refugees diagnosed with PTSD face when they arrive in Sweden. The essay is based on qualitative research methodology and semi-structured interviews with six Syrian refugees. The results of the essay identify the significance of war traumas for these refugees and their negative impact on their ability to integrate into Swedish society. The lack of access to specialized psychiatric care and communication barriers exacerbates the situation and emphasize the importance of a person-centered approach in healthcare. Gender differences are highlighted, where both men and women face unique challenges based on their cultural norms and experiences. Special emphasis is placed on the need for targeted interventions to address the needs of Syrian refugee women, who are at increased risk of gender-based violence and psychological distress.   The essay contributes to a better understanding of the specific challenges that Syrian refugees with PTSD face in Sweden and underscores the importance of designing adequate support and care programs to meet their needs.

Diese Dissertation untersucht die Auswirkungen der Vertreibung auf die Geschlechterrollen und -beziehungen bei syrischen Flüchtlingsfamilien im Libanon und in Deutschland. Sie basiert auf einer achtzehnmonatigen ethnografischen Feldforschung, die zwischen 2017 und 2019 durchgeführt wurde. Die wichtigsten Fragestellungen, die diese Studie geleitet haben, sind wie folgt: Welche Art von Geschlechterrollen- und Beziehungstransformationen erleben syrische Familien im Libanon und in Deutschland? Wie verhandeln syrische Männer und Frauen Beziehungen in der Vertreibung neu? Können unterschiedliche Fluchtsituationen ähnliche Erfahrungen erzeugen? Es wird die These aufgestellt, dass syrische Familien aufgrund der besonderen rechtlichen und bürokratischen Bedingungen im Libanon und in Deutschland eine langwierig-vorübergehende Vertreibung erleben. Dieser Bereich wird als Liminalität konzipiert, einen nichtstrukturellen Kontext, der alternative Dimensionen der „Agency“ ermöglicht. Für jede Fallstudie werden vier Typologien von Transformationen in Geschlechterrollen und -beziehungen bestimmt und anschließend analysiert, wie syrische Männer und Frauen diese neu verhandelt haben. Abschließend werden beide Situationen des Flüchtlingsdaseins verglichen und vorgeschlagen, dass drei Dimensionen der Agency in diesem Schwellenbereich aufgedeckt werden können - eine iterative Dimension, in der die Agency in Richtung Vergangenheit positioniert ist; eine projektive Dimension, die die Agency auf die Zukunft ausrichtet und eine praktische Bewertungsdimension, in der situative Urteile unter konkreten Umständen in einen Kontext gesetzt werden. Diese Dissertation liefert drei Beiträge: Auf theoretischer Ebene verwendete sie die Agency als Linse zur Analyse der Geschlechterverhältnisse bei Zwangsmigration; auf methodischer Ebene verwendet sie eine relationale Perspektive, um verflochtene Beziehungszusammenstellungen zu untersuchen, und auf empirischer Ebene werden zwei Vertreibungssituationen vergleichend analysiert. / This thesis investigates the impact of displacement on gender roles and relationships among Syrian refugee families in Lebanon and Germany. It is based on eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out between 2017 and 2019. The main research questions that have guided this study are: What kind of gender role and relationship transformations do Syrian families experience in Lebanon and Germany? How do Syrian men and women renegotiate relationships in displacement? Can different displacement situations generate similar experiences? I argue that due to the specific legal and bureaucratic conditions put in place by Lebanon and Germany, Syrian families experienced a protracted-temporary displacement. I conceptualize this space as liminality, a non-structural context that allows for alternative dimensions of agency to take place. For each case study, I identify four typologies of transformations in gender roles and relationships and I analyze how Syrian men and women renegotiated them. Finally, I compare the two refugeehood situations and I suggest that three dimensions of agency can be uncovered in this liminal space – an iterative dimension, where agency is positioned towards the past; a projective dimension, which orientates agency towards the future; and a practical evaluative dimension, in which situational judgments are contextualized within concrete circumstances. This thesis offers three main contributions: a theoretical one, by using agency as a lens to analyze gender relations in forced migration; a methodological one, with its relational perspective that explores interconnected sets of relationships; and an empirical one, based on the comparison of two displacement situations.

This study explores US foreign policy toward national movements (NMs), focusing on Kurdish groups across all parts of Kurdistan: Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. It investigates the central question of why the US views certain Kurdish NMs as strategic allies while labeling others as terrorists. The PKK and PYD—sister organizations sharing the same ideology and leader—serve as a prime example of this inconsistency: the PKK is designated a terrorist organization, while the PYD has emerged as a key US partner. Similarly, Iraq's Kurdish ruling parties were initially placed on the third-tier terrorist list, only to later become Washington's most reliable allies in Iraq. The study reveals that this discrepancy is mainly due to the impact of joint combat operations. Driven by US strategic interests, these operations strengthen ties with NMs partners. Positive joint operations, free of insider attacks, are instrumental in building rational trust that evolves into affective trust over time. This trust elevates them to in-group status, fostering a shared identity. The affective bonds forged during these combat experiences shape policy makers' perceptions, further reinforcing these relationships. Furthermore, diplomatic engagements in the post-combat phase complement this process, deepening trust and enabling the US and NMs to address challenges collaboratively while advancing broader strategic objectives. / Doctor of Philosophy / This study examines US foreign policy towards national movements (NMs), focusing on Kurdish groups in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. It investigates why the US sees some Kurdish groups as strategic allies while labeling others as terrorists. A key example is the PKK and PYD—two related organizations with the same ideology, symbols and ideological leader. The PKK is considered a terrorist group, while the PYD has become an important US partner. Similarly, Iraq's Kurdish ruling parties were once on a third-tier terrorist list but later became the United States' most reliable allies in Iraq. The study finds that this inconsistency is largely due to the impact of joint combat operations. These operations, driven by US strategic interests, help strengthen ties with NM partners. Positive joint operations, where there are no insider attacks, build trust. Over time, this trust evolves into stronger, emotional bonds, turning these groups into in-group partners with a shared identity. These bonds influence policymakers' views and deepen the relationship. Additionally, diplomatic engagement after these combat operations further strengthens trust, allowing the US and NMs to work together on challenges while advancing broader strategic goals.

This bachelor thesis is a qualitative, small-n, empirically driven comparative study that examines the relationship between rebel group ideology and targeted violence against the LGBTIQ+ community. Two rebel groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, with different ideological beliefs, are examined and compared in relation to their level of violence against LGBTIQ+ individuals. Findings in this study suggest that religious groups are keener to use extreme violence against sexual minorities, and to target them explicitly, but further studies are needed to fully understand this targeting of sexual minorities in armed conflicts.

« Le sujet de cette thèse traitera du Liban entre les deux retraits israélien et syrien, 2000 – 2005.En effet, cette récente période s’inscrit comme l’une des plus critiques dans l’histoire contemporaine du Liban. La guerre civile déclenchée en avril 1975 est officiellement terminée en octobre 1990 par une « paix syrienne » imposée aux belligérants Libanais, soutenue par la Ligue Arabe et la communauté internationale. Cette période de paix entre 1990 et 2005, fut d’une part une période de reconstruction et de développement du Liban. Mais d’autre part, ces quinze années témoignent d’un profond malaise et mécontentement inscrits dans une situation globale apparemment paisible mais en fait marquée de fragilités politiques, sociales et communautaires profondes.Deux évènements majeurs - les retraits : israélien en 2000 et syrien en 2005 - viennent bouleverser ce statut quo libanais et déclenchent le processus inévitable d’une nouvelle « démocratisation » du Liban dont les conséquences ne cessent de se ressentir et de rebondir à ce jour. Entre ces deux retraits, un troisième « évènement choc », le 11 septembre 2001 semble au regard de certains Libanais la perspective d’une nouvelle politique américaine et européenne dans la région.Cette période sera marquée au Liban, par les événements d’août 2000, arrestations arbitraires à l’encontre des opposants au régime prosyrien, la fermeture forcée de la chaîne de télévision libanaise anti syrienne MTV, les discours virulents des prélats maronites de l’église du Liban et du patriarche du Liban contre le régime en place, la nouvelle politique du leader druze Walid Joumblatt, l’éloignement du Premier Ministre libanais Rafic Hariri de la politique syrienne, et le début de la création d’une opposition multiconfessionnelle contre la reconduction du président libanais prosyrien Emile Lahoud, le vote de la résolution 1559 au conseil de sécurité de l’ONU, et finalement le « 11 septembre libanais » ou l’assassinat de Rafic Hariri, en février 2005 et la « révolution du Cèdre » qui en suit. / «The subject of that thesis will deal with Lebanon between both Israeli and Syrian withdrawals, on 2000 - 2005. Indeed, this recent period joins as one of the most critical in the contemporary history of Lebanon. The civil war started in April, 1975 is officially ended in October, 1990 with a " Syrian peace " compulsory for the Lebanese belligerent parties, supported by the Arab League and the international community. This peace period between 1990 and 2005, was on one hand a period of reconstruction and development of the Lebanon. But on the other hand, these fifteen years testify of a profound faintness and a dissatisfaction registered in an apparently peaceful global situation but in fact marked with deep political, social and community fragilities:Two major events - withdrawals: Israeli in 2000 and Syrian in 2005 come to upset this Lebanese status quo and activate the inevitable process of a new "democratization" of Lebanon of which the consequences do not stop feeling the effects and bouncing to this day. Between these two withdrawals, the third " event shock ", September 11th, 2001 seems with regard to certain Lebanese the perspective of a new American and European policy in the region.This period will be marked in Lebanon, by the events of August 2000, arbitrary arrests against the opponents of the proSyrian regime, the forced closure of the Lebanese anti Syrian television channel MTV, the virulent speeches of the Maronite prelates of the church and the patriarch of Lebanon against the regime in position, the new policy of the Druze leader Walid Joumblatt, the estrangement of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri of the Syrian politics, and the beginning of the creation of a multidenominational opposition against the renewal of the proSyrian Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, the vote of the resolution 1559 in the United Nations Security Council, and finally on the " Lebanese September 11th " or the murder of Rafic Hariri, in February, 2005 and the " revolution of the Cedar ".

The thesis "Syrians in the Czech Republic" is engaged with the Syrians living in the Czech Republic, and their activities here. Attempts to outline the Syrians view on the Czech society and their integration into Czech society. The main method of work is a field research among the Syrians supplemented with study of technical literature. Keywords Syria, Syrians, the Arabic spring, the Arab revolution, Bashar Assad, the Baas, Syrian identity, islam, emigration, immigration, integration process, problem of identity

Cette étude linguistique et didactique s’articule autour de la comparaison du système déterminatif en arabe écrit (AE) et parlé (AP) d’une part, avec le français d’autre part. Trois arguments relatifs au système déterminatif sont mis en oeuvre dans cette thèse en faveur de la théorie de la détermination progressive : la continuité de la détermination, la négativité comme moteur de la détermination, les marqueurs Dét et l’agentivité. La détermination continue se comprend au travers de la construction référentielle par deux éléments : un stable et un autre variable comme une action, un attribut ou un référent spécificateur. Or, la stabilité du référent est relative à la subjectivité de l’énonciateur. En effet, l’énonciateur utilise « la négativité » – un terme de Saussure  comme un facteur permettant au référent stable dans un énoncé d’être un variable dans un autre énoncé. La négativité est le facteur qui crée le système de différences dans la langue, une différence que nous repérons dans le comportement syntaxique des marqueurs féminins et dans le mode factuel en arabe. Les marqueurs Dét assurent la variabilité dérivationnelle sur la base de la même racine en arabe dans le cas de l’expression quantitative et du schème verbal. Ils contribuent également à la diversité en matière de rôle thématique. L’agentivité est le facteur qui véhicule la circulation de l’action via les marqueurs Dét dans le cas de la transitivité. Sur le plan didactique, cette étude s’appuie sur un corpus de dissertations écrites en français par des apprenants arabophones syriens et met brièvement la lumière sur la pédagogie de l’erreur en général et dans la pensée critique arabe. / This linguistic and pedagogical research is devoted to the comparaison of determinative systeme in both French and Arabic written and spoken. This comparaison is done through the question of written error in French and investigates three arguments related to determinative system in favor of the progressive determination’s theory : the continuity of the determination, the negativity as a motivator of the determination process, Det markers and agentivity. The continuous determination is most understood through reference’s construction by two elements : a stable one and variable one like an action, an attribute or a specifier referent. However, the stability of a referent relates to the speaker’s subjectivity. Indeed, the speaker uses “negativity” – a term by Saussure – as a factor by which a stable referent can be made variable in another sentence. Also, negativity is the principle to represent language as a difference’s system. The difference is, for example, the description of the syntactic behavior of female markers and so of factual mood in Arabic. Det markers assure the derivational variability by the same root, in Arabic, in the case of quantificational expression and verb scheme. Also They contribute to the diversity of thematic roles. Agentivity is the criteria which motivates the transmission of action’s information through Det markers in the case of transitivity. With regard to didactic approach, this analysis is based on a corpus of essays written in French by Syrian Arabic students, and it sheds some light on the pedagogy of error and the critical Arabic thinking towards it.

Cette thèse revient sur l’histoire du camp de réfugiés palestiniens de Chatila, situé dans la banlieue sud de Beyrouth, depuis sa fondation en 1949 jusqu’à nos jours, en mettant l’accent plus particulièrement sur la période du conflit libanais (1975-1990) et ses lendemains. À partir d’une variation des échelles d’analyse, il s’agit de mieux comprendre comment des événements marquants de l’histoire palestinienne et libanaise se sont déclinés et articulés à la vie du camp et y ont résonné. La recherche interroge les recompositions sociopolitiques et urbaines dans le camp, les parcours individuels et familiaux, ainsi que les traces et les usages du passé de guerre à la lumière de l’histoire de Chatila. Elle s’appuie sur plusieurs enquêtes ethnographiques menées entre 2003 et 2011 et sur les archives de l’UNWRA. Cette réflexion s’est développée au sein du champ de recherches de l’anthropologie politique et urbaine et de la socio-anthropologie de la mémoire. / This thesis revisits the history of Shatila Palestinian refugee camp that is located in the southern suburb of Beirut, from its foundation in 1949 to nowadays. I focus more specifically on the period of the Lebanese conflict (1975-1990) and its aftermath. Using different analytical scales, it aims to better understand how striking events of the Palestinian and Lebanese history impacted and were echoed in the camp life. My research examines the social, political and urban transformation, individual and familial courses and the traces, as well as uses of the past of the war in light of the history of Shatila. The research is based on ethnographical fieldwork in Shatila conducted between 2003 and 2011 and on the archives of UNRWA. The analysis is part of the field of political and urban anthropology, and of memory in anthropology and sociology.

Le 8 mars 1963, un coup d’État en Syrie permet à une secte minoritaire marginalisée au sein du parti Baas, à idéologie radicale et révolutionnaire, de s’emparer des rênes de l’État avec l’appui des militaires et de conserver le pouvoir depuis. Ainsi la Syrie, premier pays arabe à connaître le système pluraliste parlementaire dès 1919, sera soumise à un régime militaire et autoritaire pendant presque un demi siècle. Ce mémoire vise à expliquer comment cette faction, groupusculaire à l’origine, a su profiter des circonstances et des fenêtres d’opportunité politique ouvertes par les comportements de l’élite traditionnelle syrienne, au pouvoir depuis le Mandat français, s’étant trouvée affaiblie, isolée et illégitime aux yeux de la population. Cette fragmentation exprimée par des agitations internes, avait provoqué des décisions contradictoires, des conflits d’intérêts ainsi que des divisions de nature identitaire, générationnelle, sociale, économique, militaire et politique. La Syrie a de ce fait, depuis son indépendance en 1941, été victime du jeu de son élite, un jeu dont ce mémoire est consacré à étudier la dynamique. Cette étude, qui définit le concept de l’élite théoriquement, s’appuie sur l’état des liens entre élites, l’envergure et les modes de leur circulation, pour confirmer qu’une élite fragmentée s’affaibli, perd sa légitimité et mène la société à l’instabilité. Ceci soutien l’hypothèse centrale de l’étude que la fragmentation de l’élite syrienne traditionnelle a ouvert des fenêtres d’opportunité politique devant le parti Baas, minoritaire et radical, qui a su les saisir pour conquérir le pouvoir. / On March 8, 1963, a coup in Syria allows a marginalized minority sect, of radical and revolutionary ideologies within the Baath Party, to conquer the reins of State with military support; and to stay in power ever since. Thus, Syria -the first Arab country to experience the pluralist parliamentary system since 1919, will be subject to a military and authoritarian regime for almost half a century. This thesis aims to explain how this minority faction took advantage of the circumstances and the windows of political opportunity that have opened because of the weakness of the traditional elite in power since the French mandate, due to its fragmentation that led to its isolation and illegitimacy in the eyes of people. This fragmentation manifested by internal unrests, has resulted in contradicting decisions, conflicts of interests and division of nature in identity, generational, social, economical, military and political aspects –all at once. Hence, since its independence in 1941, Syria was a victim of its elites’ game -a game this thesis is devoted to study its dynamics. The study that defines the concept of elite theory, while focusing on the state of relation between the elites and the extent and patterns of their circulation, in order to confirm that a weakened fragmented elite, loses its legitimacy and leads the society to instability. This supports the main hypothesis of the study that the fragmentation of traditional Syrian elite has opened windows of opportunities that the Baath Party, a radical minority, was able to seize power through.

Previous investigators demonstrated that epididymal white adipose tissue (EWAT) lipectomy suppressed spermatogenesis and caused atrophy of the seminiferous tubules. EWAT lipectomy, however, may disrupt testicular innervation, which reportedly compromises testicular function. To resolve this confound and better clarify the role of EWAT in spermatogenesis, three experimental groups of hamsters were created in which: i.) the superior and inferior spermatic nerves were transected (SSNx) at the testicular level, ii.) EWAT was extirpated (EWATx), and iii.) testicular nerves and EWAT were left intact (SHAM controls). It was hypothesized that transection of the superior and inferior spermatic nerves would disrupt normal spermatogenesis. The findings indicate a significant reduction in spermatogenic activity and marked seminal tubule atrophy within the EWATx testis, as compared to the SSNx and controls testes, which did not differ significantly from each other. From these data, it is concluded that EWAT, and not testicular innervation, is central to normal spermatogenesis.