Dès 2005 et son élection à la tête du Parti conservateur, David Cameron fit connaître son intention de réviser la politique étrangère britannique selon les principes du « conservatisme libéral ». Prenant ses distances avec le réalisme qui avait guidé les choix de Margaret Thatcher et de John Major aux lendemains de la guerre froide, Cameron associait la défense des intérêts nationaux et le maintien du rôle du Royaume-Uni sur la scène internationale avec le renouveau d’une tradition libérale, qu’il prenait cependant soin de distinguer des excès de l’interventionnisme dont avait fait preuve Tony Blair après 2001. Arrivés au pouvoir en mai 2010 au sein d’un gouvernement de coalition, les Conservateurs refusaient l’idée de tout repli stratégique, en dépit du décalage qui existait entre leurs ambitions et les moyens limités qu’ils étaient en mesure de consacrer à la politique de sécurité. Par le biais de l’analyse de deux études de cas : la signature d’accords de coopération bilatérale avec la France, le 2 novembre 2010, et l’intervention militaire en Libye de 2011, cette thèse examine les facteurs qui influencèrent les décisions prises par le nouveau gouvernement, ainsi que les mécanismes ayant conduit à leur adoption. Suivant une approche interprétiviste, ce travail étudie les traditions, c’est-à-dire l’héritage historique, dans lesquelles les actions du gouvernement de coalition s’inscrivirent, mais aussi la manière dont les différents acteurs de ce domaine spécifique de la politique du pays ont fait évoluer cet héritage pour répondre aux dilemmes posés par l’émergence de nouvelles menaces dans un contexte de réduction des dépenses de l’Etat et d’incertitude stratégique. / Soon after he was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 2005, David Cameron signalled his intention to implement a foreign policy based on ‘liberal Conservative’ principles. Cameron distanced himself from the realism that had guided the choices made by Margaret Thatcher and John Major in the aftermath of the Cold War. Therefore, he associated the defence of national interests, as well as the preservation of Britain’s role in the world, to the revival of the liberal tradition. However, he also insisted on the difference between his approach and the excesses of Tony Blair’s interventionism after 2001. The Conservatives, who were part of the Coalition Government that took office in May 2010, rejected the idea of strategic shrinkage, in spite of the existing gap between their ambitions and the limited resources they could allocate to security policy. Through the analysis of two case studies – the signing of the Lancaster House Treaties on 2 November 2010, and the 2011 military intervention in Libya – this thesis examines the factors that influenced the decisions made by the new government, as well as the mechanisms that led to them. By adopting an interpretivist perspective on these events, the thesis studies the traditions, that is to say the historical inheritance that formed the background of the government’s actions, but also the way the various actors involved in that specific area of policy modified that inheritance to respond to the dilemmas created by the emergence of new threats in a context of cuts in government spending and strategic uncertainty.

L’Écosse est une vieille nation européenne. Autrefois indépendante, elle s’est unie à l’Angleterre et au Pays de Galles en 1707 au moyen d’un traité d’Union. Aux termes de ce traité, elle a conservé une Église propre (l’Église d’Écosse), ainsi que des systèmes éducatif et juridique distincts de ceux de l’Angleterre. En 1998, de larges transferts de pouvoirs lui ont permis de ré-ouvrir son Parlement, dissous au moment de l’Union, et de voter ses propres lois dans les domaines qui lui sont dévolus, comme la santé, l’éducation, l’environnement, les questions rurales. Cette dévolution de pouvoirs lui a également permis de maintenir et de renforcer sa présence au sein de l’Union européenne. En effet, l’Écosse, forte d’un ancien rayonnement européen au moyen-âge, et bénéficiant de fonds structurels de la Commission européenne afin de rattraper ses retards de développements, a, dès le milieu des années 1980, compris le bénéfice qu’elle pouvait tirer de la Communauté économique européenne puis de l’Union européenne. Parallèlement au processus de dévolution des pouvoirs du Parlement britannique vers le Parlement écossais, le parti national écossais, le Scottish National Party, a ancré son projet d’indépendance de l’Écosse dans le cadre rassurant d’un maintien au sein de l’Union européenne. Lors du référendum sur l’indépendance de 2014, la question de la place de l’Écosse en Europe s’est invitée dans la campagne de manière insistante. Dans le cadre des négociations sur le Brexit, la possibilité d’un accord distinct pour l’Écosse (qui a refusé la sortie de l’Union européenne) se pose, alors qu’un second référendum sur l’indépendance se profile. Pour l’Union européenne, la question des nationalismes minoritaires provoque des difficultés, puisqu'il lui faut satisfaire les aspirations à la représentation démocratique soulevées par ces mouvements, tout en évitant à la fois la fragmentation des États membres et l’afflux de petits États membres, qui risqueraient de bloquer la mécanique institutionnelle communautaire. / Scotland is an old European nation which remained independent until the 1707 Treaty of Union under which it was united to England and Wales. Under the terms of this treaty, it has preserved a Church of its own (the Church of Scotland), as well as distinct educational and legal systems. In 1998, large transfers of powers enabled it to re-open its Parliament, which had been dissolved at the time of the Union, and to vote its own laws in certain devolved areas, such as health, education, the environment and rural matters. This devolution of powers has also enabled Scotland to maintain and strengthen its presence in the European Union. As early as the mid-1980s, Scotland, whose influence in Europe dated back to the Middle Ages and which benefited from structural funds from the European Commission that were intended to make up for some of its under developed regions, realised the benefit it could reap from the European Economic Community and later on from the European Union. As powers were being devolved from the British Parliament to the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National Party anchored its Scottish independence project within the comforting framework of a maintained membership of the European Union. During the run-up to the referendum on the independence of 2014, the question of the place of Scotland in Europe was often raised. In the context of the negotiations on Brexit, the possibility of a separate agreement for Scotland (which refused to leave the European Union) is being considered, while a second referendum on independence is looming. For the European Union, the issue of minority nationalisms is a source of difficulties, since it must satisfy the aspirations to democratic representation that are fostered by these movements while avoiding the breaking-up of the Member States and the influx of small Member States which may block the Community's institutional machinery.

The thesis Legal Aspects of Withdrawal from the EU is divided into two parts. The theoretical part sums up the legislation of the withdrawal according to article 5O of the Lisbon Treaty. There is also an example of withdrawal from the EU before the article 50 has been even applied. The section dedicated to the practical results attained from the research was completed by analysing existing preferential agreements, which the UK has owing to EU, as any other member state. Then the same analysis has been carried out with existing preferential agreements, that the UK concluded with third countries. There has been done a forecast of the trade balance and its effect on GDP for the next two years according to the prediction of the Bank of England.

L’échec de l’opération des Nations Unies Restore Hope conduite en Somali sous le leadership des États-Unis d’Amérique et le génocide rwandais de 1994 ont modifié les rapports du monde occidental aux conflits armés internes en Afrique. D’une volonté initiale affichée en faveur du renforcement des capacités des acteurs africains dans la gestion de la conflictualité à l’intérieur des États africains, le monde occidental a adopté une posture de désengagement de la conflictualité interne en Afrique. La directive présidentielle américaine Presidential Decision Directive 25 du 3 mai 1994 et la recommandation du Sénat belge du 28 janvier 1998 resteront certainement les plus significatifs en matière de modification de l’attitude occidentale en faveur de l’Afrique en conflit. Cependant, et « ramant à contre courant », le Royaume-Uni de Grande Bretagne et d’Irlande du Nord d’une part et la France d’autre part ont décidé d’assumer leur part de responsabilité historique dans la vie, parfois mouvementée de leurs anciennes colonies en Afrique. Pour ces deux anciennes puissances coloniales, les difficultés internes auxquelles les États africains post-guerre froide étaient confrontés constituaient de véritables défis pour lesquels, ces États avaient besoin d’une assistance contre vents et marrées. Cette profession de foi partagée sur les deux rives de la Manche a permis de stabiliser et ramener la paix dans deux États africains dans l’ère post génocide rwandais. Ce sont la Sierra Leone et la Côte d’Ivoire. Comment le Royaume-Uni et la France ont-ils réussi à stabiliser la Sierra Leone et la Côte d’Ivoire et les sortir de leurs conflits en apparence insolubles eu égard à la profondeur des divergences qui en opposaient les acteurs ? Quels ajustements stratégiques le Royaume-Uni et la France ont-ils opéré dans leur politique interventionniste dans le cadre de la résolution des conflits armés internes en Sierra Leone et en Côte d’Ivoire et quelles actions entreprises par elles ont permis d’aboutir aux succès enregistrés dans ces deux États ? A travers une recherche bibliographique, du reste, bien disponible, des entretiens conduits auprès du monde diplomatique, des personnalités politiques, d’anciens acteurs en conflit et d’autorités militaires, cette thèse révèle comment par une synergie d’actions bien coordonnées, le Royaume-Uni et la France ont permis de ramener la paix et la quiétude en Sierra Leone et en Côte d’Ivoire. Ayant agi ainsi, ces deux puissances moyennes, membres permanents du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies ont donné à l’Afrique et au monde des raisons de croire en l’intervention internationale. / He failure of the United Nations Restore Hope operation in Somalia under the leadership of the United States of America and the 1994 Rwandan genocide altered the Western world's relationship to internal armed conflict in Africa. From an initial desire to strengthen the capacity of African actors to manage conflicts within African states, the Western world adopted a position of disengagement from internal conflict in Africa. The United States’ Presidential Decision Directive 25 of May 3, 1994 and the recommendation of the Belgian Senate of January 28, 1998 are particularly significant in terms of changing the Western world’s attitude in favor of Africa in conflict. However, and "going against the current," the United Kingdom on the one hand and France on the other hand have decided to shoulder their share of historical responsibility in the fate of their former colonies in Africa. For these two former colonial powers, the internal difficulties facing the post-Cold War African states were real challenges which these states needed assistance in dealing with. This commitment on both sides of the Channel helped to stabilize and restore peace in two African states in the Rwandan post-genocide era, namely Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. How did the United Kingdom and France manage to stabilize Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast and extricate them from seemingly intractable conflicts, given the depth of the differences between the actors? What strategic adjustments did the United Kingdom and France make in their interventionist policies in the context of the resolution of internal armed conflicts in Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, and what actions did they take to achieve success in both these countries? Through a review of the literature as well as through interviews of diplomats, politicians, military leaders and other actors, this thesis demonstrates how, through a synergy of well-coordinated actions, the United Kingdom and France brought peace and tranquility to Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Having done so, these two middle-ranking powers, permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, gave Africa and the world reason to believe in international interventions.

This study set out to provide important empirical evidence on the role of knowledge management (KM) within Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and to explore how such companies handle their planning and strategic choices. In today’s knowledge economies the management of knowledge has become vital. In the context of SMEs, this is even more critical because they often operate under difficult conditions and are subject to global pressures from large corporations and demanding customers. In spite of the significance of SMEs as essential for any nation’s growth and success, and even though many scholars and business managers claim that knowledge management is highly relevant for SMEs, there has been little research about this concept in SMEs, in general, and in New Zealand, in particular. The few studies in the literature conclude that this concept is mostly neglected by SMEs even though it is vital and has high potential benefits for them. A quantitative research method approach was adopted. Self-completion questionnaires were sent to the senior management of firms with 100 employees or less, from a cross-section of industries. As part of this process an original knowledge management model was developed. The basic research questions were deduced from this model and the items in the questionnaire were created to answer these research questions. In New Zealand, a total of 417 SMEs were contacted by mail and 180 useable questionnaires were returned. In the United Kingdom, 1268 SMEs were contacted and 241 useable responses were received. The response rates of 43.2% in New Zealand, of 19% for the United Kingdom and of 25% in total, are satisfactory. Therefore, the basis of this study was a large (421 responses) and high quality transnational sample, which allowed for sound quantitative analyses. The claim by previous researchers that knowledge management in the SME sector is not yet fully developed appears to be supported by the results of this research. The large majority of respondents regard themselves as not familiar enough with the concept of knowledge management to actually benefit from it in practice. Even though the respondents in both countries seem to appreciate knowledge management as a relevant and useful concept with potential, many do not seem to be sufficiently informed about this concept. Few have a knowledge management initiative in place or are planning or in the process of setting up one. The responses, which vary little between the two sub-samples, point to a short-term rather than a long-term management perspective being dominant. Major barriers in terms of the deliberate creation and sharing of knowledge are a lack of time and higher importance given to daily operational activities. The respondents - predominantly senior managers - indicate that they primarily consider themselves to be responsible for ensuring that knowledge is captured and shared and relatively little responsibility is given to other employees or specialists. SMEs do apply several aspects of knowledge management, however, this is generally informal and with an operational rather than a strategic focus. From the responses it is apparent that knowledge is shared internally mostly via people-based mechanisms. More advanced measures such as the systematic collection, organisation and storage of knowledge are less common. The results indicate a number of differences between the respondents. In this regard it is most evident that the more familiar respondents are with the concept of knowledge management the more proactive they are in terms of managing knowledge on an operational and strategic level. This transnational research strongly links knowledge management to strategy and it clarifies how this concept can impact the formulation of strategy and the strategic competence of SMEs. Therefore, the results add new knowledge to the areas of SME research and strategic knowledge management.

<p>Topic:When an MNC seeks to enter a foreign country, it must choose the most appropriate entry mode for that specific market, such as exporting, licensing, a turnkey project, franchising, joint ventures or wholly-owned subsidiaries. There are many factors which affect the choice of entry modes. Influential factors contributing to the entry mode decision can have different degrees of impact for each particular country. As a consequence, an MNC has to use different entry modes in order to adapt to the specific situations it faces in its international expansion strategy.</p><p>Research Problem: Our research problem is to find the answer to two specific research questions while investigating in a particular MNC: Starbucks. The relevant questions are: (1.) What factors affected Starbucks’ entry mode decisions? (2.) Which entry mode strategies did Starbucks use foreign markets and why?</p><p>Method: We collected data through a qualitative method. We regarded that a qualitative research method would provide us the necessary data to understand entry mode decisions. We collected data through literature, books, journals, and Internet resources. We have decided to focus our qualitative research on exploring Starbucks’ entry mode decision in some specific markets. In particular, we have concentrated on Spain, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.</p><p>Conclusions: The choice of entry mode is a critical decision made by MNCs. The choice is influenced by several factors; we have divided these into internal and external factors. We have found both groups are important in the decisions made by Starbucks. However, the degree of influence is different in each case. Moreover, it is possible that some influential factors in the choice of entry mode can differ by case. Finally, we have found external factors have been critical in affecting Starbucks’ choice of entry modes. Starbucks has sought to adapt to those external factors and local needs and requirements by using different entry modes.</p>

<p>To say that Gypsy and/or Traveller and/or Romany life stories have existed on the periphery of literary studies can be considered an understatement. In this study of the relational self, <i>Narrating Gypsies, Telling Travellers</i>, examines the discursive and structural complexities involved in the practices of writing and speaking in the production process and narrative trajectories of the life stories of Gordon Sylvester Boswell (1970), Nan Joyce (1985), Jimmy Stockins (2000), and Jess Smith (2002 and 2003).</p><p>The study emphasizes relational aspects of self-construction, which includes links to the national (hi)stories of Scotland, Ireland and England. Beginning with an eighteenth-century scaffold confession and moving through colonial, post-colonial, national and internal colonial narratives, the study follows a discursive path that re-emerges and reverberates in the spoken and/or written words of the story narrators. The study problemetizes the effectiveness of resistance as the historical depth and relationally produced dual-nature of domination is analysed. Above all the study positions modes of domination and self-domination within processes of forgetting forged through consensual, subtle and coercive practices related to points of view and the taken-for-granted.</p>

This thesis deals with cooperation between France, Germany and the United Kingdom within the area of foreign and security policy. Two case studies are presented, one of them concerning cooperation between the three states within and outside institutions in 1980 following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the other dealing with cooperation concerning the crisis in Macedonia in 2001. In accordance with the approach of neoliberal institutionalism the primary hypothesis is that cooperation is primarily determined by the interests of states but it is also limited by norms and affected by the institutions of which the three states are members. The study describes the large variety of forms of cooperation that exist between France, Germany and the United Kingdom, in which the United States also plays an important part, and which also includes their cooperation within a number of international institutions. The study also points to the new forms of interaction between states and institutions that have come about since the Cold War ended, and which give a stronger role to institutions and the cooperation between them. Still, however, states retain a decisive role in cooperation within the field of foreign and security policy.

To say that Gypsy and/or Traveller and/or Romany life stories have existed on the periphery of literary studies can be considered an understatement. In this study of the relational self, Narrating Gypsies, Telling Travellers, examines the discursive and structural complexities involved in the practices of writing and speaking in the production process and narrative trajectories of the life stories of Gordon Sylvester Boswell (1970), Nan Joyce (1985), Jimmy Stockins (2000), and Jess Smith (2002 and 2003). The study emphasizes relational aspects of self-construction, which includes links to the national (hi)stories of Scotland, Ireland and England. Beginning with an eighteenth-century scaffold confession and moving through colonial, post-colonial, national and internal colonial narratives, the study follows a discursive path that re-emerges and reverberates in the spoken and/or written words of the story narrators. The study problemetizes the effectiveness of resistance as the historical depth and relationally produced dual-nature of domination is analysed. Above all the study positions modes of domination and self-domination within processes of forgetting forged through consensual, subtle and coercive practices related to points of view and the taken-for-granted.

<p>This thesis will examine the effects of divorce on the benefit payable to a member of a retirement fund, where divorce has occurred before the member has reached retirement age. In&nbsp / particular, parametric (that is, piecemeal) amendments to the relevant legislation will be analysed in order to outline the development of the legislation relating to divorce and the consequent distribution of&nbsp / assets (including retirement savings). The previous and current legal position in South Africa relating to divorce and retirement savings will be set out and critically analysed to determine whether the current position can be regarded as an improvement upon the previous legal position, or whether other and/or new problems in this area have been created. Parametric amendments to&nbsp / relevant legislation have thus far been the subject of many cases in our courts and adjudicative tribunals. A systemic overhaul of a particular area of law is a useful tool in providing legal certainty&nbsp / and clarifying the laws applicable to that area. This thesis will therefore argue in favour of a systemic overhaul of the legislation applicable to the allocation of retirement benefits at divorce, as opposed to the ineffectual parametric (i.e. piecemeal) amendments that have been implemented thus far. An essential aspect of this study is a comparative study of South African legal principles&nbsp / relating to retirement benefits and divorce with the legal principles of this subject in the United Kingdom (UK).</p>