Wars are moments of significant rupture for states, societies, and economies. Wars where one state suffers significant territorial losses can be particularly challenging for states, their power structures, and the prevailing visions and identities in their geopolitical cultures. How states react to territorial losses is a compelling area for research. The recent experiences of the Republic of Armenia present a rich case study in how states adjust to territorial change. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of an independent Armenian state was accompanied by war over a disputed territory with neighbouring Azerbaijan. By the time of the cease-fire of the First Karabakh War in 1994, Armenia held its own territory and strongly supported the Armenian-populated unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. "Karabakh is ours", which served as a long-standing slogan of the geopolitical culture of Armenia, was shattered as a result of the Second Karabakh War of 2020, during which Azerbaijani forces gained control over considerable territory. The status quo after the war had notable impact on the province of Siunik in southern Armenia as well. This dissertation is a study in the aftermath of territorial shock, looking to the framework of geopolitical culture and the category of the geo-body to account for the developments in Armenia generally and in Siunik in particular since 2020. Drawing on the literature of critical geopolitics as well as fieldwork conducted in Armenia, the dissertation argues that the shock and trauma of the war has caused deep disruption and fragmentation in the geopolitical culture of Armenia, which remains in crisis. There are disputed and competing territorial visions of the country, some of which are manifested as centre-periphery distinctions between the capital Yerevan and the province of Siunik. The strong local identity of the province serves as a basis to look to ideological tropes of nationalist imaginations as a coping mechanism while facing precarious circumstances. Material geographical realities and discursive or ideological imaginations continue to be in tension in Armenia, especially in Siunik. / Doctor of Philosophy / Wars are moments of significant disruption for states and societies. Wars in which a state suffers significant territorial losses can be particularly challenging for governments and the people, and how they think of themselves. How states react to territorial losses is a compelling area for research. The recent experiences of the Republic of Armenia present a rich case study in how states adjust to territorial change. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of an independent Armenian state was accompanied by war over a disputed territory with neighbouring Azerbaijan. At the time of the cease-fire of 1994, the Armenian side emerged with consolidated territorial gains. Following years of peace negotiations and some escalations, Azerbaijani forces launched a large-scale offensive in 2020, as a result of which much territory changed hands. The status quo after the war had notable impact on the province of Siunik in southern Armenia as well. This dissertation is a study in the aftermath of territorial changes. It looks to how states and societies think about themselves and their territories. To say that a territory is disputed between two or more parties is a straightforward observation. But it is worth asking more nuanced questions: how is territory framed, how does that framing inform disputes, and how might a better understanding of those framings help resolve them? In the case of Armenia, this dissertation argues that the government and people remain in a state of shock and trauma two years after the end of the war. There is a disconnect between framings, future visions, and prospects as expressed by the central government of Armenia and the experiences and expectations of people on the ground in Siunik. Many studies of conflicts focus on politics, diplomacy, and international affairs. They may bring to the surface humanitarian issues, questions of public international law, art, justice, or history. This dissertation invites the reader to think more about the geography of conflicts, both as a material reality and as an ideological value.

Yes / Transboundary Peace Parks are established along international borders surrounded by biodiversity that needs to be protected, particularly in regions that were devastated as consequence of internal or international conflicts. They are conceived as peacebuilding strategies to bring former enemies together through the joint management of the shared environment. This dissertation explores the effectiveness of Transboundary Peace Parks in promoting more cooperative and peaceful inter-State relations. In order to demonstrate such effectiveness, three initiatives will be analyzed: Cordillera del Cóndor between Ecuador and Peru, the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration between Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda and the Balkans Peace Park Project (B3P) involving Albania, Kosovo/a and Montenegro. The concepts State sovereignty, borders and territory will be analyzed in this dissertation since they are key factors to take in account when establishing a Transboundary Peace Park. Apart from States, the involvement of local communities is essential when developing these initiatives. The participation of other stakeholders such as NGOs, international organizations and private donors, is also vital for the success of these initiatives. This dissertation also aims to draw the attention to the positive effects of Peace Parks in their area of influence since they receive mostly criticism.

This study is dedicated to examine the concept of borders, geographical and otherwise, as instruments that are socially produced. It utilizes Gloria Anzaldua's theoretical framework of Borderlands theory as a set of processes that seek to attain the de-colonization of the inner self. The historical and spatial dynamics of the geographical border between Mexico and United States, largely shaped by the U.S. expansionist agenda, resulted in the Mexican lost of more than half of its territory and the subsequent stigmatization of Mexican-Americans/Chicanos as "foreign others," since they did not share with predominant Anglo-Saxons the same values, culture, religion, traditions and skin color. I argue that the later exploitation, exclusion, marginalization, and racism against Mexican-Americans/Chicanos informed Anzaldua's development of her Borderlands theory that seeks to attain liberation for any colonized identity. However, it is also my argument that the borderlands theory fails to account for meaningful political freedom since the processes that compose the theory are principally worked at the inner level, restricting the possibilities for a direct confrontation in the public sphere. / Master of Arts

Swedish agencies are obligated to collaborate in order to fulfil their respective missions. One of the largest agencies, The Social Insurance Agency, collaborates with several agencies, employers and care providers. Collaboration that needs synchronous dialogues andexchange of information, requires people to coordinate calendars, but since the organizations’ technical systems are separated, problems occur. The meeting organizers have to face the time-wasting problem of searching for suitable meeting occasions, without access to the calendars of their external meeting participants. Meetings across organizational borders are, therefore, difficult to arrange. This study has enlightened this problem, using methods for deeper understanding of the user’s point of view, searching for alternative solutions and with an experimental approach evaluated four different alternatives, all with their own unique pros and cons. One solution based on a WebDAV/CalDAV concept is recommended, due to its potentials. It is superior to the other alternatives, because of its strength in functionality. Moreover, it has great potential to develop into a broader collaboration service, offering a digital work space with functions for document sharing, discussion boards etc. / Svenska myndigheter är skyldiga att samarbeta med varandra, inom ramen för sina respektive uppdrag. Ett exempel är Försäkringskassan, som samarbetar med flera andra myndigheter, arbetsgivare och vårdgivare. Samarbete som kräver synkrona dialoger och informationsutbyte försvåras av att de olika organisationernas tekniska system är separerade. Utan tillgång till deltagarnas kalendrar tvingas mötesarrangören lägga ner mycket tid i sökandet efter passande tider, och mötesdeltagarna behöver manuellt koordinera sina kalendrar. Möten över organisationsgränser blir därmed svåra att boka. I denna studie fördjupas förståelsen för problemet utifrån ett användarperspektiv, för att därefter söka efter på marknaden tillgängliga lösningar. Med ett experimentellt angreppssätt har fyra alternativ studerats, alla med sina respektive för- och nackdelar. Resultatet blir en rekommendation om att gå vidare med WebDAV/CalDAV som med sin funktionella styrka är det mest kraftfulla alternativet. Detta koncept kan, utöver mötesbokningsfunktionaliteten, utvecklas till en bredare samarbetstjänst för Försäkringskassan och dess externa parter, med potential att erbjuda digitala arbetsytor och funktioner för dokumentdelning, diskussionstavlor mm.

The relation between the immigration policies and state sovereignty in the European Union (EU) is both a most topical and controversial issue. The dissertation is conceived as a disciplinary interpretative study based on the concept of four types of sovereignty by S. Krasner. This approach allows to interpret the seeming contradiction between a state perceived as a sole actor in the area of immigration policy and the communitarization of the immigration policy at the EU level. By using the analysis of discourse as well as of practice, this thesis acknowledges shifts of power to the EU, but stresses that these shifts represent strengthening of other factors of power and control at the same time. Thus, in certain, particularly security, aspects, European harmonization of immigration policy can reinforce state sovereignty. It applies to the external as well as internal dimensions of the EU immigration policy that a part of the policy remains to be decided at the national level. Nevertheless, also the communitarized area offers the member states a significant room for discretion. Thus, there is still considerable tension between the idea of solidarity between member states on one hand and their national interests on the other and the common European immigration policy remains to be achieved in future.

Nuwe kommunikasie- en inligtingstegnologie vorm ’n individu se persepsies en hoe hulle ’n spesifieke organisasie sien. MSF Suid-Afrika se webtuiste (met spesifieke verwysing na die foto’s wat gebruik word op die webtuiste) is een van die kommunikasie- en inligtingstegnologieë wat ’n invloed sal hê op die persepsies van die organisasie se belangegroepe. MSF moet krities dink oor die foto’s wat hulle op hulle webtuiste plaas, aangesien dit moontlik die kommunikasie tussen die vrywilligers en die organisasie, sowel as die persepsies van vrywilligers, kan beïnvloed. Dit is van belang vir MSF om deur die foto’s wat hulle op MSF Suid-Afrika se webtuiste plaas die publiek in te lig oor die omstandighede van die populasie waarbinne die veldwerkers werk. Persepsies rig denke en besluite – problematiese uitdagings kan ontstaan indien hierdie persepsies in kontras staan met die persepsies wat MSF graag wil vorm met die gebruik van foto’s op hulle webtuiste. Die studie fokus vervolgens op die persepsies van potensiële vrywilligers van MSF, met spesifieke fokus op die foto’s gebruik op MSF Suid-Afrika se webtuiste. Die algemene doelstelling van hierdie studie is om vanuit ’n organisasiemediabestuursperspektief te bepaal watter rol foto’s op MSF Suid-Afrika se webtuiste speel in die persepsievorming tydens kommunikasie met potensiële vrywilligers as belangegroep. Die hoof bevindinge van die studie toon dat foto’s ’n rol speel om betekenis by te dra tot kommunikasie met belangegroepe, en dat die impak van die foto’s op MSF se webtuiste ’n rol speel in potensiële vrywilligers se persepsievorming. MSF kan meer fokus op die rol wat foto’s in die kommunikatiewe proses speel. Potensiële vrywilligers het verder aangetoon dat hulle meer persoonlike aandag vanaf MSF wil hê. Daar is ook gevind dat dit van belang is dat MSF se webtuiste visueel aanloklik moet wees en dat die foto’s wat op die webtuiste gebruik word akkuraat en geloofwaardig moet wees. MSF se sukses kan verbeter as hulle meer aandag aan potensiële vrywilligers gee. Respondente het verskillende voorstelle gemaak vir hoe MSF meer vrywilligers kan werf. Die studie dra by tot die belangegroepbestuur tussen MSF Suid- Afrika en hulle potensiële vrywilligers. Dit bied aan MSF Suid-Afrika geleentheid om beter te verstaan wat ’n steekproef van potensiële vrywilligers tans dink van die gebruik van foto’s op hulle webtuiste. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Nuwe kommunikasie- en inligtingstegnologie vorm ’n individu se persepsies en hoe hulle ’n spesifieke organisasie sien. MSF Suid-Afrika se webtuiste (met spesifieke verwysing na die foto’s wat gebruik word op die webtuiste) is een van die kommunikasie- en inligtingstegnologieë wat ’n invloed sal hê op die persepsies van die organisasie se belangegroepe. MSF moet krities dink oor die foto’s wat hulle op hulle webtuiste plaas, aangesien dit moontlik die kommunikasie tussen die vrywilligers en die organisasie, sowel as die persepsies van vrywilligers, kan beïnvloed. Dit is van belang vir MSF om deur die foto’s wat hulle op MSF Suid-Afrika se webtuiste plaas die publiek in te lig oor die omstandighede van die populasie waarbinne die veldwerkers werk. Persepsies rig denke en besluite – problematiese uitdagings kan ontstaan indien hierdie persepsies in kontras staan met die persepsies wat MSF graag wil vorm met die gebruik van foto’s op hulle webtuiste. Die studie fokus vervolgens op die persepsies van potensiële vrywilligers van MSF, met spesifieke fokus op die foto’s gebruik op MSF Suid-Afrika se webtuiste. Die algemene doelstelling van hierdie studie is om vanuit ’n organisasiemediabestuursperspektief te bepaal watter rol foto’s op MSF Suid-Afrika se webtuiste speel in die persepsievorming tydens kommunikasie met potensiële vrywilligers as belangegroep. Die hoof bevindinge van die studie toon dat foto’s ’n rol speel om betekenis by te dra tot kommunikasie met belangegroepe, en dat die impak van die foto’s op MSF se webtuiste ’n rol speel in potensiële vrywilligers se persepsievorming. MSF kan meer fokus op die rol wat foto’s in die kommunikatiewe proses speel. Potensiële vrywilligers het verder aangetoon dat hulle meer persoonlike aandag vanaf MSF wil hê. Daar is ook gevind dat dit van belang is dat MSF se webtuiste visueel aanloklik moet wees en dat die foto’s wat op die webtuiste gebruik word akkuraat en geloofwaardig moet wees. MSF se sukses kan verbeter as hulle meer aandag aan potensiële vrywilligers gee. Respondente het verskillende voorstelle gemaak vir hoe MSF meer vrywilligers kan werf. Die studie dra by tot die belangegroepbestuur tussen MSF Suid- Afrika en hulle potensiële vrywilligers. Dit bied aan MSF Suid-Afrika geleentheid om beter te verstaan wat ’n steekproef van potensiële vrywilligers tans dink van die gebruik van foto’s op hulle webtuiste. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

After the change of their country’s political and international statuses, post-colonial and respectively post-communist individuals and collectives develop feelings of alienation and estrangement that do not involve physical dislocation. Eventually, they start imagining their national community as a collective of individuals who share this state. Paraphrasing Benedict Anderson’s definition of the nation as an “imagined community,” this study identifies this process as “imagined exile,” an act that temporarily compensates for the absence of a metanarrative of the nation during the post-colonial and post-communist transitions. This dissertation analyzes and compares ten English Canadian and Romanian plays, written between 1976 and 2004, and argues that they function as expressions and agents of post-colonial and respectively post-communist imagined exile, helping their readers and audiences overcome the identity crisis and regain the feeling of belonging to a national community. Chapter 1 explores the development of major theoretical concepts, such as nation, national identity, national identity crisis, post-colonialism, and post-communism. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 analyze dramatic rewritings of historical events, in “1837: The Farmers’ Revolt” by the theatre Passe Muraille with Rick Salutin as dramaturge, and “A Cold” by Marin Sorescu, and of past political leaders, in “Sir John, Eh!” by Jim Garrard and “A Day from the Life of Nicolae Ceausescu” by Denis Dinulescu. Chapter 4 examines the expression of the individual and collective identity crises in “Sled” by Judith Thompson and “The Future Is Rubbish” by Vlad Zografi. Chapter 5 explores the treatment of physical and cultural borders and borderlands in Kelly Rebar’s “Bordertown Café”, Guillermo Verdecchia’s “Fronteras Americanas”, Petre Barbu’s “God Bless America”, and Saviana Stanescu’s “Waxing West”. The concluding chapter briefly discusses the concept of imagined exile in relation to other investigations of post-colonial and post-communist dramas and reviews some of the latest perspectives of national identity, reassessing this study from a diachronic perspective.

This diploma thesis is dedicated to the creation of the Czechoslovak army. My goal is to describe its creation, development and significance till the appearance of the Little Entente in 1921. The army organisation took place under urgent needs for defence of state borders. As the Czechoslovak troops in Russia were delayed, commander ranks had to be engaged by the Italian and French officers. Because of many activities led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edvard Benes on Paris Peace Conference, the power of the Czechoslovakian Ministry of Defence was reduced. After the state borders were established, the role of the Ministry of Defence stabilized.

Si, comme nous le suggérons, le mot « frontière » désigne un lieu de contact et d’échanges entre deux espaces plutôt qu’une ligne de séparation bien tracée, de nombreuses frontières existent, politiques, sociales, culturelles, linguistiques dans un Proche-Orient ancien qu’on qualifie souvent de « monde sans frontières » parce qu’il partage la même culture cunéiforme. Du XIVe siècle av. J.-C. au début du XIIe, les États syriens sont dans la mouvance successive d’empires puissants, Mitanni, Égypte, Hatti, qui se les disputent et fixent leurs frontières politiques, tandis que les frontières juridiques (de qui est-on justiciable ?) ou économiques (qui édicte les obligations fiscales ?) se superposent. Dans une Syrie où les langues parlées sont diverses, il existe, et même il se crée, des « entre-deux » linguistiques. Les zones frontières sont traversées sans cesse, volontairement (nomades, marchands) ou sous la contrainte (captifs). Dire qui est « un étranger » n’est possible en Syrie que de façon relative. Cependant, ni tout à fait étranger, ni membre de la communauté, un étranger résident peut, parce qu’il bénéficie d’une certaine protection et peut s’intégrer, devenir un de ceux par lesquels les cultures se transmettent. / If, as we would define it, the word “border” indicates a place of contact and exchanges between two spaces rather than a well-drawn line of separation, numerous borders exist: political, social, cultural, linguistic in an Ancient Near East often characterized as “a world without borders” since it shares the same cuneiform culture. From the fourteenth century BC to the beginning of the twelfth, the Syrian States have belonged to successive spheres of influence of powerful empires, Mitanni, Egypt, Hatti, which dispute them between themselves and fix their political borders, whereas the legal borders (to which jurisdiction you are under?) or economic ones (which authority imposes the tax obligations?) overlap. In Syria where the spoken languages are diverse, linguistic interspaces exist, are even created. Fringe areas are crossed ceaselessly, voluntarily (nomads, traders) or under duress (captives). To determine who is “a foreigner” is only possible in Syria in a relative manner. However, neither a true foreigner, nor a member of the community, a “resident foreigner” (since he is partly protected and may become integrated) can be one of these through whom the cultures are passed on.