The United States emerged from the Second World War determined to play a leading role in the maintenance of international order. Increasing levels of tension between the United States and the forces of communism after 1945, however, slowly forced a redefinition of what might be more distinctly termed America's "global" responsibilities, such that by 1961 John F. Kennedy declared that the United States would "pay any price. . .in order to assure the survival and success of liberty." An identifiable Cold War consensus took shape based on the assumption that it was America's responsibility to lead, protect, and defend, the "free-world." Since America was effectively waging a battle to ensure the successful spread of its own values, the Cold War consensus also served to severely limit debate—dissent essentially implied disloyalty. By the mid-1960s, however, the Cold War consensus began to crack and a debate over American foreign policy began to emerge. That debate is the focus of this dissertation, which looks at the opposition to Cold War policies which emerged in the Senate, most notably among the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee --many of whom had once played a role in developing the very foreign policies they now protested. The war in Vietnam provided the focal point for much of the dissent, but the foreign aid program also became heavily criticized, as did America's NATO policy, particularly the size of the American military presence in Europe. More important, however, Senate dissenters came to question the United States' very position as the principle defender of the free world. They did not dispute the idea that America had a significant role to play in the global arena, but they did not believe that role should consist of being the world's policeman, the self-appointed arbiter of other’s affairs, and the keeper of the status quo. Because of their views, the so-called dissenters were labelled as "neo-isolationists." They saw themselves the true "internationalists," however, believing that the Cold War had led to confusion between internationalism and indiscriminate global involvement.

Specifically, this study is about the effects of culture, organisational culture and postmodernism on the Olympic Games and the perceptions of Australian Olympic athletes, both past and present and their understanding of the culture of the Olympic Games. The focus of this research examines the culture of the Olympic Games and provides insights into the background of the Games from Australian athlete's perspective. The study explores this theme further in order to understand those areas of culture which Australian athletes rarely get the opportunity to talk about and thereby offers the occasion to open new avenues for research into the culture of organisations, such as the International Olympic Committee. Furthermore, the thesis probes into the culture of the Olympic Games using the theoretical structures of Organisational Culture and Postmodernism to provide a better understanding and knowledge base for the discipline. Also, the research reports upon the athlete's perspectives in the light of the two previous theoretical structures. In spite of these previous points, little is known regarding the cultural aspects of the Olympic Games and even less is known of the culture of the Olympic Games from the athletes' perspective. Participants in an Olympic Games - athletes, officials, dignitaries, press, technicians and support personnel all experience the cultural mix of individuals at the Games first hand. However, it would certainly be of importance to understand how athletes communicate and relate to each other and how all participants within the Olympic Games organisation relate and communicate with each other. However, there is a need to acknowledge that politics exists within the Olympic Games and that its existence should be brought out of the background and placed on the agenda so that political action within the Games can be avoided in order that they might function more effectively and at a higher standard. A knowledge of culture and politics and the pitfalls and problems associated with change in the Olympic Games would support the building between individual athletes rather than allow conflict and competition to occur. This implies that, if individuals can work together without having to consider politics, then the system will benefit.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Participatory decision making practices were introduced into the Cambodian health sector in the late 1990s by the international development community. These practices were consolidated into a government policy in 2003. The participation policy requires lay citizens and other community representatives to be involved in management committees for health centres. In this thesis I report my research to ascertain if a participation policy results in strong participation. I did an ethnographic study of seven health centres in regional Cambodia. I found that participation levels of all lay citizens and other community representatives in health centre management were very low – the committees were only established where an international NGO supported them. Where the committees were operational, they were not decision making bodies. Community representatives including lay citizens had low levels of participation partly because of poor process design and lack of policy institutionalisation. This context enabled international NGOs to dominate and manipulate the committees. They used committees as a forum to educate community leaders about health, mobilise leaders to promote health centres, and lobby the government for changes in health centre management. By drawing together and extending the work of others, I show how in Cambodia both the participation process used in the study area and the national participation policy became commodities that were consumed in the game of international development. International development actors produced, marketed, and “sold” participation policies and processes and, in return, offered an implicit promise of resources to the government. As a result, lay citizens and other community representatives in Cambodia were short-changed by the consumption of participation policies and processes, being left without meaningful involvement in government decision making.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Participatory decision making practices were introduced into the Cambodian health sector in the late 1990s by the international development community. These practices were consolidated into a government policy in 2003. The participation policy requires lay citizens and other community representatives to be involved in management committees for health centres. In this thesis I report my research to ascertain if a participation policy results in strong participation. I did an ethnographic study of seven health centres in regional Cambodia. I found that participation levels of all lay citizens and other community representatives in health centre management were very low – the committees were only established where an international NGO supported them. Where the committees were operational, they were not decision making bodies. Community representatives including lay citizens had low levels of participation partly because of poor process design and lack of policy institutionalisation. This context enabled international NGOs to dominate and manipulate the committees. They used committees as a forum to educate community leaders about health, mobilise leaders to promote health centres, and lobby the government for changes in health centre management. By drawing together and extending the work of others, I show how in Cambodia both the participation process used in the study area and the national participation policy became commodities that were consumed in the game of international development. International development actors produced, marketed, and “sold” participation policies and processes and, in return, offered an implicit promise of resources to the government. As a result, lay citizens and other community representatives in Cambodia were short-changed by the consumption of participation policies and processes, being left without meaningful involvement in government decision making.

Techn. Univ., FB Rechts- und Wirtschaftswiss., Diss.-2008--Darmstadt, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Charles Gallagher, committee chair; Lesley Reid, Ian C. Fletcher, Robert Adelman, committee members. Electronic text (245 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed June 6, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 220-245).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-338).

Thesis (LL.M.)--The Judge Advocate General's School, United States Army, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (LLMC Digital, viewed on Mar. 22, 2010). "April 2007". Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves.