Henry Kissinger is considered to be one of the most influential diplomats of U.S. history. During the decade he spent directing the U.S. foreign affairs from one of the top level positions, he achieved many important successes. His power extended far beyond the normal competence of the secretary of state. His personal skills, which were an important asset in obtaining such an influential position, combined with the complicated internal political situation in the United States. At the time Kissinger entered the Middle East conflict as an important actor, the Nixon Administration fought against charges connected with the Watergate affair and the president consequently had little time and energz to devote to the foreign policy. Henry Kissinger could thus became the creator of American diplomacy and its main representative. The documents about the Yom Kippur War and the U.S. engagement in the region, which were declassified much later and which this thesis make use of, show that the real power of Henry Kissinger was much broader than widely believed.

V Praze, dne 25. července 2013 ………………………………… Abstract The main focus of this thesis is the phenomenon of private military companies and their deployment in situations of armed conflict conducted under the auspices of the so-called "War on Terrorism". The aim is to provide the reader with an introductory insight into this issue, describe specific activities of private military companies during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to answer research questions about their positive or negative contribution to the overall results of these conflicts and the possible impact on civil-military relations. The main thesis of this work is that the performance of these companies can not be categorically evaluated because it is different from case to case. There are, however, some general trends which can be traced in regard to "War on Terrorism". They mainly relate to the lack of efficient state control of private military companies and their conduct. The work is divided into several parts. The first deals with the historical development of conducting military operations with the help of non-state financially motivated actors. This section is intended to create a framework for a better understanding of the issues examined. The second part is devoted to theoretical classification of private military companies and...

Chinese economic expansion in Africa is a widely discussed topic, but less academic attention is being paid to the role China plays in African security. Since the late 1990s Chinese activity in Africa had been growing rapidly. Beijing's interests are predominantly economic, mostly represented by market seeking and foreign direct investments, and political, generally perceived as a mutual support in international organizations. The thesis focuses on the traditional principle of non-interference in how Chinese policy towards African security has been evolving together with growing Chinese interests on the continent. The People's Republic of China influences African security matters in four areas: diplomatic involvement, arms deals, support and financing, and military cooperation. By analyzing those areas with a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, concrete cases have been identified, when China interfered in internal affairs of particular states, thus altering its policy of non- interference towards more pragmatic and case by case based approach.

After the fall of the Soviet Union a number of violent ethnic disputes were concluded through the establishment of ceasefires but have yet to be finalized through peace accords. This development resulted in the creation of de facto states in a setting known as ‘frozen conflicts’. These de facto states have managed to endure decades of unrecognition, stuck in a situation of “no war, no peace” and constitutes today “effective” political entities. The post-war development in these frozen conflicts has continuously surprised academia, defying pessimistic prediction of their sustainability. Following the positive, hybridized peace etymology laid out by Oliver Richmond, this thesis aims at exploring the peace- and state processes that has occurred during the Nagorno Karabakh peace process in order to explain the ambiguous developments that have been going on despite the limbo-like state of unrecognition. The relation between external and internal processes is interrogated through a periodization of key events, and thereafter a comprehensive analysis of how the processes relate to each other over time. The thesis concludes that the strong presence of identity politics regarding the historical Nagorno Karabakh favors the often violent and protective state formation process but is at least partially controlled by the international attempts at peace building. Local formations of peace do not allow for a reintegration of Nagorno Karabakh into Azerbaijan, at least not without explicit and extensive security and autonomy guarantees. Likewise, the external processes of peace and state building does not allow for local agency from Nagorno Karabakh, as it is viewed through a negative ontology of peace. The processes does provide some rather successful developments, as the almost finalized Land swap deal and the Madrid principles, but lacks the momentum of conquering the dominance of perceived or actualized violent state formation processes.

Since children are particularly vulnerable in armed conflicts, they are conferred legal protection under International law, like in the International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law. Despite of international legislation, the situation of children remains critically worrying with numerous ongoing armed conflicts and instabilities globally. On the one hand, they are assumed special protection, yet on the other hand, they are commonly used as shields or forced into being combatants. The aim of the study is to outline legal areas of ambiguity or inadequacy in the legal framework and see whether they are sufficient in seeking to protect children in armed conflicts. Following relevant conceptual discussions on International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, the study employs a legal analysis in conjunction with a normative argumentation approach in reference to the works of various scholars. Based on the findings, I conclude that IHL and IHRL are often not adhered to, by state parties in armed conflicts due to a lack of binding power; hence such conventions do not produce the desired result. Since state parties are either in breach of the conventions, or have not yet ratified them, the conventions are not practically effective in protecting children.

Syfte: Ett ökat användande av cykeln ger ett minskat utsläpp från transportsektorn och skapar en mer levande stadsmiljö, dock ger en ökad mängd trafikanter även en ökad risk för konflikter och olyckor. Hastighetsskillnaden mellan fotgängare och cyklister är stora och med allt fler eldrivna fordon på gång- och cykelbanan blir denna hastighetsskillnad ännu större. Det är därför viktigt med ett fungerande gång- och cykelvägnät. Målet med denna studie är att bidra med förbättring av samspelet mellan cyklister och fotgängare genom att utreda orsaker till konflikter samt att undersöka hur större kommuner utformar gång- och cykelbanor. Metod: Observationer har genomförts vid korsningar på huvudcykelstråket i Jönköpings Kommun, konflikter och flöde har observerats. Data har även samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med trafikingenjörer och trafikplanerare från fyra större kommuner. Insamlade data har strukturerats efter teman tagna ur det teoretiska ramverket, dessa teman är utformning, riktlinjer och VGU, separering eller samspel och konflikter. Resultat: Studien har visat att det saknas normer kring hur man beter sig på gång- och cykelbanan vilket påverkar trafikanternas attityd till trafikregler och medtrafikanter. Under de sammanlagt 10 observationstillfällena observerades 15st konflikter. Av dessa var 47% på grund av att minst en trafikant inblandad bröt mot trafikreglerna. Oftast inträffar konflikter mellan olika trafikslag, fotgängare och cyklister. Av de 15st konflikter som observerades var 80% mellan olika trafikslag. Studien visar inte något samband mellan inträffade konflikter och hur vida utformningen når upp till rekommendationer i GCM och VGU. Dock kan förbättringar göras, otydligheter i utformningen gör att trafikanter inte vet hur de ska placera sig och samspela med andra trafikanter på gång- och cykelbanan. För att utformningen ska respekteras är det viktigt att trafikanterna få det utrymme som krävs. Konsekvenser: Gång- och cykelbanorna måste göras tydliga och sammanhängande för att de ska användas rätt och respekteras. Fotgängare och cyklister bör ses som två olika trafikslag och ytorna dem färdas på bör utformas efter det. Ett förbättringsförslag är att skapa en standard vid utformning av gång- och cykelbanor som är anpassad för tätorten. Begränsningar: Arbetet är begränsat till större kommuner och observationerna är genomförda i korsningar på endast en kommuns huvudcykelvägnät. Flera intervjuer och observationer i kommuner av olika storlek hade behövt genomföras för att göra arbetet generellt applicerbart. / Purpose: Increased use of bicycles will reduce emissions from the transport sector and create a more vibrant urban environment, however, an increased number of shared-path users will increase the risk of conflicts and accidents. The speed difference between pedestrians and cyclists is large and with more and more electric vehicles on the pedestrian and bicycle lane, this speed difference is even larger. A functioning pedestrian and bicycle road network are important. The aim of this study is to help improve the interaction between cyclists and pedestrians by investigating the causes of conflicts and investigating how larger municipalities design pedestrian and bicycle lanes. Method: Observations were made on crossings in the main cycle path in Jönköping municipality where conflicts and flow were noted. There were also interviews with traffic planners and traffic engineers from four medium sized municipalities. The data collected was sorted by different themes from the theoretical framework. These themes are configuration, guidelines and VGU, separation or interplay and conflicts. Findings: The study has shown that there are no standards on how to behave on the pedestrian and bicycle lane, which affects road users' attitude to traffic rules and fellow road users. During the total of 10 observations, 15 conflicts were observed. Of these, 47% were due to at least one road user involved breaking the traffic rules. Most often, conflicts occur between different types of traffic, pedestrians and cyclists. Of the 15 conflicts observed, 80% were between different types of traffic. Studies do not show any connection between conflicts that have occurred and the extent to which the design reaches recommendations in GCM and VGU. However, improvements can be made, uncertainty in the design means that road users do not know how to position themselves and interact with other road users on pedestrian and bicycle lanes. It is important to give users enough space to make them respect the configuration. Implications: Reasons of conflicts are uncertainties in the configuration, speed differences and pedestrians moving unpredictable. There is a lack of norm of how to behave on the shared path. The configuration of shared paths needs to be clearer and it need to be coherent to make the users respect and use it properly. Pedestrians and cyclists should be seen as two different kinds of transportation and the surfaces they travel on should be designed as such. A suggestion is to create a standard in configuration of shared paths that is suited for the urban centre. Limitations: The study is restricted to larger municipalities and the observations were made at intersections on only one municipality's main cycle road network. Additional interviews and observations in municipalities with different sizes would be needed to make the findings more applicable.

Au cours des dernières décennies, la massification de l’usage de l’informatique, notamment connectée, a eu de nombreuses et profondes conséquences sur l’ensemble de la société. Loin d’être le produit d’une histoire ou d’un « progrès » linéaire, les techniques s’inscrivent dans un rapport social matérialisé. Entre technicisation du politique et politisation de la technique, toute une dialectique ne cesse de se déployer. Les acteur·e·s engagé·e·s dans ces conflits se trouvent à différentes échelles : institutions supra-étatiques, inter-étatiques, États, entreprises, organisations diverses et militant·e·s individuel·le·s. Dans cette arène particulière de lutte se déploient épreuves et grammaires singulières. À partir d’entretiens réalisés auprès des différent·e·s acteur·e·s engagé·e·s dans des luttes pour la politisation de la technique, cette thèse de doctorat s’attache à étudier les différentes stratégies utilisées lors de trois conflits distincts, à la fois contemporains, et inscrits dans une histoire longue. Sont ainsi étudiées les luttes en faveur et en opposition à la neutralité du Net, menées de 2009 à 2014 ; celles pour la protection de la vie privée et des données personnelles menées entre 2012 et 2016 ; et enfin, celles réagissant à la mise en place de l’état d’urgence en France à partir de 2015. Cette recherche étudie les agirs des différents groupes impliqués dans ces conflictualités sociales, afin d’établir une cartographie de leurs stratégies. Ainsi, notre analyse mettra en lumière la manière dont les groupes engagés dans la lutte créent les conditions de victoires sociales au sein de ces espaces, ou au contraire échouent à atteindre leurs objectifs. / Over the past decades, the increased use of computers, particularly connected to the internet, has had numerous and deep impact on the whole society. Far from being the outcome of a linear "progress," its technologies are embedded in material social relationships. Between the technicization of the political, and the politicization of the technological, a deep dialectic keeps unfolding. The actors involved in these conflicts can be detected at different levels, supra national institutions, among the Nations, companies, diverse organizations and individual activists. In these specific arenas of fighting arenas, people rely on singular trials and repertoires. Based on interviews conducted with different actors involved in the struggle for the politicization of technology, this dissertation explores the various strategies used during three conflicts, both contemporary and with long-standing history. We thus study the fights among pro and con concerning internet neutrality, taking place between 2009 and 2014; the fights for the protection of private life and personal data between 2012 and 2016, and those organized in reaction to the emergency state in France, starting in 2015. This research studies the repertoire of action from the different groups involved in these social conflicts, in order to map out their strategy. Therefore, our analysis will shed a new light on how the groups involved in this struggle create the conditions for success within those spaces, or on the contrary fail to achieve their goals.

Les conflits de distribution écologiques résultant du métabolisme social croissant du monde et l'expansion des frontières des marchandises qui en résulte, sont confrontés à des défis importants pour la gouvernance, en particulier lorsqu'il existe des interactions multiples, entre la nature et les individus qui possèdent de systèmes de valeurs différents, à travers différentes échelles (du local au global). L'interaction actuelle entre les échelles semble être définie par le pouvoir juridictionnel - une manière qui favorise les échelles internationales et / ou nationales, qui négligent les processus en cours qui se déroulent à d'autres échelles. Il existe une disparité entre les échelles où les décisions sont prises et les actions sont effectuées. Par conséquent, un mécanisme de gouvernance, avec non seulement des propriétés participatives prenant compte des différents systèmes de valeurs, mais avec des mécanismes de coordination entre plusieurs échelles, devient nécessaire. À cette arrière-plan, cette thèse maintient que les méthodes d'évaluation multicritères délibératives et participatives pourraient ouvrir de nouvelles voies pour les mécanismes de gouvernance environnementale pour les conflits avec des interactions transversales et vise à montrer l'importance d'une perspective multi-échelle dans un cadre multicritère. Dans une tentative d'opérationnaliser cet objectif, elle utilise le cas conflictuel de la production d'énergie nucléaire en Turquie et l'évalue aux échelles nationales et locales dans le contexte national et mondial des mouvements de justice environnementale. Elle démontre que l'élaboration d'un problème de décision conflictuel par une méthode multicritère / multi-échelle est utile pour i) identifier les défis résultant des interactions entre les parties prenantes et ii) les présenter de manière transparente et compréhensible. / The ecological distribution conflicts arising from the growing social metabolism of the world and the resulting expansion of the commodity frontiers pose important challenges for governance, especially when there are multiple interactions between the nature and people holding different value systems, across different scales (from local to global). The current interaction between scales seems to be defined by the jurisdictional power – a manner that is inclined to favour the international and/or national scales, which overlook the ongoing processes taking place in other scales. Such a discrepancy gives rise to a mismatch between the scales where the decisions are made and actions are undertaken, calling for a governance mechanism – one with participatory properties taking into account the different value systems and coordination mechanisms across multiple scales.At this background, this thesis argues that deliberative and participatory multi-criteria evaluation methods might open new avenues for environmental governance mechanisms for the conflicts with cross-scale interactions and aims to show the importance of a multi-scale perspective within multi-criteria framework. In an attempt to operationalize this aim, it uses the conflicted case of nuclear energy production in Turkey and assesses it at national and local scales within the context of national and global environmental justice movements. It is shown that framing a conflicted decision-making problem through multi-scale/multi-stakeholder method is helpful: i) in identifying the challenges resulting from the cross-scale interactions between stakeholders and ii) in presenting them in a transparent and comprehensible manner.

No description available.

This dissertation focuses on understanding the socioeconomic impacts of Community Based Conservation (CBC) initiatives on rural livelihoods. CBC initiatives promise to abate the negative impacts of top down or centralised fortress conservation approaches that have for many decades, hindered rural people from accessing and benefiting from natural resources, and incited land-use conflicts. Yet, despite these promises, the inherently political nature of natural resource governance brings challenges to the implementation of the scientifically designed conservation interventions. It was in the interest of this dissertation, therefore, to compare and contrast the policy premises and the reality on the ground by analysing the socioeconomic impacts of CBC initiatives on rural livelihoods. The research explored Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), a community based wildlife management initiatives in Tanzania, where the policy promises participating communities improved access to resources and better benefits retentions. Through political ecology lenses, the research collected and analysed both quantitative but largely qualitative data. Results show that WMAs foster a very limited ownership, participation and collective action at the community level. WMA governance continues to follow a logic of central government control over natural resources and the associated benefits. The WMAs are rife with conflicts and contestations over grievances that remained unsettled since its establishment a decade back. The grievances are accentuated by growing land pressure resulting from an increase in human, livestock and elephant populations, in combination with infrastructure improvements and support for agriculture-led development. Besides WMA governance offers very little or nothing to residents and village leaders in the participating communities who appear hostages in a situation where interests in human development and conservation are pitted against each other. Residents are not compensated for crops and livestock losses and/or human injuries and death caused by wildlife, while very little WMA resources and revenues are directed toward the protection of crops and livestock against wildlife. The current situation, therefore, not only makes a mockery of the notions of community-based conservation but also pinpoint to the tendency of global and national actors promoting conservation in Tanzania and elsewhere to misrepresent or ignore the local realities that defy official policy promises. Further, the results reveal that WMAs concentrate licit benefits to few elites and criminalises rural peoples’ customary livelihoods and claims of rights to natural resources. This leaves the majority of rural people who endure the cost of conservation in forgone individual livelihoods interests, such as farmland and pasture for livestock, and wildlife damages on crops, livestock, and people, to rely on illicit access mechanisms. This has, in turn, led to violent confrontations between game scouts and people, and protests and struggles to re-gain legal access. But at a more general level, the conflicts created/exacerbated by the WMA regimes erode rural peoples’ trust and willingness to support conservation. It is difficult, therefore, to argue that WMAs are community-owned conservation initiatives until a genuinely devolved and more flexible conservation model is implemented to give space for popular participation in rule-making and resource allocation. This means, in order to advance conservation-development agenda, conservation policies need to understand rural peoples’ needs and address them not only as ‘add on’ but at their very core. CBC interventions must also recognise customary claims to land and use of natural resources, and make sure that benefits accrue from conservation activities trickle down to the household level. Thus, throughout the analysis of WMAs as a CBC interventions on human-dominated landscapes, this dissertation unveils the following key issues: i) property rights and rule enforcement agency, a persistence challenge in CBC interventions, and ii) governance rationality and limit to governance, a novelty field in policy sciences, focusing on the need to contemplate and synthesise in a more acute and systematic way of understanding the policy promise and human limits to govern ourselves out of environmental problems. To conclude, this dissertation proposes a logical framework for the analysis of CBC intervention through a landscape approach lenses and offer recommendations for development and research.