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The hypothesis put forth in this dissertation is twofold. The first part is based on a view (supported by writers such as Hans Belting) that maintains that art lost its sacred character in the late Middle Ages, when art was emancipated from religion and the artist was recognized as an original Creator. The two first chapters examine this issue: The first chapter (A Religious View of the History of the Arts) discusses theories of religious art from the ancient Jewish drama and the Greek tragedy to the late Middle Ages. Psychological material, mostly drawn from Lacan and Jung, is used to explore the connection between art and religion in the East and the West. The second chapter {Anti-Leonardo) focuses on some important changes in the Renaissance which can be observed mostly in art, that have affected religious and social consciousness to date. The second part of the hypothesis is that contemporary philosophy and art, having witnessed the death of the author as it has been presented by writers such as Michel Foucault and Roland Barthes, are now registering the withdrawal of the work of art as an independent object, and the reversal of the Renaissance art paradigm. The withdrawal or "death" of the work of art and of art as a process are discussed in the third chapter {The Death of Art), which explores these issues in contemporary philosophy, and argues that contemporary art, popular and classical, is withdrawing as a distinct activity, giving its place to a growing religious awareness. The fourth chapter {The Religious Artist) examines the art and the views of some contemporary artists whose art expresses the return of the sacred. Particular emphasis is given to the art of the New Simplicity, an artistic trend that epitomizes the vanguard of art while expressing spiritual and religious contemporary concerns.

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The aim of this thesis is to study the concept of Kurdism and its emergence in the first half of the nineteenth century. The study explores the foundations, origins and evolution of Kurdish nationalism, which has grown out of Kurdism. It focuses on the three Kurdish emirates of Soran, Botan and Baban and their relationship with the Ottomans during the first half of the nineteenth century. Warm Ottoman-Kurdish relations continued until the beginning of the New Order (Nizami Cedit) under Sultan Selim III 1789-1807 and Sultan Mahmud II 1808-1839, and the modernisation and administrative reform (known in Turkish as Tanzimat) of the empire, which took place between 1839-1876. At this time, central power was in the hands of the Sultan who abolished all local authorities in the capital and in the Ottoman provinces, including Kurdish semi-autonomous emirates. This direct rule was met by strong Kurdish resistance. From this point, the Kurds conceived of the Ottomans as the “other” whose direct rule over them was unwelcome. They resisted the Ottoman policy of centralisation and the notion of Kurdism flourished. This can be regarded as a key turning point for the development of Kurdish nationalism, reinvigorating a Kurdish consciousness in respect of politics, language and literature. Kurdish Melas (Islamic scholars), popular poets and Kurdish folkloric poets played a major role in the creation of Kurdism in the first half of the nineteenth century in Soran, Botan and Baban emirates. Kurdish writers and scholars turned to literary forms for the expressions of Kurdish cultural politics. This thesis examines a range of literary sources to consider the rule of Kurdish mirs (princes), in politics, and the position of Kurdish intellectuals in the politics of language and culture in Kurdish emirate in the first half of the nineteenth century. This study shows how identification with Kurdism had enabled the Kurds to articulate their claim to their community and their emirates. Kurdism went on to engender Kurdish nationalism, whose growth was reflected in the late nineteenth century through the Kurdish revolt of 1880 by Sheikh Ubeydullah Nehri, the establishment of the first Kurdish newspaper in 1897 and the literature of the period, and which matured further in the twentieth century.

<p> The history of unemployment in Saudi Arabia has been a decades-long struggle, and is considered among the biggest challenges facing the Saudi Arabian government. The youth and women, unfortunately, have been the most affected groups of the high unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia. In an effort to decrease the number of unemployed, the government of Saudi Arabia introduced the Saudization program in an attempt to create jobs for Saudi job seekers. The Saudization policy was created by the government and implemented through the Ministry of Labor. The main objective of this program was to maximize efforts in decreasing labor opportunities for foreign workers, while increasing the number of opportunities for Saudis in the private sector. However, the Saudization policy was not as successful as had been anticipated. Therefore, new efforts to alter the policy were rolled out under the Nitaqat scheme in the year 2011. Despite the government&rsquo;s efforts to improve the employment situation in Saudi Arabia, research indicates that progress to reduce unemployment levels during the past 5 years since Nitaqat was implemented by the Ministry of Labor have been minimal. The main purpose of this research paper was to investigate and draw practical solutions to the unemployment challenges facing Saudi Arabia. This study was based on quantitative method using 2 online surveys: (a) Ministry of Labor employees, and (b) Saudi business owners. The most important findings for this study were a need of reforming the employment policy, changing the education system, and implement and/ or edit policy to create middle-class jobs. Additionally, the study found that there was a mismatch between the market needs and educational outcomes. The study also recommended the need for creating more jobs for women. Last, the study findings called for increasing the cooperation between the private sector and Ministry of Labor to create a more effective employment policy that will generate jobs for the Saudi job seekers.</p>

<p> After 12 years of negotiation, Saudi Arabia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005. The impact of joining the WTO has caused many Saudi organizations to change some of their old ways to keep up with competition from all around the world. Foreign investments created a healthy competition that encouraged Saudi Arabian organizations to change, adapt, and thrive in the market. With the need for change, Saudi Arabian organizations are facing employees&rsquo; resistance for unknown reasons. The purpose of this study was to analyze the reasons behind resistance to change in Saudi Arabian organizations and suggest approaches to minimize resistance and facilitate successful organizational change. Many researchers have found a relationship between organizational justice and employees&rsquo; behavior, especially during organizational change. Additionally, Saudi Arabian culture influences employees&rsquo; behavior towards change. Therefore, this correlational study examine the relationship between resistance to change and organizational justice, as well as the relationship between resistance to change and demographic measures in one Saudi Arabian organization. The scales that were used in this study are pre-existing and have been tested for validity and reliability. To measure resistance to change, the researcher used Oreg&rsquo;s (2003) Resistance to Change Scale, which divides resistance to change into four factors (routine seeking, emotional reaction, short-term focus, and cognitive rigidity), and Colquitt&rsquo;s (2001) Organizational Justice Scale, which divides organizational into four dimensions (distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational). A total of 55 completed surveys were collected with 76.4% male respondents, and 85.5% under the age of 40 years old, which showed how young and male dominant the workforce is in Saudi Arabia. The study concluded that the organizational justice dimensions of procedural and interpersonal justice have a negative significant relationship with employees&rsquo; resistance, especially the short-term focus factor. Moreover, from the demographic measures, the age factor also had a significant negative relationship with resistance to change, mostly with the short-term focus factor.</p>

<p> There are multiple paths for constructive cooperation between Iran and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf that can reshape the current contentious relations. Because of numerous mutual concerns, shared historic, religious, and cultural ties, as well as the importance of trade, Iran and the neighboring Arab countries must surmount the costly, zero-sum political frictions of today and envision a cooperative future that ensures the peace and security of the Persian Gulf. This thesis aims to present viable pathways for constructive cooperation between Iran and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf through analysis of the Islamic Republic&rsquo;s foreign policy objectives and determinants, differentiating and analyzing identified grievances and positive factors in bilateral relations between Iran and the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the consequences of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the geopolitics of the region.</p>

<p> Despite being a relatively young and prosperous country, Saudi Arabia has recently suffered from substantial rises in unemployment. This dissertation thus examines the root causes for the rise in unemployment and limited monetary policies in Saudi Arabia. It then attempts to provide feasible solutions for these problems. It includes an explanation of the Saudi economic structure and its features. It additionally investigates the historically-rooted causes of unemployment issues in the nation. The dissertation explains the high economic and social costs of unemployment and also calculates the empirical relationship between unemployment and loss in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) utilizing Okun&rsquo;s law and applying recently-developed panel econometrics techniques; additional details about the social costs of unemployment are also explained. Knowledge of money&rsquo;s effect on unemployment in Saudi Arabia is currently limited and thus the dissertation explores the ability and affordability of implementing a comprehensive solution to persistently high rates of unemployment. This is done through examining whether or not the nation experiences endogenous money processes wherein loans create deposits and deposits create reserves. In addition to exploring potential methods of achieving full employment and the expected benefits of these methods, the study explained the unique features of the Saudi economy that make said methods particularly easy to facilitate. In essence, this study revealed the possibility for the nation to achieve full employment using statistical evidence and the endogenous money supply hypothesis. The primary goal of the dissertation is to develop an approach to achieve full employment ultimately resulting in significant economic benefits for the society as a whole. It employs the endogenous money approach to offer policy solutions for unemployment in Saudi Arabia through transforming the economy into a Knowledge-based economy (KBE). KBE&rsquo;s pillars are all present in Saudi Arabia save for innovation which could easily be improved because of the high numbers of educated individuals among the unemployed. Thus, this approach could benefit the nation with no foreseeable risks of harm threatened or seen from previous attempts at solutions from Saudi policy-makers.</p>

<p> The popular coined term "state failure," has been used in a variety of ways to explain states that may have not lived up to the Western model of statehood. Many theorists have concluded a variety of reasons for this occurrence, but have usually looked at it through one lens and failed to acknowledge others. This paper proposes that one lens is sufficient in analyzing state failure, that of constructivism. Iraq is a country frequently considered synonymous with state failure. This paper analyzes the history of Iraq based on constructivist ideas of identity and institutions to explain state failure and determine solutions that could benefit the state.</p>