Le rôle de la communauté militaire internationale dans le cadre des opérations de maintien de la paix (OMP) s’est profondément transformé depuis la fin de la Guerre froide. En effet, elle intervient de plus en plus fréquemment dans des guerres civiles ou intra-étatiques, particulièrement lorsque les autorités en place ne sont plus en mesure d’assurer la sécurité de la population. Par ailleurs, le rôle des militaires ne se limite plus à la fonction traditionnelle de combattants. Ils doivent maintenant assumer des tâches qui visent beaucoup plus le développement de relations avec la population civile dont la coopération est un élément essentiel à la réussite de ce type d’intervention. L’objectif de ce mémoire est d’analyser l’opinion de la population civile de la région de Bihać par rapport à l’intervention des militaires dans le cadre de l’OMP en Bosnie-Herzégovine. L’historique du conflit dans cette région, l’état des connaissances sur les sources d’insatisfaction de la population par rapport au déroulement des OMP en général, ainsi que des entrevues avec des informateurs-clés nous permettent d’identifier deux problématiques distinctes, soit : (1) l’écart important entre les attentes et les besoins de la population et le mandat confié par l’ONU; et (2) la dichotomie entre la formation de base des militaires et ce qui est attendu d’eux dans le cadre de ces interventions. / The role of the international military community in the peacekeeping operations (PKOs) has been transformed dramatically since the end of the Cold War. Indeed, the community is called to intervene more and more frequently in civil wars, especially when local authorities in the country are no longer able to guarantee citizens’ safety. Furthermore, the role of the military is no longer limited to traditional combat. It must now undertake tasks aimed at developing a relationship with the civilian population whose cooperation is essential for the success of this type of intervention. The goal of this thesis is to examine the opinions of the civilian population from the Bihać area with respect to the military intervention as part of the PKO in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The history of the conflict, the state of knowledge about the sources of dissatisfaction of the population during PKOs, and interviews with expert witnesses enable us to identify two distinct issues: (1) the large gap between the expectations and the needs of civilians and the mandate given by UN, and (2) the insufficient training of militaries as regards what is expected from them during these operations.

Text in English / The destructive nature of conventional analytical techniques, coupled with the finite nature of ancient/historical artefacts, has long restricted technical examinations of museum collections, mainly due to ethical constraints. However, over the past few decades, the application of Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques has become increasingly popular within the fields of archaeology and cultural heritage diagnostics. The application of such techniques has facilitated the examination of objects that have long remained uninvestigated. However, this positive development also held a slight drawback, in that researchers tend to now focus on technical analyses alone, while excluding more traditional means of analyses, such as comparative stylistic analysis and surface investigation. By employing a combination of stylistic analysis, visual surface investigation (by means of SLR photography and digital microscopy) and nuclear imaging (by means of Microfocus X-Ray Computed Tomography), the thesis sets out to justify the application of mixed methodologies as part of a more holistic integrated authentication approach. Thus stated, the thesis presents a mixed-methodological approach towards the analysis of selected metal objects from the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History in Pretoria, South Africa. The objects under investigation include a small collection of ancient Egyptian bronze statuettes, a Samurai helmet (kabuto) and mask (menpó), a European gauntlet, and an Arabian dagger (jambiya/khanjar). While all the objects are curated as part of the museum‘s archaeology and military history collections, the exact production dates, manufacturing techniques and areas of origin remain a mystery. By using a combination of techniques, the thesis aims to identify diagnostic features that can be used to shed light on their relative age, culturo-chronological framework and, by extension, their authenticity. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Litt. et Phil.(Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

For everyday cycling, one needs to carry rainproof clothing just for the case of unexpected downpours. In the present research, we present a concept for a helmet which is automatically rainproof when the rain starts. When the sun comes out, the helmet is breathable again even before it completely dries up. This functionality is provided by active hydrogel meshes. Hydrogel meshes offer great advantages due to their ability to change the aperture size with swelling and deswelling. In our current work, we present the design and modeling steps for hydrogel-layered active meshes which use (i) swelling and deswelling in hydrated state and (ii) swelling starting from the dry state. The main goal is to close the air openings of a bicycle helmet when rain starts as an automatic rainproofing. This can be achieved through the swelling of the hydrogel pNiPAAM-co-chlorophyllin in the meshes, which leads to closing when hydrated. At the same time, the light-sensitive behavior leads to opening of the apertures under direct sun exposure, i.e. when the sun appears again after the rain. We present the steps of modeling and design using the Normalized Extended Temperature-Expansion-Model (NETEM) to perform simulations in Abaqus. The model is capable of describing both the swelling of the hydrogel under light stimulus and the volume change due to hydration. It is based on the analogy between free swelling and thermal expansion and defined for nonlinear displacements. We also discuss the fabrication process of hydrogel-layered fibers and challenges in their application and simulation. As a proof of concept for hydrogel-layered meshes, we show preliminary experimental results of a poly(acrylamide)/poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PAAm/PAMPS) hydrogel with semi-interpenetrated network (SIPN) structure and its swelling capacities on a mesh. Starting from the active hydrogel meshes as presented in the current work, the next step can be smart textiles that harness the power of hydrogels: the adaptation to combinations of stimuli - like humidity, temperature and brightness - that define environments.

Le continent africain est aujourd’hui le théâtre de nombreux conflits caractérisés par une distribution inégale des « ressources naturelles ». Il est aujourd’hui avéré que les risques environnementaux tels que la pollution, les changements climatiques, ou la désertification font peser une menace supplémentaire sur les populations et les écosystèmes afférents. Le débat sur la « sécurité environnementale » a connu une expansion fulgurante en l'espace d'une vingtaine d'années, d'où tout notre intérêt de comprendre ses origines, ses fondements et les différents discours s’étant construits autour de cette notion. Pour autant le concept de « conflits verts » n’a jamais été analysé en profondeur en tenant compte des nombreux exemples touchant le continent africain, et ceci à la lumière de la constitution d’une nouvelle typologie afin de capturer ces nouveaux conflits contemporains d’une manière davantage efficiente.Notre recherche se donne ainsi pour objectif de comprendre en quoi et comment l’ « environnement » et les « ressources naturelles » comme nouveaux facteurs de puissance ont influé les conflits africains aux cours des dernières décennies. Nous aurons à cœur de mettre en lumière l’évolution du concept traditionnel de « sécurité » sur la base des discours changeants parmi les milieux politiques du XXe siècle. Enfin ceci impliquera par essence des discussions tenant à une amélioration de l’efficacité des mécanismes de prévention et de résolution tels qu’appréhendés aujourd’hui par la Communauté internationale, la création des « casques verts » et la notion de « crime environnemental » démontrant les limites en la matière. / Today the African continent is the heart of many conflicts characterized by an uneven distribution of “natural resources”. It is proven that the associated environmental risks such as pollution, climate change, and desertification pose an additional threat to the affected populations and ecosystems. The debate on “environmental security” has expanded tremendously in the space of twenty years, and our interest is thus to try to understand its origins, foundations and the various discourses built around this concept. The notion of “green conflicts” has never been thoroughly analyzed taking into account the many examples affecting the African continent, nor has this been done in the light of the construction of a new typology aimed at capturing these new contemporary conflicts in a more efficient manner. Thus our research aims to give an understanding of how “environment” and “natural resources” have become new factors of power that have influenced African armed conflicts in the recent decades. We wish to highlight the evolution of the traditional concept of security to one of “environmental security” based on the changing discourse among politicians of the 20th century. We will then naturally turn to discussions concerning the improvement of prevention effectiveness methods and the resolution of these new conflicts as faced by the international community, as well the creation of a “green helmets” force and the notion of “environmental crime”, both demonstrating the limitations we are still confronted to on this topic.