China and Turkey, located in eastern and western Eurasian continent repectively, took place joint air force exercise in September, 2010. This is the first time for China to hold joint air force exercise with the members of NATO. It seemed like a sign of intensive foreign relations between China and Turkey, and it led to the great concerns and dissatisfactions with United State. During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao¡¦s official visit to Turkey on October 8th, China and Turkey issued a joint declaration on the establishment and development of a strategic relationship of cooperation, further upgrading the level of bilateral relations. It is important to find out the developments and changes of Chinese-Turkish relations. Chinese-Turkish relations have gone through the Cold War and the Post-Cold War eras. In the Post-Cold War era, the shape of international system changed into the ¡§One Super Power with Multiple Powers¡¨ which differs from the ¡§ Bipolar System¡¨ in the Cold War era, which has a profound impact on the development of international relations. This thesis, based on the theory of Neo-realism, focuses on the development of bilateral relations between China and Turkey, especially the interactions between politics and economics, under the change of international system and constraint of international structure. The bilateral relations feature the following attributes. Politically, even though there are ¡§Eastern Turkistan¡¨ questions between China and Turkey, the bilateral political relations have been strengthened since Cold war era from being hostile to each other to establish and develop relationships of the strategic cooperation. Economically, China and Turkey are involved in serious trade deficit problems and competitions.

The &ldquo / German Question&rdquo / was on the agenda of the international community from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Following the end of the World War II, due to the existence of a Soviet threat, the incorporation of West Germany into the liberal-democratic institutions of the western world was the principal issue to be dealt with. Following the reunification of Germany and the end of the bipolar international structure, the &ldquo / German Question&rdquo / was revisited. The German insistence on the early recognition of Croatia and Slovenia and German participation in the Kosovo War brought questions whether Germany has become more assertive and on the way to return to the power politics. This dissertation will analyze German foreign and security policy in the post-Cold War era in order to understand whether Germany has shifted from its civilian and multilateral orientation or has made small adjustments in its policies to adapt to the new international structure. In approaching the issue, the study attempts to link the theoretical and practical aspects under the guidance of a conceptual framework provided by realist, neorealist and constructivist approaches. Through contextualizing the coexistence of realist, neorealist and constructivist factors in German foreign and security policy, the dissertation argues that although Germany has made some small policy adjustments to adapt to the new international structure, German foreign and security policy has not shifted from its civilian and multilateral orientation.

O objetivo primeiro deste trabalho é discutir o posicionamento do Brasil sobre a região do Oriente Médio no Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas durante os biênios 1993-1994, 1998-1999 e 2004-2005, nos quais o Brasil ocupou uma vaga como membro não permanente no órgão. O argumento central é o de que as transformações estruturais no sistema internacional ocorridas a partir da década de 1990 representaram os fatores primeiros para o relativo distanciamento da diplomacia brasileira em relação aos temas envolvendo o Oriente Médio. Com o fim da Guerra Fria, os Estados Unidos intensificaram sua influência sobre essa região. Ademais, a convergência entre os membros do Conselho de Segurança aumentou consideravelmente a partir dos anos de 1990. A política externa brasileira, por sua vez, sofreu uma reorientação paradigmática nesse mesmo período. Em 2004 e 2005, por outro lado, as posições assumidas pelo Governo Lula (2003-2010) no Conselho de Segurança revelariam uma nova interpretação da ordem pós-bipolaridade, ocasionada por eventos como o 11 de Setembro e a resposta estadunidense ao terrorismo internacional. / The main objective of this research is to discuss Brazil’s position regarding the Middle East region in the United Nations Security Council during the years of 1993-1994, 1998-1999 and 2004-2005, in which Brazil occupied a non-permanent seat. The central argument is that the transformations in international structure which occurred since the 1990’s represented the key factor for the relative disengagement of Brazilian diplomacy from subjects involving the Middle East. After the end of the Cold War, the United States intensified its influence over the region. Besides, convergence among the members of the UN Security Council increased since the years of 1990’s. Brazilian foreign policy, in its turn, suffered a paradigmatic reorientation during the same period. In 2004 and 2005, however, the positions assumed by the Lula da Silva Administration (2003-2010) in the Security Council revealed a new interpretation of the post-bipolarity order, triggered by events such as September 11 and US response to international terrorism.

O objetivo primeiro deste trabalho é discutir o posicionamento do Brasil sobre a região do Oriente Médio no Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas durante os biênios 1993-1994, 1998-1999 e 2004-2005, nos quais o Brasil ocupou uma vaga como membro não permanente no órgão. O argumento central é o de que as transformações estruturais no sistema internacional ocorridas a partir da década de 1990 representaram os fatores primeiros para o relativo distanciamento da diplomacia brasileira em relação aos temas envolvendo o Oriente Médio. Com o fim da Guerra Fria, os Estados Unidos intensificaram sua influência sobre essa região. Ademais, a convergência entre os membros do Conselho de Segurança aumentou consideravelmente a partir dos anos de 1990. A política externa brasileira, por sua vez, sofreu uma reorientação paradigmática nesse mesmo período. Em 2004 e 2005, por outro lado, as posições assumidas pelo Governo Lula (2003-2010) no Conselho de Segurança revelariam uma nova interpretação da ordem pós-bipolaridade, ocasionada por eventos como o 11 de Setembro e a resposta estadunidense ao terrorismo internacional. / The main objective of this research is to discuss Brazil’s position regarding the Middle East region in the United Nations Security Council during the years of 1993-1994, 1998-1999 and 2004-2005, in which Brazil occupied a non-permanent seat. The central argument is that the transformations in international structure which occurred since the 1990’s represented the key factor for the relative disengagement of Brazilian diplomacy from subjects involving the Middle East. After the end of the Cold War, the United States intensified its influence over the region. Besides, convergence among the members of the UN Security Council increased since the years of 1990’s. Brazilian foreign policy, in its turn, suffered a paradigmatic reorientation during the same period. In 2004 and 2005, however, the positions assumed by the Lula da Silva Administration (2003-2010) in the Security Council revealed a new interpretation of the post-bipolarity order, triggered by events such as September 11 and US response to international terrorism.

O objetivo primeiro deste trabalho é discutir o posicionamento do Brasil sobre a região do Oriente Médio no Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas durante os biênios 1993-1994, 1998-1999 e 2004-2005, nos quais o Brasil ocupou uma vaga como membro não permanente no órgão. O argumento central é o de que as transformações estruturais no sistema internacional ocorridas a partir da década de 1990 representaram os fatores primeiros para o relativo distanciamento da diplomacia brasileira em relação aos temas envolvendo o Oriente Médio. Com o fim da Guerra Fria, os Estados Unidos intensificaram sua influência sobre essa região. Ademais, a convergência entre os membros do Conselho de Segurança aumentou consideravelmente a partir dos anos de 1990. A política externa brasileira, por sua vez, sofreu uma reorientação paradigmática nesse mesmo período. Em 2004 e 2005, por outro lado, as posições assumidas pelo Governo Lula (2003-2010) no Conselho de Segurança revelariam uma nova interpretação da ordem pós-bipolaridade, ocasionada por eventos como o 11 de Setembro e a resposta estadunidense ao terrorismo internacional. / The main objective of this research is to discuss Brazil’s position regarding the Middle East region in the United Nations Security Council during the years of 1993-1994, 1998-1999 and 2004-2005, in which Brazil occupied a non-permanent seat. The central argument is that the transformations in international structure which occurred since the 1990’s represented the key factor for the relative disengagement of Brazilian diplomacy from subjects involving the Middle East. After the end of the Cold War, the United States intensified its influence over the region. Besides, convergence among the members of the UN Security Council increased since the years of 1990’s. Brazilian foreign policy, in its turn, suffered a paradigmatic reorientation during the same period. In 2004 and 2005, however, the positions assumed by the Lula da Silva Administration (2003-2010) in the Security Council revealed a new interpretation of the post-bipolarity order, triggered by events such as September 11 and US response to international terrorism.