Master of Arts / Department of English / Gregory J. Eiselein / In her collection of poems The War Works Hard (2005), Iraqi-American poet Dunya Mikhail presents her readers with unembellished insight into the Iraqi war from a woman's perspective. This perspective is rarely voiced in Iraqi war literature which is dominated by male writers concerned with men's heroism at the battle front and boundless patriotism. At the same time, these male authors rarely depict Iraqi women's experiences of war beyond the battle grounds. Even when women are present in such literature, they often share their men's point of view on war and voice only their acceptance of it. Mikhail, however, contemplates a counter narrative to this stereotypical female role by presenting women who protest war and the destruction it causes. Her poems portray mothers, lovers, sisters and daughters who protest war's brutality and injustice. Some of the women in Mikhail's poems protest war by directly or indirectly criticizing its institutions and condemning the leaders who promote it. While other women in her work find that their protest lies in their de-fragmentation of the destruction and loss caused by war, thus refusing its power over them and their loved ones. Yet, the most important form of women's protest of war in Mikhail's work is recollection. Through the recollection of their fragmented memories and lives, Mikhail's women manage to survive and find a spark of optimism in the darkness that war has unleashed. Their survival and their ability to re-establish their lives apart from war and the presence of men constitutes a powerful and dramatic protest of war's control over their lives.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / During Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the U.S. Department of Defense instituted a program to attach civilian journalists to coalition military units. Their purpose was to report firsthand on the military campaign to topple Saddam Hussein. These "embedded journalists," as they were called, would travel, eat, sleep, and endure the same hardships and dangers of the soldiers and Marines they were accompanying. While their immediate and highly dramatic accounts offered a perspective not before seen by the news-hungry U.S. public, they also raised questions if the "embedding" process resulted in a more thematically narrow coverage of the war. This study addresses the newspaper coverage of OIF by examining the content of the embedded and non-embedded war reporting of various highly circulating U.S. newspapers. It is posited that being attached or embedded within U.S. military units resulted in the journalists producing a body of stories concerning military operations and personnel markedly different than nonembedded reporters during OIF. / Major, United States Marine Corps

Depuis 2003, la nouvelle donne politique au Kurdistan irakien a engendré des évolutions sans précédent au niveau régional. L’autonomie grandissante du Kurdistan irakien a fait émerger, dans un Moyen-Orient toujours aussi instable, de nouvelles dynamiques et enjeux géopolitiques. Les pays de la région, et en particulier la Turquie, attachent une grande importance aux relations bilatérales qu’ils entretiennent avec cet Etat embryonnaire. Suite à l'intervention militaire de la coalition américano-britannique en Irak, l'Etat turc a dû redéfinir sa politique étrangère dans la région du Moyen-Orient. Afin de contribuer à l'élaboration d'une analyse critique, nous développerons notre réflexion en deux grands axes. Dans un premier temps, nous analyserons avec une approche historique, les relations bilatérales entre la Turquie et le Kurdistan irakien, afin que nous puissions resituer au mieux les évolutions qui sont en train de se produire actuellement dans la région. Puis, dans un second temps, nous veillerons à apporter une réflexion approfondie sur la question des échanges économiques entre ces deux parties. Nous examinerons les investissements des entreprises turques qui sont faits dans le marché kurde, pour que nous puissions évaluer concrètement le potentiel économique de celles-ci au niveau régional. Dans notre étude, l'analyse de la dimension historique et celle de l'approche économique, nous permettront de mieux comprendre les évolutions et les enjeux qui émanent de cette région. / Since 2003, the new political situation in Iraqi Kurdistan has led to unprecedented developments at the regional level. The growing autonomy of Iraqi Kurdistan has given birth to new dynamics and geopolitical issues in a currently unstable Middle East. The countries of the region, particularly Turkey, attach great importance to bilateral relations with this embryonic state. Following the military intervention led by the coalition of USA and Great Britain in Iraq, the Turkish state has had to redefine its foreign policy in the Middle East. In order to contribute to the development of critical analysis, we develop our thesis in two main areas. Firstly, in order to better situate the developments currently taking place in the region, we analyze the bilateral relations between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan with a historical approach. Secondly, we deal with in detail the question of economic exchanges between the two parties. In order to evaluate effectively the economic potential of Turkish companies at the regional level, we will analyze their investments in the Kurdish market. In our study, the analysis of the historical dimension and the economic approach will allow us to better understand the changes and challenges in the region.

Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) created multiple challenges for the mental health of soldiers who served there. The local facility in this study determined there was a gap in providing OEF/OIF veterans assistance with mental health issues. The practice-focused question explored whether a training module for nurses would assist in the identification of signs and symptoms of mental health issues in OEF/OIF veterans, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, addictions, and suicidal/homicidal ideations, to help ensure timely referral for services. The project used Kolcaba's comfort theory as the basis for the training module. A pretest, training module, and posttest were created and administered to the expert panel. Results showed the training module contained information to assist nurses in identifying the signs and symptoms of mental health issues as well as educated the nurses on various interventions that were available for the veterans. It was determined by the expert panel that the training module should be implemented to assist in decreasing the gap in care for OEF/OIF veterans. This training module might support positive social change by empowering nurses to assist veterans with coping skills overcome mental health issues and lead positive and productive lives.

Failure of emergency response personnel to communicate effectively with different cultures can have dire consequences during an emergency, including loss of lives and litigation costs. For emergency response personnel to communicate the risk of an emergency, it is important to understand how different groups, especially newly arrived foreign immigrants, perceive warnings and related messages. This study addressed how one of the largest category of immigrants in Michigan perceived severe tornados, influenza pandemics, power outages, severe floods, and snowstorms. The research question examined the degree to which the equation, Risk = Hazard + Outrage, explained perceptions of these hazards in Michigan among newly arrived Iraqi immigrants. A concurrent mixed-method design was used. In-person interviews were conducted using quantitative and qualitative questions based on the equation and the PEN 3 model with 84 immigrants from Iraq who lived in the United States 4 years or less. Respondents' levels of outrage and hazard were compared using ANOVA. The calculated levels were compared with the qualitative comments made during the interviews. Snowstorms measured the highest outrage, and power outages measured the least. The reported awareness level was lowest for snowstorms with the highest being power outages. More information needs to reach Iraqi immigrants regarding unfamiliar hazards. Communicators should use Iraqi immigrants' experience with familiar hazards to identify effective ways of responding to this population. The results of this study may promote social change of more effective communication and saving lives in the future should an emergency occur in Michigan that affects Iraqi immigrants.

<p>The aim of this political scientist paper is to describe and analyze the quasi state Iraqi Kurdistan 1992-2006 using the theory of Kolstö about how and why quasi states develops and the theory of Pegg regarding how the international society deal with quasi states. A qualitative case method is used. In the study the two theories are combined. Iraqi Kurdistan is used as a case to study to confirm Kolstö’s and Pegg’s theories. It’s an interesting case as it’s included in one of the most sensitive geo political areas in the world. The Kuwait war 1990 and the Second Gulf war 1991 were the incentive to Iraqi Kurdistan as a quasi state and the US invasion of Iraq 2003 was the incentive to the end of it. In conclusion the case verify the theories and the theories promote the understanding of Iraqi Kurdistan’s period as a quasi state. The goal of the quasi state Iraqi Kurdistan was to become a federal state in a federal Iraq and it succeeded.</p>

La caduta di Baghdad per mano delle forze della Coalizione nell’aprile del 2003 ha segnato un momento di cesura fortissima nella storia della moderna sintesi statuale irachena, ponendo le basi per la creazione di un “nuovo Iraq” federale, unito e democratico, chiamato a risorgere dalle ceneri di una tra le più sanguinarie dittature della storia, per dar vita ad un nuovo ordine in grado di divenire un punto di riferimento per l’intero scenario regionale. A distanza di pochi anni, però, lo iato esistente tra l’Iraq “immaginato” dai sostenitori dell’operazione Iraqi Freedom e quello emerso dopo anni di fortissima instabilità interna si è palesato in tutta la sua eccezionale profondità, mettendo in dubbio le capacità di sopravvivenza stesse dello stato iracheno e la sua coerenza intrinseca. Il presente progetto di ricerca si pone l’obiettivo di contribuire al dibattito sviluppatosi negli ultimi anni attraverso l’adozione di un approccio storico-politico volto a prendere in esame le linee di continuità e discontinuità palesatesi lungo tutto il corso della storia della moderna sintesi statuale irachena. / The fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003 has represented an exceptional turning point in the history of the modern Iraqi State. The creation of a federal, united and democratic Iraq should have marked the beginning of a new era for the Iraqi people as well as for the whole region. A few years later, widespread violence and continuous political instability seemed to have swept away the above-mentioned scenario, sparking serious doubts about the very survivability of the Iraqi state, as well as its coherence. This thesis aims to contribute to the ongoing debate adopting an historical-political approach in order to delineate the continuities and discontinuities emerged during the modern history of Iraq and to match them with the current situation on the ground.

The main purpose of my essay is to inquire into the situation in the preparatory classes. The focus of interest in the essay is to see how new arrived pupils/children from Iraq integrate in the new school environment, foreign culture and what difficulties they come across during their period at the preparatory class. Such as language difficulties and how they manage with the traumatic memories from the war and the effect of that in their learning. I choose to do a qualitative survey and taking part in observing a preparatory class to see how they work. Thereafter, to see from a different perspective and understand the pupils more and perhaps go deeper with some questions I choose to interview some of the pupils. The responds I received gave me a more comprehensible idea of the struggle these children have been through and still go through in a daily basis. The result of this study illustrates the character of a preparatory class, and the central factors that occur in their education. The result have shown that an intercultural work procedure at the schools gives the pupils in the preparatory classes a chance to integrate in the new multicultural environment. The intercultural way of working is necessary for their language development, other pupils and teachers understanding of their situation and the work up of their traumatic experiences.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the role of the religion and language, Islam Kurdish, in the process of Kurdish identity formation in Northern Iraq and to find out the most imperative factor/s in the existing identification of Kurdish identity by relying on the field research conducted in Erbil. The current discussions in the literature generally either emphasized the role of religion by focusing on the tariqat relations, and/or the role of feudal structure of the Kurdish society by focusing on the tribal relations, and/or the role of the culture by specifically focusing on the language as way of identification. In this study, the results of the field research conducted in Erbil are being compared to the arguments in the existing literature that explain the Kurdish identity in relation to the religion and the language. The study aims to discuss whether there is a shift from the religion, which had a significant role in history regarding the Kurdish identification, to the language, as a marker of modern Kurdish identity formation in Erbil. The research that conducted for this thesis has indicated that while the role of religion lost its historical role, the Kurdish language became the indicator of the identity of the Kurds in Erbil. In addition, this study will examine, in historical context, how the Kurdish language became the core issue of the Kurdish identity. The findings of the field research have been analyzed by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software program.

This thesis analyzes the integration process of Iraqi Turkomans living in Ankara and how social networks effect these processes. The reasons of their migration from Iraq after 1980s and the migration process are also discussed in order to clarify their level of integration in Turkey. The research for this thesis is based on the analysis of questionnaires and in-depth interviews that were done with the members of Iraqi Turks Culture and Assistance Association and who have close relations with it. It was thought that strong networks among family members and friends would be a facilitating factor for their integration to different aspects of social life such as housing and labour market, social security and health system, education system in Turkey. It is found that besides social networks / cultural and linguistic similarities of Turkomans plays an important role for their integration process. More importantly, acquiring Turkish citizenship is a crucial factor to participate to social life and makes integration easier.