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No / Five fragments of Late Neolithic clay zoomorphic vessels from northern Greece have been analysed for organic residues by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry. The results showed that the containers had been used in connection with a number of substances, in particular lower terpenoids, an oil or fat, possibly fossil fuel and in one case possibly beeswax. The paper considers likely interpretations of such combinations of materials in relation to possible functions of these symbolically enhanced artefacts. It appears that substances may have been used in the vessels because of their aromatic and/or medicinal and combustible properties, possibly in order to produce light, fragrance and/or smoke.

This dissertation examines the origin, purpose, and function of the Athenian ephebeia during the Lycurgan period (334/3-322/1 B.C.). The ephebeia, a compulsory two-year long state-funded and organized program of military service for eighteen and nineteen year old citizens called ephebes, did not exist as a formal institution prior to 334/3 B.C., the date of the earliest known ephebic inscriptions. Instead, the demos probably created the ephebeia after Alexander’s destruction of Thebes in September 335 B.C. because they needed a standing army to defend Attica against Boeotian raiders. The ephebeia, then, was not a Lycurgan reform of a long-standing institution but founded de novo for a specific military purpose. This explains many hitherto misunderstood aspects of the ephebeia’s organization, officials, and military activities. Having entrusted the defense of Athens to the youngest and most immature citizens with no combat experience, the demos turned them into a capable fighting force by subjecting them to unusually strict discipline and by establishing a program of military training under specialized instructors. The demos also encouraged reluctant ephebes to serve by appealing to their love of honor (philotimia) and rewarded them with many honors at the end of their garrison duty. In addition to its military activities, the ephebeia played an important role in the civic and moral paideia of the ephebes because they were unable to gain the educational benefits from Athens’ democratic institutions. The ephebeia, by instilling moderation, piety, and patriotic fervor in the ephebes, sought to make them virtuous citizens both dedicated to preserving the democracy and deeply motivated to freeing Athens from Macedonian domination. This devotion to the state explains why the institution was abolished by the pro-Macedonian oligarchy (321/0-319/8 B.C.) established after Athens’ defeat in the Lamian War in 322 B.C. / text

Cette thèse étudie le système énergétique de 4 États : L’Albanie, le Kosovo, la Macédoine, la Serbie, appartenant aux Balkans occidentaux. Ils possèdent peu de ressources, les infrastructures restent souvent anciennes. Mais, avec l’instauration des grands projets gaziers internationaux, cet espace deviendra une zone transitaire essentielle, entre les pays producteurs gaziers (Asie centrale, la Russie, la Méditerranée orientale et le Moyen-Orient) et l’Europe occidentale. Les rapports de force y règnent pourtant. Ils sont liés à la sécurité énergétique et aux affrontements passés ou récents, mal stabilisés. La confrontation géoéconomique l’emporte sur la coopération technique. Des acteurs extérieurs, d’abord la Russie et l’Union européenne, mais aussi la Chine, la Turquie et les États-Unis, interviennent. L’énergie est un enjeu régional et mondial ; il renvoie au registre de la puissance. / This thesis studies the energy sectors of 4 countries part of the Western Balkans: Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. These countries are relatively poor in energy resources and their energy infrastructure is outdated and in dire need of modernization. However, in view of the colossal natural gas projects between Western Europe and gas-rich countries in the east, this area is emerging as an important transit area between the Russian Federation, former Soviet Union countries and eventually other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. This reflects the evolving balance of power in the Western Balkans, which is shaped by their quest for energy security and the heritage of previous unresolved conflicts. As a result, geoeconomic competition trumps over cooperation. Moreover, external powers, first and foremost, the European Union and Russia, but also Turkey, the United States and China, intervene to safeguard their interests. Hence, energy is a crucial regional and world issue; and an important factor of power.

Ce travail aborde les rites et les monuments funéraires grecs au travers de toutes les sources iconographiques et écrites les plus pertinentes pour ce faire (vases, stèles, peintures, lois, épigrammes, littérature, etc.), datées avant tout des périodes classique et hellénistique. L’intérêt est de respecter le fonctionnement distinct de ces sources, pour ne pas que l’une constitue le faire-valoir ou la simple illustration de l’autre, et de dégager tous leurs apports. S’il s’agit avant tout d’un travail d’Histoire de l’art, fondé sur les sources qui servent notre propos, des exemples archéologiques supplémentaires émaillent également cette étude, de sorte à renforcer celle-ci, mais également à donner une meilleure vision au lecteur. Basée sur un système comparatif également, cette étude prend en compte la zone du monde grec antique répartie entre la Grèce propre, Macédoine comprise, l’Asie Mineure et, dans une moindre mesure, l’Italie du Sud. La thèse se divise en trois parties. La première se concentre avant tout sur les rites, du point de vue des vivants qui les pratiquent. La deuxième est orientée davantage sur la figure du défunt lui-même, ainsi que sur le monument qui marque sa sépulture. Enfin, la dernière partie consiste en une analyse des sources utilisées, de sorte à dégager leurs catégories d’apports et à voir si une certaine vision de la mort les sous-tend. / The present work deals with the Greek funerary rites and monuments via the most relevant iconographic and written sources (vases, stelai, paintings, laws, epigrams, literature, etc.) dating back to the Classical and Hellenistic times. The interest here is to abide by the specific mode of functioning of each source so that one source should not be perceived merely as the sparring-partner of another, and so as to be able to fully appreciate whatever they are bound to convey. Even though we are first and foremost dealing with Art History, relying on the sources that are most likely to serve our purpose, the present essay is also strewn with additional archaeological examples purporting to reinforce its central thesis; it is intent also on presenting the reader with as accurate a vision as possible. Based on a comparative system, the present essay takes into account the area of the Greek world comprising Greece proper, including Macedonia, Asia Minor, and, to a lesser extent, Southern Italy. It divides into three main parts. The first part focuses above all on rites from the standpoint of the living people who perform them. The second part deals more specifically with the figure of the deceased as such, as well as with the monument marking his/her burial-place. The third part consists of an analysis of the sources so as to point out their categories of contributions while examining whether they might or might not be subsumed by a specific vision of death.

This thesis reports on the slate of the environment(SoE) in Macedonia. Using available data from the specialiied institutions and environmental experts, it shows an accurate picture of the situation with environmental protection in the country. The media addressed include air, water, soil and forests. Also, the social sphere of the environmental Protection is discussed through the review of the natural protection, public participation and the media. <br />The focus of the thesis is on solid waste management. An assessment of the current situation in solid waste management in Macedonia is pesented together with its major components: waste stream composition, collection, transportation, recyclingj, reusing and disposal.<br />Identifying landlilling as the most feasible waste dispoI option, an attempt is made to improve the current solid waste management policy. Supranational policy initiatives as at the EU level contribute to a gradual shift from smaller, uncontrolled landfills, with larger unmonitored environmental and larger quality effects and costs, to larger, generally regional systems with pollution control features, These “modern” landfills are carefully sited, and access and dumping are controlled and monitored. <br />In the light of this, several suggestions are made for improvement of the solid waste management, and for gradual shifting towards integrated solid waste management.

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Notwithstanding a broad range of internal and external stresses, Macedonia was the only republic to attain its independence peacefully from the otherwise violent disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Subject of a timely and sustained international response, it was feted as a rare preventive success for the international community. Whilst not necessarily decisive, this mobilisation helped ensure a non-violent transition to independence. Yet, much to the surprise of outside observers, Macedonia would fall into conflict a decade after independence, when self-styled freedom fighters purporting to represent the local Albanian community launched an eight-month insurgency in the name of political and cultural equality. Triggered by a coalescence of political, nationalist, ideological and criminal interests, the insurgency had complex roots, as much an intra-Albanian putsch as a struggle for greater group rights. Regardless of their precise genesis, from the perspective of conflict prevention, the events of 2001 challenge popular assumptions of Macedonia as an international success story. Above all, they reinforce the need for external actors to incorporate short-term strategies of prevention targeting immediate sources of instability within a more comprehensive, long-term framework that addresses structural, underlying conflict causes. Indeed, whilst proximate threats to Macedonian stability were addressed, fundamental risk factors remained, namely social polarisation, a large ethnic minority disenfranchised with the state, economic under-development, high levels of organised crime and corruption, a weak rule-of-law and continuing regional uncertainty. These were partly aggravated by the mistakes of a complacent international community, whose engagement in the country, accordingly, receded over time. In particular, the dissertation is critical of the European Union for its initial failure to articulate a genuine pathway to membership for Macedonia and the broader western Balkans, as well as the handling of NATO's military intervention in neighbouring Kosovo. Of course, in any preventive endeavour, the international community can only do so much; in the first instance, responsibility lay with unresponsive Macedonian institutions, who failed to adequately address legitime Albanian demands dating from independence. Be that as it may, the international community was culpable for its failure to sufficiently apply the formidable soft-power leverage it wields over a weak Macedonian state to implement reforms that, conceivably, could have precluded the outbreak of armed conflict. As a case-study of prevention, Macedonia holds instructive lessons for scholars and policymakers. Yet it remains under-researched. Examining the period 1991-2001, this investigation analyses precisely why and how Macedonia avoided violence during the process of Yugoslav dissolution yet ultimately fell into conflict, and extrapolates broader lessons that may be applied to other at-risk societies. Its purpose is to advance understanding of a poorly understood country, and contribute knowledge to key on-going international security debates. Highlighting the inter-connectedness and trans-national character of contemporary security threats, it posits that the major powers have a practical interest in addressing emerging intra-state crises, even when the putative national interest appears marginal. To facilitate more timely multilateral responses, it calls for the de-nationalisation of security, and its conceptualisation in international - as opposed to strictly national - terms.