北韓問題是二十世紀延續至今卻始終未能解決的複雜議題，這是因為牽涉的因素眾多：南北韓、周邊國家以及國際的考量使「維持現狀」與「模糊」政策成為處理北韓問題可以接受的模式。但事實上，吾人必須認知到在此議題上，最重要的主角仍是北韓與美國，但顯然雙方各有盤算而不能或不願直接解決。因此本文旨在探討2001至2011年美國對北韓之政策，且嘗試在現今相關領域的多數美國立場中，盡可能尋求以相對公允、同理心的角度分析問題，而非美國觀點的一言堂。本文以法國戰略學家薄富爾(André Beaufre)之「行動戰略」(Strategy of Action) 理論作為研究途徑，輔以大量相關數據資料及專著，用意在於平衡地討論美國戰略並批判其中好壞。 本文認為，小布希與歐巴馬政府對北韓政策目標一致，但戰略有所不同。受制於北韓核報復攻擊、中東戰事、經濟與他國因素，美國難以動武直取北韓，因此必須從軍事外的選項著手。筆者從軍事、政治、經濟與外交面向，以政治診斷(political diagnosis)及戰略診斷(strategic diagnosis)探討兩屆政府對北韓之行動方案。小布希和歐巴馬政府在戰略應用上符合薄富爾的觀點，但在架構面上卻有缺失，最終由於無法促使中國相助，以及自身立場的謬誤，導致兩屆政府北韓政策之失誤。 / The North Korea issue remains unresolved, and the only acceptable options for the neighbor countries are the status quo policy and the policy of deliberate ambiguity. However, it has to be acknowledged that the most important roles are North Korea and the U.S., and it is obvious they have different plans in their minds. The main idea of this thesis is to study the U.S. Policy toward North Korea (2001-2011), and present unbiased points of view instead of only the U.S. aspect. This thesis uses the Strategy of Action of André Beaufre, a French Strategist, as the research method, to analyze data and studies to fairly find out the pros and cons of the U.S. Policy toward North Korea. This thesis shows that the George W. Bush administration and the Obama administration share the same goals but different strategies toward North Korea. The U.S. have difficulty in using military action since it tries to avoid North Korea taking nuclear retaliation, and the war in the middle east and the sinking economy also limit the ability of the U.S. government. This thesis analyzes the U.S. policy toward North Korea from the aspects of military power, politics, economy and diplomacy, and it uses political diagnosis and strategic diagnosis as the approaches to examine the action plans of both Bush and Obama administrations. The research shows that the actions plans match the point of view of André Beaufre strategically, but the flaws of the plan structure, the failure to have China take a stance against North Korea and the illogicalness of the government position finally led the U.S. policy toward North Korea to a frustrated end.

‘Celebrity’ has become a growing field of critical inquiry and cultural interest in twenty-first century society. Celebrities embody a host of meanings and engender larger ideological and discursive practices, in which they articulate expressions of social, cultural and political power that attach meaning to public individuals. Beginning with the late-twentieth century, celebrities have come to occupy spaces that exist beyond popular culture platforms, most notably in politics and international diplomacy. In spite of its typical association with superficial discussions of gossip and cheap entertainment, celebrities have become the site of anxiety in a capitalist society. To come to terms with these growing anxieties concerning celebrity and its accoutrements, this thesis explores the embedded complexities and consequences of the celebrity system within the framework of what has dubiously been called ‘celebrity politics.’ Through a detailed examination of this phenomenon, this thesis explores the coalescing spheres of Hollywood and the White House, where ‘celebrity’ and ‘politician’ have become interchangeable monikers. In addition to examining the historical conditions that have given rise to the phenomenon, this study examines contemporary articulations of the ‘celebrity politician,’ focusing on Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn and President Barack Obama. Discussion of these figures is framed by critical theory and media studies to better understand their location within the contemporary Western landscape.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

This paper examines the Net neutrality, or argument that the Internet should remain and open and equal platform, debate in the United States up to November 2010. After critically examining the past regulatory and legislative efforts, the feasibility of alternate solutions invested in protecting citizens' interests is examined.

À travers un cadre poststructuraliste, ce mémoire cherche à évaluer l'impact sur la durée et l'ampleur de la guerre en Afghanistan du discours de contre-insurrection (COIN) ainsi que celui des « manœuvres de palais » entrepris par des penseurs stratégiques influents au sein des Forces armées américaines dans la période 2008-2011. Nous verrons qu'au sein des institutions américaines de la sécurité nationale, il existe deux doctrines en compétition parmi les penseurs stratégiques : celle du contre-terrorisme, et celle plus récente de contre-insurrection. Chacune d'entre-elle propose une méthode différente pour faire la guerre en Afghanistan. Par une série de manœuvres de palais, c'est-à-dire des actions entreprises au sein des institutions du pouvoir afin d'influencer les décideurs, les promoteurs de la doctrine de contre-insurrection on progressivement réussit à faire appliquer leur doctrine en Afghanistan, avec comme conséquences, un accroissement de la présence militaire dans ce pays, et une hausse marqué de la violence. Pour le démontrer, nous procéderons d'une part à une mise en contexte afin de tracer l'origine de cette guerre et une généalogie qui permet de comprendre le régime de vérité qui structure les discours de ces penseurs stratégiques. D'autre part, nous évaluons le déroulement de trois séries de manœuvres de palais décisives : celles qui ont eu lieu pendant les trois premiers mois de la présidence d'Obama; celles de l'été 2009; et celles qui se sont produits pendant l'été et l'automne 2010. À travers ce récit, nous verrons en détails les conséquences de ces manœuvres. ______________________________________________________________________________

The purpose of this essay has been to describe and compare the personal qualities that the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) tried to associate Barack Obama and John McCain with during the American presidential election campaign 2008. The main question to be answered is: What social and physical characters as well as what personal experiences, interest and resources did DN tried to emphasize regarding John McCain and Barack Obama during the American presidential election campaign 2008. The theoretical starting-point has been John B Thompson’s theory of the mediated publicity and John Corner´s theory of political persona and spheres of action. Various DN news texts, in all 38 articles, have been examined by content analysis from 25th of august to the 4th of November. The main results show that the most frequent mentioned qualities about Barack Obamas was his skin colour, ethnicity and speech talents. The most frequent mentioned qualities about John McCain was his age and his military experiences from the Vietnam War. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the qualities described in DN created a picture of two different politicians. Many of the qualities that was mentioned have no connection to politics and even if they was just mentioned one time can they play a significant role in trying to build confidence. Many of the qualities that was mentioned are qualities that necessary not have to be seen as positive.

"In the eye of the beholder- A didactic study of Swedish teachers and textbooks in history’s reasoning about nine eleven and its aftermath" by Emmy Johansson and Emma Svanström aims to show which picture both teachers and textbooks on elementary school and upper secondary school want to mediate on the subject. The study also strives to compare the teachers view with the textbooks. To achieve these goals the study uses materials from eight interviews and fifteen textbooks. The methods are a combination of interviews and textual analysis inspired by the scientist Elizabeth D. Herman. Comparison was also included in order to be able to compare teachers and textbooks. Content analysis and sentence centralization was used in order to analyze the materials. Finally the study used a combination of theoretical concepts which included history didactics, historically consciousness and facts about the production of textbooks. The results show that although there is a great variation in how teachers as well as textbooks reason about the subject there are also many similar thoughts and presentations. This is the case for as well teachers as textbooks and the comparison between them. The study also reveal that although teachers are skeptical about the textbooks they are both needed to form a good education. But such a combination would still leave some effects unmentioned to the students.

In this essay I shall analyze Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, January, 2009 from the perspective of various linguistic techniques. More specifically, I shall propose and focus on the idea that the composition of the speech has an aim to create a unity of the speaker and the audience in order to deliver the message. Moreover, the speaker maintains the atmosphere of unity throughout the speech, so that the speech produces an effect when the audience becomes a co-author of it. My thesis will also discuss some aspects of persuasive strategies employed in the speech from those dating back as long as Ancient Greece to temporal discourses. The aim is to analyze how the use of a number of linguistic approaches creates a speech which senses an agreement and co-operation between the orator and the audience.

The diploma thesis "Some Features of Persuasive Language in Selected Presidential Campaign Speeches of Two Candidates" aims to investigate how the rhetorical device of conceptual metaphor is employed in the election campaign speeches of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney addressed mainly to the Hispanic voters to develop the myth of the American Dream. The political speeches were analyzed under the theoretical framework of the critical metaphor analysis and critical discourse analysis. Besides the analysis of the metaphorical concepts that support the myth creation, other rhetorical devices were examined in the selected corpus of the both speeches for their persuasive function.

The dissertation identifies and analyzes metamorphosis of the US foreign security policy in the 21st century. The main aim is also to identify whether the United States entered a new era with the attacks of 9/11 and whether so called the Bush doctrine was an appropriate reaction to the global terrorism. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter describes the US security strategies since WWII. In the second chapter, foreign security policy of George W. Bush and its metamorphosis is analyzed. The last chapter is devoted to the security strategies of Barack Obama.