Since the end of the Cold War internal conflict has emerged more and more into the foreground of concern in the international arena. It is seemingly more perverse and intractable than traditional interstate conflict, and as a result it is increasingly harder to resolve. Recurrence of internal conflict has been and remains to be a significant issue. Because of the nature of internal conflict and the underlying causes of the violence, the way in which its resolution is approached has a significant impact on the likelihood of success. The theory of peacebuilding, while still in its infancy, is gaining more and attention as a way in which to approach internal conflict and help to establish long-term peace in post-conflict societies. This thesis analyses the theory of peacebuilding and develops a framework based on this research that includes what I believe are the most relevant aspects of the approach. This framework is then applied to three cases; East Timor, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. The theory is based on the idea of building long-term sustainable peace. This is done by not only improving the security situation in the host state but also working through the underlying causes of the violence and helping to establish sustainable and self-reliant institutions that will help support peace within the state long after the peacebuilders have withdrawn. The main focus of this research is internal conflict in the Pacific region. Conflict in the region, while somewhat insignificant on an international scale, is disproportionate to the small size of the region. The effects of conflict are felt long after the fighting has stopped. The theory of peacebuilding in the Pacific is approached by examining three peacebuilding missions that have been undertaken in the region and analysing the strengths and weaknesses of these cases. From here the overall success of these missions is examined. Ideas about peacebuilding success are then developed and a look at the future of peacebuilding in the region is outlined.

This dissertation examines the efforts of Pacific internationalists in the years during and after World War II to forge private intellectual connections between the West and Asia. One of the most prominent groups in this movement was the Institute of Pacific Relations (1925-61), an international non-governmental organization that nurtured a trans-Pacific community of scholars, businessmen and diplomats through research projects and international conferences. In evaluating the work of these internationalists during the postwar period, this dissertation challenges conventional Cold War historiography that has marginalized such cooperative efforts during these years. Previous scholarship concerning the Institute of Pacific Relations has noted the way in which the organization fell victim to anti-communist politics in the United States, yet no studies have examined the records of its postwar conferences, which reveal an active international agenda well into the 1950s. The support of Asian members for such trans-Pacific ties, moreover, provides a counter-narrative to the story of revolutionary nationalism and third-world solidarity among emerging Asian and African countries during this period. The Institute of Pacific Relations acted as a valuable asset in the struggle for the “mind of Asia,” this dissertation argues, largely because its leadership did not conform to the prevailing Cold War mindset. As a private international organization, the IPR provided a venue for unofficial dialogue among private elites who at once confronted and transcended the geopolitical restrictions of their time. In maintaining private East-West partnerships through such turbulent years, these Pacific internationalists set the stage for regional cooperative ventures to flourish later in the twentieth century. / text

This paper is focused on an analysis of current regionalism in Asia-Pacific region and on evaluation of creation of relatively wide and relatively deep regional integration. Possible benefits of this integration concept can be exemplified by development of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) whose member states have substantially different interests due to historic and socioeconomic reasons. However, ASEAN was able to overcome these different interests by a specific integration model which is based on mutual trust, consensual decision-making and gradual changes. As a result, natural suspicions were eliminated to some extent and member states were able to deepen their integration. Main powers in the region noticed its success and they began to strive to develop closer relations not only with ASEAN, but also with other regional powers through ASEAN structure.

Zhang, Wei. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-203). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

This study investigates issues impeding effective school leadership in Solomon Islands' secondary schools. In particular, it examines principals' perceptions of those issues that impede their effective leadership of their schools. There is an international literature focusing on this area that has contributed to the study. However, many of the research findings in western contexts are invalid in the context of a developing nation such as the Solomon Islands. Thus contextual specificity was an important underlying factor in the study. The research data was gathered using qualitative methods. Specifically, interviews with five principals were conducted using semi-structured interviews and was analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The research fieldwork was carried out in the Solomon Islands in August 2006. A sample of five participants was used. They were selected from five schools representing Community High Schools (CHS) and senior Provincial Secondary Schools (PSS) in two provinces and the Honiara City Council. The key findings of the study identify a range of factors that inhibit effective school leadership. These included a lack of initial training and support for on-going professional learning, unfavourable conditions of service, poor quality of teachers' professional practice, poor school facilities and infrastructure, poor administrative infrastructure, lack of appropriate and adequate financial resources, lack of support personnel, policy and systemic issues, social and cultural issues, and issues pertaining to school-community partnerships. Based on the findings identified in the study, recommendations were made on how to improve effective leadership of the schools throughout the Solomon Islands. Of particular importance is the establishment of professional development programmes for both newly appointed and servicing principals. Such programmes should enhance the leadership capacity of the principals in the schools and create a more conducive learning environment.

This doctoral research is a multi-disciplinary study which draws from discourse theory, linguistics and European Union studies. It aims to explore the meaning, and linguistic representations of the European Union (EU) in the context of its relations with the Pacific Region, while taking into account contributing ideological and political factors. This study contributes to several academic fields, and specifically to the practice of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and to the continuum of study on the linguistics-politics interface. CDA research observes the structure and function of signifiers. Discourse analysis provides means to critically observe elements of social and political power, identities and issues through both contextual and linguistic features of discourse. It offers a unique approach to analysing international relations with the application of tools that can decipher meaning and ideologies in discursive structures. This approach stems for the post-structural outlook that linguistic features reflect ideologies and power relations that condition interpretation of political and social issues. Through a critical observation, the role and influence of the EU in the Pacific region is examined and evaluated. A wider grouping of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries is relevant to the discussion of the EU’s development action and French territories are also taken into account as they are located in the Pacific region and have aspirations to become more integrated to the Pacific community. This study reveals how the EU is defined and how the EU influences the developing world. It also reveals how the Pacific countries are responding to the EU’s interests and values such as regional integration and trade liberalisation. The discourse formation of EU-Pacific relations articulates and reinforces ideologies of identity and power behind the entirety of EU-Pacific relations. The nature of EU identity and role in relation to an ‘Other’ is thus explored in this thesis.

This thesis aims to undertake an evaluation of the potential for renewable energy to be used as a mechanism for the development of the Pacific region. Further to this, it examines whether NZ and the EU are well placed to contribute to any renewable energy transition in these countries by analysing their internal energy policy documents, policy ties to the Pacific region and previous actions in the renewable energy arena. The Tonga Energy Road Map, a progressive plan for renewable energy implementation, is then investigated in depth to determine its effectiveness thus far and its potential as a model for other Pacific island nations.

The oil shocks of the 1970's have revealed two important features of this commodity: I) that all countries use energy to achieve economic and social goals and 2) national stability and autonomy are closely linked to the security of its supplies. The South Pacific region has greatly experienced these effects in its pursuit of development, due to its increasing and nearly complete dependence on imported petroleum products. This is compounded by the situation of high expectations for a quality of life similar to the more developed nations of the Pacific Rim. Therefore the role of energy in these economies must be addressed before it is too late. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy

In this thesis I present the results of a comprehensive assessment of the Pacific-North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern in general circulation models (GCMs) and a regional climate model (RCM). The PNA teleconnection pattern is a quasi-stationary wave field over the North Pacific and North America that has long been recognized as a robust feature of Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation, and directly affects the interannual variability of North American temperature and precipitation. The teleconnection is evaluated under present (1950-2000) and future (2050-2100) climate in a coupled GCM (MPI/ECHAM5) and a high-resolution regional climate model (RegCM3). I further assess the PNA in 27 atmosphere-ocean GCMs and earth system models (ESMs) from the ongoing fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). The National Centers for Environmental Prediction and Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) Reanalysis serves a quasi-observational baseline against which the models are evaluated. For each analysis, changes in the spatial and temporal patterns of the PNA spatial are assessed for both the present and future climates, and these changes are then related to changes in climate and surface hydrology in North America. Coupling the NCEP and ECHAM5 GCMs with RegCM3 is very successful in that the PNA is resolved in both models with little loss of information between the GCMs and RegCM3, thereby allowing an assessment of high-resolution climate with an inherent skill comparable to that of the global models. The value of the PNA index is generally independent of the method used to calculate it: three- and four-point modified linear pointwise calculations for both the RegCM3 and ECHAM5 model simulations produce very similar indices compared with each other, and compared with those extracted from a rotated principle component analysis (RPCA) which is also used to determine the PNA spatial pattern. The spatial pattern of the PNA teleconnection emerges as a leading mode of variability from the RPCA, although the strength of the teleconnections are consistently weaker than NCEP as defined by four main "centers of action". This discrepancy translates into the strength of the controls of the PNA on surface climate. Maps of the correlations between the GCM PNA indices and RCM surface climate variables are compared to the results from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis. I find that correlation patterns with temperature and precipitation are directly related to the positioning of the Aleutian low and Canadian high, the two main drivers of upper-atmospheric circulation in the PNA sector. The CMIP5 models vary significantly in their ability to simulate the quasi-observed features of the PNA teleconnections. The behavior of the models relative to NCEP is more definite than the trends within the models. Most models are unable to resolve the temporal variability of NCEP; however, on the other hand most of the models are able to capture the PNA as a low-frequency quasi-oscillation. Many of the models are unable to simulate the barotropic instability that initiates wave energy propagation through the 500-hPa geopotential height field, thereby leading to phase-locking and thus the positive and negative modes of PNA are indistinguishable. The behavior and the spatial patterns of the PNA throughout the 21st century are consistent with other projections of future climate change in that most models exhibit a lengthening of the eddy length scale and a poleward shift of the mid-latitude jet stream associated with polar amplification of greenhouse-gas driven global warming. Finally, my analyses underscore the robustness of multi-model means, suggesting that the cumulative results of multiple climate models outperform the results from individual models because ensemble means effectively cancel discrepancies and hereby expose only the most robust common features of the model runs. While ensembles provide better representation of the average climate, they potentially mask climate dynamics associated with inter-annual and longer time scales. Relying on ensemble means to limit model spread and uncertainties remains a necessity in using models to project future climate. / Graduation date: 2013

A comprehensive analysis of midlatitude intraseasonal variability in extended integrations of General Circulation Models (GCMs) developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center is conducted in the first part of this thesis. The model statistics, three-dimensional structure, and dynamical characteristics of storm tracks and large-scale weather regimes are diagnosed and directly compared to parallel observational analyses. Results indicate that several aspects of simulated intraseasonal phenomenon are linked to errors in the zonally asymmetric circulation. During the boreal winter, anomalously large meridional temperature gradients and enhanced zonal winds in the simulations are linked to suppressions in baroclinic wave activity in the models. As a result lower-frequency modes in the GCMs are more strongly driven by baroclinic dynamics. Nonetheless, the GCMs successfully reproduce the North Pacific midwinter suppression phenomenon. In an effort to provide insight into the North Pacific midwinter suppression, the second part of this work stratifies the boreal cool season into three stages, where the early and late (middle) stages approximately correspond to the seasonal maxima (minimum) in synoptic eddy activity that occurs over the North Pacific. Analyses using this unique approach reveal that during the midwinter suppression period, cyclonic perturbations entering the North Pacific storm track core from Asia are already deficient in magnitude compared to early and late winter stages. In both observations and model simulations, the North Pacific midwinter suppression feature is discovered to have a clear organized extension upstream into Siberia. Thus, the final portion of this thesis examines the causes for the midwinter suppression of upper tropospheric Rossby wave packets propagating across Asia prior to entering the North Pacific storm track. The study unveils an increased sensitivity of synoptic-scale wave packets with a large-scale, upper-tropospheric flow pattern over Siberia during midwinter. This interaction with the large-scale pattern over Siberia results in a general dampening of synoptic eddy amplitudes over Asia, which is proposed to be the contributing factor to the North Pacific midwinter suppression phenomenon.