Background: The field of crisis management has been researched extensively in the last two decades, with a focus on man-made organizational crises in large corporations (Mitroff et al., 2001; Pearson et al., 1993; Weick, 1988). Crises, as phenomena, are very complex events with a low probability of occurrence (Pearson et al., 1998), which subsume multiple layers in their construction causes and manifestation. In the recent years, the number of crises has increased dramatically, with either natural, technological or human causes and each of us can name at least a few dozen examples. Crises are no longer an aberrant, rare, random, or peripheral feature of today’s society. They are built into the very fabric and fiber of modern societies" (Mitroff et al., 2001, p.5). Aim: The purpose of the present research paper is to enhance the understanding of the importance of crisis management for organizations, where the crisis can be triggered by a political unrest situation. Our empirical study will address the issues of how the Gulf Agency Company Egypt team identified, responded and learned from the organizational crisis they were faced with, due to protests against the formal regime of Hosni Mubarak, in the beginning of 2011. Methodology: The goal of our research paper is firstly using existing theory and previous knowledge which will serve as the bricks of our academic construction. Further on, the GAC Egypt case study will be the principal empirical tool that will support and prove or contrast the theoretical roots. In this way, we plan to make use of already existing theory, while in return bringing our own contribution by our results and empirical findings. Completion and results: Our results entail that there are numerous gaps between what the literature on crisis management presents and the organizational procedures in GAC Egypt. In this respect, our findings lead us to notice the absence of an official crisis management plan, minimal perception of credible early signals, weak top management support correlated with a high degree of employee empowerment, as well as the learning outcomes for the organization.

In the wake of a ship's rebellion that left the aircraft in the hands of authorities and its crew either imprisoned or hospitalized, former Captain Alberta Ramira finds herself in need of work and out of a ship while law enforcement finishes investigating the incident. She joins the "ferkeeps," a unit of law enforcement tasked with making sure expectant mothers are healthy and abstaining from substances that could be harmful to their unborn children. Although Ramira is initially unhappy with her temporary new job, she quickly becomes enmeshed with her colleagues, especially one, Turi, for whom she develops feelings. That sense of camaraderie presents a challenge when she is approached by one of the investigators offering the immediate return"”and upgrade"”of her ship if she will only testify against her colleagues for enabling drug use and trade among their clients. Meanwhile, Niagara, recovering from her physical and emotional wounds from the ship's rebellion, is whisked away at the behest of her mother, colony chancellor, on a luxury spaceship carrying diplomats to the colony's capital on Terra for the upcoming legislative session. Under constant guard should anyone threaten the chancellor's daughter, Niagara has to forget the norms of her last four years as an indentured sailor and brush up on her social graces. But when the indentured on that ship rebel, she has to use both halves of herself to strike a compromise between indentured and the captain to ensure they all reach Terra safely. As Ramira and Niagara struggle against the social and civic structures in more civilized climes, Vicky heads for the wilds of Eden, plunging into a perilous forest in search of an expert on the language and culture of the aliens who previously occupied the planets in the colony. The trees and vines are hard enough to cut through without strange and bloodthirsty animals and insects lurking nearby, and despite her most careful efforts, Vicky is seriously wounded. She finds help, though, in a commune of colony deserters hiding in the center of the forest. The expert she was looking for is there, too. Vicky must decide if she will stay safe in the commune, cut off from her family and friends but free of the obligations waiting for her within the colony's reach, or brave the forest again to return to civilization.

Previous scholarship has long concentrated on the behaviors of belligerents during regime-dissident interactions. While much of the progress in the literature concentrated on the micro-level processes of this relationship, little research has focused on providing a theoretical reasoning on why belligerents choose to act in a particular manner. This project attempts to open the black box of decision making for regimes and dissidents during regime-dissident interactions in order to provide a theoretical justification for the behaviors of the belligerents involved. Moreover, this project argues that there is a relationship between the lower level events of political violence and civil war as the events at earlier stages of the conflict influence the possible outcome of civil conflict. Regimes and dissidents alike are strategic actors who conduct themselves in a manner to ensure their survival while concurrently attempting to succeed at achieving their respective goals. Although all authoritarian regimes are similar in their differences to democracies, there are significant differences between the regimes, which influence the decision making of the regime leader to ensure the survival of the political institution. In addition to influencing the decision calculus of the regimes, the behavior of the regimes impacts the probability of civil war at later stages of the interaction. Conversely, dissidents also perform as strategic actors in an attempt to gain their preferred concessions and outcomes. Although their comprehension of the coercive capacity of a regime is limited, their knowledge of the repressive capacity of the regime provides them with the understanding of their future fate if they escalate to violence against the regime. This project is conducted using two theories on regime and dissident actions and responses, two large-N empirical analyses of regime and dissident behaviors during nonviolent and violent dissident campaigns from 1945-2006, and two historical case studies of Egypt and Syria during the Arab Spring as well as the period preceding the uprising.