Thesis (M.S.)--Marshall University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains v, 62 p. Includes bibliographical references p. 55-57.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 13, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-123)

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Glasgow, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 458-502). Print version also available. Mode of access : World Wide Web. System requirements : Adobe Acrobat reader required to view PDF document.

Thesis (M.S. in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy)--Joint Forces Staff College, Joint Advanced Warfighting School, 2008. / Title from PDF title page; viewed on Dec. 10, 2008. "04 April 2008." Electronic version of original print document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-88).

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Middle East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2010. / Thesis Advisor(s): Hafez, Mohammed M. ; Second Reader: Springborg, Robert. "June 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 14, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Terrorism, Weak States. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-95). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, May 2009. / Restricted until 12th May 2013.

Since the eruption of the Arab Spring, the Middle East is in a fragile situation with major ongoing conflicts. Saudi Arabia is an important regional actor in the political turmoil of the Middle East but is also a violent offender of human rights. This raises questions about the capacity of UN in terms of influencing the development of human rights in Saudi Arabia. This is a qualitative case study that will be based on established theories in international relations, realism and liberalism but also the rentier state theory. International institutions has evolved especially since the fall of the Berlin Wall but realists claim that it is a smaller version of the power structure of the international system where hegemonic powers rule and set the agenda. The lack of resources and fundings of the UN combined with its intergovernmental structure makes it vulnerable to states' interests and willingness. On the other hand, liberals claim that liberal norms and ideas have had an impact on states' behaviour. In the case of Saudi Arabia, there are certain factors that have caused the delay of human rights such as the UN: s unwillingness to put much effort on human rights during the Cold War. Another theory is that rentier states like Saudi Arabia finance the state with the help of their oil resources. Therefore, the citizens cannot demand democratic legitimacy from the ruling family that due to the rentier system, can treat the state as their private property. Certain opinions that can be supported by realist notions are that hegemonic powers are and were not as interested in implementing human rights in the Middle East as they were in establishing control over resources. Other possible factors are Saudi religious legitimacy and regional institutions with its own norms and also, a static religious interpretation of Islam, namely, Wahhabism.

This dissertation is an examination of the American oil industry in Saudi Arabia and its influence on United States foreign policy. The study examines the Americans who went to Saudi Arabia, the effect of the oil companies on Saudi- American relations, and the American government's response to oil company actions. There is an attempt to answer such questions as: Did the oil companies exert pressure on the American government to influence governmental policy? How effective was this pressure? And, what benefits did the oil companies have from their relationship with the government? The study concludes that Aramco was instrumental in bringing official and nonofficial contact and representation between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Moreover, Aramco was instrumental in involving the American government directly in Saudi Arabia through the extension of lend-lease aid to that country. American government involvement thwarted potential British ambitions in the Saudi oil resources and resulted in the American dominance of oil interests in that kingdom. In addition, Senate investigations showed that the oil companies grossly overcharged the United States Navy on oil purchases and that the financial assistance to Saudi Arabia was made for the protection of Aramco's oil concession.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Debbie Mercer / The Professional Learning Community (PLC) is a model of collaborative professional development that involves teachers and administrators working together on an ongoing basis to develop shared visions, plans, goals, resources, and ideas in order to increase student learning. Research indicates that students in schools with teacher PLCs are significantly more academically successful than students in schools that do not have PLCs. The teachers in PLCs also report positive benefits. There are six equally important dimensions of an effective PLC: shared and supportive leadership; shared beliefs, values and vision; collective learning and application of learning; supportive conditions (both structural and relational), and shared personal practice (Hord & Sommers, 2008). The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of kindergarten teachers through the use of a survey and to further explore how two kindergarten teachers in Dammam describe their experiences of the conditions needed for implementing PLCs in their schools through personal interviews. The design of this study was mixed methods research conducted via a survey (questionnaire) and personal interviews. The data analysis suggests that the overall PLC dimensions in kindergartens in Dammam are somewhat supportive of PLCs. In the quantitative analysis, the mean scores ranged from 2.88 for Shared and Supportive Leadership to 3.15 for Shared Personal Practice (on a scale of 0-5). In the qualitative analysis, the participants’ descriptions of their experiences indicated that Shared Values and Vision was the weakest dimension. Keywords: professional learning community, kindergarten, conditions for PLC, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

A number of studies seem to indicate that Extensive Reading (ER) enhances language proficiency in general and vocabulary knowledge in particular. However none of those surveyed focused on poorly motivated lower level language learners in a normal course of study that incorporated ER of unsimplified material, and few addressed partial vocabulary gain and the other factors that could have affected this. In this study the participants were young adult male Saudi Arabians, who were elementary English language learners and who were not used to reading for pleasure even in Arabic. Tests were used to gauge their partial vocabulary acquisition when they engaged in ER involving an open choice of simplified and unsimplified English material during a regular English preparatory course of just one semester. If ER could be linked to improved vocabulary acquisition in such difficult but natural conditions, the case for ER‘s wider implementation could be strengthened. The study also used diaries, surveys and interviews to delve into the reading habits, academic background and cultural context that could also explain any observed vocabulary gain. The results showed there were few statistically significant partial vocabulary gains after the ER programme, and although the experimental cohort that received the ER programme showed greater gains than the control in most of these cases, the difference was not large in terms of the absolute number of words. The diaries, surveys and interviews gave a rich profile of the participants with a level of detail that surpassed that of any other surveyed study, offering several possible reasons for their modest vocabulary gains and yielding unanticipated findings, such as an exposition of their motivations for academic study. It is concluded that a greater awareness of the learners‘ context is essential when applying ER, which in this particular context leads to the view that pure ER may not be suitable for vocabulary learning, and instead a significantly modified version could be more appropriate. These modifications include selecting appropriate books for the students and adding explicit vocabulary learning activities, and they even include linking the reading to the students‘ final grade. Further research is needed to gauge the effectiveness of such modifications, while a more inductive approach is also important when investigating ER and vocabulary acquisition to give the opportunity for unforeseen results to emerge.