Thesis (MPsych(Clin))--University of South Australia, 1998

This thesis analyses conflict dynamics in West Africa and assesses the role of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a security organisation in its response to armed conflict. In so doing, it argues that conventional approaches misinterpret key feature of the civil wars in the “Greater Mano River Area” which includes Liberia, Sierra Leone and C??te d’Ivoire. It demonstrates that the progression and spread of conflict is engendered primarily by transversal political structures. The thesis utilises a critical international society approach to consider patterns of security and insecurity across the sub-region of West Africa. However, rather than accepting that West African politics operates within a single, comprehensive international society, it argues instead that it should be understood at two levels. One level is state-centric international society, where West African inter-state relations can largely be explained according to existing constructivist paradigms. At the second level is “transversal” society that cuts across state borders, generating a regional, normative structure that prescribes and constrains behaviour within and between communities outside of the international society framework. The thesis proceeds in two parts. In the first section it works towards an understanding of the transversal politics of regional conflict in the Greater Mano River Area. Conflict is nominally internal, and centralised state authority is the object of both attack and transformation. However, a close examination of civil violence in Liberia, Sierra Leone and C??te d’Ivoire reveals that it cannot be completely understood without recognising the non-state structures of authority and domination that disrupt the traditional domestic/international divide. The transversal communities generated by conflict create a regional cycle of violence that is resistant to efforts made to resolve it. The second section of the thesis is concerned with the ability of ECOWAS to foster durable peace. As West Africa’s key regional organisation, ECOWAS would seem well-placed to respond to regional conflict. It is well-integrated, has significant normative legitimacy and has developed sophisticated security mechanisms. Critically however, as it was created within inter-state international society, ECOWAS is limited by its assumption that states are and should remain unitary actors. Its failure ultimately lies in its inability to respond to the alternative political contours of transversal communities.

In post-Cold War Asia, military power remains the dominant factor in inter-state relations. With its emerging military power, China is clearly an important actor in Asian security. However, Chinese military power needs rigorous interpretation in order to know its true purposes. Military doctrine, as an ideational variable, is essential in interpreting China’s material military power. Expanding Richard Betts’ concept of ‘military readiness,’ this study proposes a doctrine-based model of military readiness to interpret Chinese military power. After the establishment of the PRC in 1949, China’s development and use of military power have been shaped by a swing between local war and total war doctrines—two ends in the conflict spectrum. The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) total war doctrine of Maoist People’s War spanning from the 1960s to 1970s contributed to a defence in-depth posture. Its development of a local war doctrine since the 1980s has led to China developing a visibly offensive posture to achieve quick and decisive victory in future conflicts. Based on the doctrinal model of ‘military readiness,’ Chinese military planning and deployments have led to a more flexible and agile PLA. But doctrinal weaknesses have left it still unprepared for conflict escalation.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Köln, Fachhochsch., Diplomarbeit.

Thesis (MSc(CompSc) -- Bond University, 2001. / "A thesis submitted to Bond University in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Computer Science"-- t.p. Bibliography: leaves 124-125. Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008. / Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Prepared for: Dept. of Information Systems. Bibliography: leaves 159-169.

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of Political Science, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.S. (Security studies) -- University of Pretoria, 2007.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Edith Cowan University, 2007. / Submitted to the Faculty of Computing, Health and Science. Includes bibliographical references.