黎巴嫩孱弱的社會體質在無力消　於發展過程中所迸發的一連串危機下， 終在一九七五年釀成全面的內戰，其混沌險惡之勢全面肢解國家機器，生 民賤如螻蟻；也為飽受歷史巨擔磨難的中東地區，再上一層重枷，成為關 切中東事務者的研究課題。本研究論文即透過黎巴嫩的社會層面，地區關 係及國際關係的三大主軸去構築內戰的圖像。 @有鑑於政治情勢的變化乃 為導引社會興衰的主流，而歷史又為政治之母；所以本文擷取黎巴嫩史上 對其今日社會性格塑造有決定性影響的諸變點及所推演的事件作一說明來 作為本研究的基點。歷史遺續沉澱堆積在各個社會權力中心，其運作生態 已無法自外於非理性教派情結及偏狹地域家族、意識的感染，七０年代巴 勒斯坦問題在上述情境下被激化，其殺傷力足以割斷維繫社會體系的紐帶 。 黎國內戰不單純是本土化的戰爭，更是區域性、國際化的內戰。敘 利亞、以色列、伊朗以及伊拉克等地區強權的涉入，將內戰推向地區權力 鬥爭的深淵；美國為推動中東政策，儘管在行政部門仍有爭議下，也出兵 黎國。探討各外來行為者的涉入動因、參與過程、施展外交工具的手段及 與黎國民兵派系的互動都是本論文寫作的核心。唯有如此，才能真實體察 戰事的脈動，釐清錯綜複雜的表象，並有助對於如何重建黎巴嫩社會及推 展中東和平的議題上，提供一條全方位思考途徑。 @ 在結論中，將根 據整個研究心得，對黎巴嫩社會提出一兼具階段性 及跟本長久之計的方 案，以廓清內戰的亂源，重塑和平。

The period of English history between the second Civil War and the Restoration opened up seemingly unlimited possibilities for shaping the country�s future. The period likewise witnessed an unprecedented surge of political imagination, a development which is particularly visible in Interregnum utopianism. More than ever before, utopianism orientates itself to a hopeful and expectant reality. It is no longer fictional or contemplative. Its ambitions and fulfilment are political; there is a drive towards active political participation. Utopianism reshapes its former boundaries and reinvents itself as reality utopianism. Considering this new reality-orientated identity, the utopias of the 1650s are especially useful in providing an insight into the political imagination of this period. This thesis studies three reality utopias of the 1650s: Winstanley�s The Law of Freedom, Harrington�s Oceana and Hobbes�s Leviathan. Each work represents a uniquely different utopian vision: Winstanley imagines an agrarian communism, Harrington revives classical republicanism, and Hobbes stresses absolute sovereignty. These three different utopian visions not only illustrate the range of the political imagination; they provide an opportunity to examine different ways to deal with the existing political and social concerns of the Interregnum and different perspectives for ideal solutions. Interregnum utopianism is shaped by the expectations and violence of the English Revolution and accordingly it is characterised by the heightened hopes and fears of its time. Despite substantial differences in the three utopias, the elemental hopes and fears expressed in these works remain similar. The hope for change and a better future is negotiated textually with a fear of anarchy and violence. In the end a compromise between opportunity and security has to be found. It is this compromise that shapes the face of Interregnum utopianism and reflects a major aspect of the post-revolutionary political imagination in England.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Social Anthropology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-250). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MQ99313

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 378-398).

This thesis explores and provides analysis on several areas of study related to the history of the Confederate States Marine Corps that have long been neglected. It examines the military and political processes that were instrumental in both creating and employing a Southern Marine Corps. It also investigates relationships between the U.S. and Confederate Marine Corps, particularly in light of how the experiences of former U.S. Marines shaped the growth of the Southern Corps. In particular, the thesis asserts that, despite shared origins, the CSMC seized on opportunities presented by the Civil War and became expert in new mission areas through the efforts of a core group of determined and experienced leaders. In the process, the CSMC came to eclipse its Northern cousin, becoming a valued and vital element of the Confederate Navy. The CSMC is examined in light of its national service, thereby affording fresh perspectives on the patterns formed by its actions as part of the Southern war effort. This new research framework supports a better understanding of the roles and missions expected by Southern leaders from their Corps, and more clearly illuminates the CSMC’s differences. In particular, this approach highlights the inherent strengths of the CSMC’s unique structure that lent itself to a more efficient concept of employment. Finally, this thesis asserts that the CSMC became, for its abbreviated history, the agile, innovative, and versatile fighting unit that, man-for-man, the U.S. Marine Corps would not achieve until some time late in the nineteenth century. However, the lessons of its service were not realized, in part because of its relative historical obscurity.

Die Debatte um die Verschwundenen des Spanischen Bürgerkriegs ist lange nicht beendet. Auch nach der Transition des Landes bleiben etliche Fragen offen und der Staat trägt wenig zu ihrer Aufklärung bei. Die Autorin befasst sich intensiv mit der lokalen Erinnerungskultur Spaniens. Sie analysiert dabei deren Bezug auf internationale Normen und Aufarbeitungserfahrungen in Lateinamerika.

Previous research has not specified the circumstances under which foreign aid may increase the probability of armed conflict. The purpose of this dissertation is to address this gap by employing a theoretical framework in which foreign aid produces incentives for a rent-seeking scramble among elites. A set of conditions affecting the likelihood of armed conflict are identified and tested on global data in a series of statistical analyses. Paper I argues and finds that foreign aid increases the probability of armed conflict in states where there are few constraints on executive power, allowing for a scramble for rents. Paper II proposes and finds a threshold effect of aid, such that the likelihood of armed conflict increases only when aid has reached a certain level. Paper III suggests and demonstrates that sudden negative changes in aid flows enhance the risk of armed conflict as well as coup attempts, as aid shortfalls accelerate distributional conflict over aid rents. Paper IV claims and shows that civil wars are less likely to be terminated by settlement in the form of elections when conflict parties are dependent on rents. In sum, this dissertation contributes by theoretically specifying and empirically identifying conditions under which foreign aid increases the probability of armed conflict.

Franco’s dictatorship remains a divisive issue within Spain. The contemporary debate rages on: mass graves are still being discovered and Spaniards continue to fight for and against historical memory laws that promote “forgetting” as a means of coping with the tumultuous past. This thesis is centered on oral history collected in the major city of Seville and the comparatively insignificant beach town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. While only an hour apart by car, these Andalusian municipalities experienced the Spanish Civil War and the postwar period quite differently. The voices of a few express the reality of many in this thesis which combines oral history, archival research, and the intriguing world of scholarship on Franco’s Spain. The rural nature and ignored classes that largely made up Sanlúcar in contrast with the urban Seville indicate the drastically different, and in many cases, harsher experience of agricultural Andalusia.

This study examines the Biafran secession of 1967-1970 and how the secessionist government constructed a Biafran identity in its campaign to gain international support for Biafra’s permanent separation from Nigeria. The introductory chapter outlines the role of identity in Nigeria’s twentieth-century political history and discusses the scholarly literature addressing questions of national and ethnic identity and on the Biafran secession. The thesis then provides a historical framework for discussing the evolution of Nigerian political identities and the failures of Nigerian leaders to build a Nigerian nationalism among the region’s numerous identifiable groups in the colonial and early independence eras. Subsequent chapters analyse the Biafran government’s attempts to elide the inherent instability of identity and overcome the dynamic process of identity formation in Nigeria by constructing and promoting a fixed Biafran identity based on cultural characteristics and historical experiences that allegedly distinguished and united the diverse peoples of the secessionist region.

This dissertation seeks to analyse the upsurge of insurgent violence in the North Caucasus following the end of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya in 2009. By looking at the development of radical Islam and the impact of the Chechen spillover in the region, this research suggests that these factors should be analysed and contextualized in each republic. By comparing the cases of Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia, and Dagestan, this dissertation seeks to demonstrate the importance of vendetta, criminal activity, religious repression and corruption as local factors that contribute to the increase of violence. By focusing on the case of Dagestan, the author proposes a political ethnographic approach to study the mechanisms and details of religious repression and corruption in everyday life. This analysis permits us to map out the different pathways towards the participation in insurgent groups in Dagestan. By doing so, it demonstrates that one can identify three different generations of insurgent fighters in Dagestan. This dissertation demonstrates that the role of Salafist ideology is often marginal in the early stages of the process of violent radicalisation, and slowly gains importance as the involvement in violence increases. The emphasis should be placed on vengeance and religious repression as crucial triggering factors as they provoke a cognitive opening for young people in Dagestan to engage in violence.