No description available.

No description available.

This study presents a detailed examination of the Arab League¿s history, development, structure and roles in an effort to understand the cause of its failure as a regional security organisation. The research¿s point of departure is a questioning of the nature and scope of this failure in terms of the interplay between the conditions under which it was formed and the many actors and dynamics that had a long term-impact on the prospects for the League. To this end, the study looks at the League¿s conditions of emergence and Arab-Arab relations with the focus on Arab national security as the main concept determining its security role. The research synthesises methods of analysis from the existing literature and schools of thought so as to identify where and why failure and success occurred in relation to international relations theories, the security and international organisations literature, and comparable international models. The development and conditions affecting the League as discussed in the research demonstrate that none of the existing broad theories or approaches can fully explain the League¿s failure; however, the constructivist approach, although never before applied in this context, is shown to offer the most relevant approach for explaining this organisation and its unique parameters. The research also examines the role played by the Arab League in regional peacekeeping and conflict prevention in the context of Arab national security, with Palestine as a case study.

No abstract available / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeology)

This work explores the role of the watermill in the history and society of Jordan, Syria and Cyprus from the 12th to the 19th century. Previous studies in this area have been limited, and have usually assumed the watermills in the Levant to date from the Ottoman period. This work aims to suggest that many of the mills still extant today in fact date from an earlier period. A review of the historical documentation and archaeological material is the main background of this study, while an examination of the watermills themselves aims to provide a permanent record of these before they disappear due to rural and urban development. A review of available reference material regarding the role of the mill in Levantine economy and society from the medieval to late Ottoman periods emphasises the importance of the watermill in rural and urban areas of the Levant in a historical period of fluctuating economic stability. The reference material consists mainly of historical accounts by travellers and chroniclers, legal documents such as treaties, charters and waqf documents, as well as archaeological, environmental and socioeconomic studies of the Levant from the medieval to the early modem period. The broad nature of this study aims to form a basis for future research with a more detailed focus in these disciplines.

Drought is an extreme climate phenomenon that happens slowly and periodically threatens the environmental and socio-economic sectors. Developing countries have experienced crucial conditions in meeting the needs for food, energy, and water security. Natural disasters contribute as risky sources of food insecurity and vulnerability in the Middle East. This dissertation presents a country-level review and quantitative assessment of the current issues associated with the Food-Energy-Water-Security (FEWS) Nexus in the Middle East. In this study, sixteen countries in the Middle East are chosen, namely, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Turkey. The most recent datasets are used to study and analyze the factors that have increased the demand to understand and manage the linkage of FEW systems in the region. Water scarcity, extreme events, population growth, urbanization, economic growth, poverty, and political stability are found to be the key drivers of the current challenges in the Middle East. The results suggest that these factors have created a subsequent stress on FEW resources specifically on the water sector in the region. Therefore, more attention is required to sustain the FEW resources and cope with the socio-economic development. Moreover, this study presented a comprehensive assessment of drought and food-water-energy-security nexus across the Middle East using rigorous frameworks. Meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological droughts are analyzed using different drought indices at multiple timescales over the region for seven decades for the period of 1948-2017. The study further analyzes food insecurity in the Middle East through the exploration of drought (as a water stress factor), energy, and other socio-economic factors in the region. A Bayesian approach is conducted to link all the factors that best predict food insecurity in Middle East pooled from 16 countries in the region. Results reveal that the intensity of agricultural drought are the most aggravated over the region in all cases. Moreover, the results demonstrated the significant impacts of drought (as a water stress factor), agricultural land availability, population growth, livestock, and cereal production on food insecurity in the Middle East.

No description available.

No abstract available / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeology)

This study argues that governments with sustained GDP growth, open markets, low country risk, high levels and low standard deviation of government performance, and few or no occurrences of war, will see larger levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) over time. Scholarship on the determinants of FDI variously argues the influence of GDP growth, the openness of a country's economy, a government's level of political capacity, the level of country risk, and the negative effects of inter-, intra- and extrastate conflict. These studies on the various effects on FDI, while providing insightful and substantial statistical results, fail to capture the simultaneous effects of macroeconomic, government performance, country risk, and war variables. The present study attempts to resolve this gap in the literature on FDI by proposing a multi-dimensional model of the combined effects of un-weighted macroeconomic, political, country risk, and war variables on FDI flows over time. The empirical results confirm the expected multi-dimensional nature of FDI flows over time and provide insight into the macroeconomic and political effects on regional and country-level yearly flows of FDI, as well as yielding some unexpected and counter-intuitive results of the role war plays on FDI flows over time.

The basic intention of the thesis is to provide a reassessment of Constantius as a military man, specifically in the prolonged war with the Sassanian king, Sapor II. However, it also encompasses many aspects of the social, economic and religious life of the communities which lay on the frontier between Rome and Persia. In the first chapter I discuss the historical background upto the death of Constantine, attributing the major reorganization of the eastern limes to the time of Diocletian and Galerius. In chapter II I describe events on the frontier during Constantius 1 reign. I adduce reasons for his adoption of a defensive strategy against the Persians and consider the nature of the Roman forces and fortifications in northern Mesopotamia. Chapter III contains a survey of the frontier legions and the major centres which they defended. In the fourth chapter an analysis of Persian aims and capabilities is offered, and particular notice is paid to the campaign of 359, while chapter V looks at the role of Armenia and especially of its southern provinces, the regiones Transtigritanae, in the conflict. The local communities of Mesopotamia are investigated in chapter VI, and in the final chapter I give an impression of the effect which nomadic Saracens had on the imperial frontiers. I conclude that Constantius should be judged as a responsible and careful emperor, who succeeded in preserving the integrity of the eastern frontier in the face of a formidable and determined enemy. In six appendices I present observations on the distribution of auxiliary units in the Mesopotamian provinces, the Romans' retreat from Ctesiphon in 363, the Persians' use of war-elephants and their lack of artillery, the chronology of fourth century Armenia and dromadarii in the Roman army. Five maps, one plan and twelve photographs accompany the text.