Thesis (M.S. in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy)--Joint Forces Staff College, Joint Advanced Warfighting School, 2007. / Title from title screen; viewed on July 9, 2007. "15 May 2007." Electronic version of original print document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-83).

Thesis (M.A.B.S.)--Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 125 p. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of my thesis was to counter Samuel Huntington’s argument that the world’s conflict is over differing civilizations, religions, or cultures. Whether or not religion is declining or growing, it cannot be used to portray the world in a 'cosmic war,' or a battle between 'good and evil'. Natural resources, not religions, rest at the basis for the Islamic fundamentalist and militant movement due to its response to the Western structural pressures that are modernizing Muslim societies. Oil and water become vital tools for exercising power and authority of one nation over another, and are identified as the true culprits for a conflict that is often furtively concealed.

This paper explores the intertwined history of certain goddesses of the Middle East and the Americas. This history informs the original invented contemporary deities that my project centers around. Using recycled materials and collected objects, my project displays two religious altars, one from my heritage and one from my experience living in Brazil. One altar is based on afro-Brazilian sea goddesses, and one is a contemporary imagined interpretation of a Judeo-Christian female figure. The two altars together compose an installation that seeks to unify a pagan practice and two distinct monotheistic traditions while still honoring their separate parts. These parts is built in the studio.

This thesis has used public and private archives, as well as newly discovered private papers, to provide new interpretations and new analytical insights regarding the early history of a British investment in Persia. This has given rise to broad questions regarding the interaction of economic and political power within the British empire and the interaction of foreign economic forces with domestic political forces in Persia. Within those overarching themes, the role of intermediation, the Anglo-Russian rivalry over Persia, British naval developments, differing legal cultures and Persian political developments have been examined in detail. Investigating the extent of official British intervention in the venture's affairs and the effects of the Persian Constitutional Revolution, in particular, have advanced the current understanding of the company's early history. In-depth archival research has thus allowed this thesis to demonstrate the shortcomings of the existing literature and provide the most complete account of the Persian oil venture's early developments to date.

This thesis explores a new political phenomenon in the Middle East - the reconciliation of nationalism and Islamism by Islamic political parties in the context of nation states. Although the concept of religious nationalism has been discussed substantially before, as for example in Juergensmeyer (1993: 40) where the author defines religious nationalism as “the attempt to link religion and the nation-state”, this work highlights that a new brand of religious nationalism has emerged in the Middle East as the result of the intertwining of nationalism and Islamism. The focus of this study is, therefore, on the development of religious nationalism in the continuously tumultuous region of the Middle East. The aim of this researchis to investigate whether Islamism in Kurdistan is limited by the politics of nationalism, which is an accentuated example for the whole Middle East region. Furthermore, it should be noted that many of the religious nationalists themselves have not yet fully acknowledged the existence of the trend of merging between Islamism and nationalism. For instance, although the position of the Muslim Brotherhood of Kuwait, during the liberation of their state from the Iraqi regime, is a clear example of religious nationalism, all other affiliations of this organisation around the world at that time viewed the military operation as a foreign occupation. Highlighting this historical juncture in the political life of the Middle East by studying the Islamism in the Kurdistan region helped to elaborate on this new type of politics exceptionally well. This is essentially due to the absence of a politically recognised nation state which renders Kurds to be particularly susceptible to various manifestations of nationalism. The key finding of this project was, therefore, the notion that Islamism in Kurdistan has become significantly framed by the politics of nationalism.

Cette thèse analyse l’évolution des modalités selon lesquelles la cause palestinienne est appréhendée par les partisans du Hezbollah entre 1982 et 2014. L’attention portée aux émotions permet de mieux interroger comment procède le travail constant de (ré)ajustement entre, d’une part les mots d’ordre préconisés par l’organisation, et d’autre part les sens subjectifs des engagements qui résultent de l’histoire personnelle et familiale des membres du Hezbollah. Alors même que la cause palestinienne constitue une thématique de mobilisation classique du Hezbollah libanais, l’observation des partisans de l’organisation à référent chiite, à l’occasion de la guerre de Gaza de l’été 2014, révèlent des émotions entremêlées et diverses. Pour analyser au mieux ces dernières, plusieurs grands registres émotionnels ont été reconstitués, sous une forme « idéaltypique », afin de mieux rendre compte des évolutions qui se manifestent à travers des manières différentes de se rapporter à la cause palestinienne. L’enquête auprès des militants, réalisée aujourd’hui, montre que l’organisation oscille entre ces deux registres émotionnels dont il convenait de retracer la genèse. Chacune des deux parties qui composent ce travail est consacrée à l’étude d’un des registres émotionnels qui constituent les types alternatifs de registres dont disposent aujourd’hui les militants du Hezbollah / This thesis analyzes the evolution of the ways in which the Palestinian cause is apprehended by Hezbollah supporters between 1982 and 2014

Since 2003 Iraq has struggled dealing with a new type of federal constitutionalism and engaged in three separate elections. It is expected that this federalism will encompass all the ethnic and religious groups and create more peace and stability between these groups. One of my major concentrations in this thesis will be to evaluate the successes and failures of this new federalism and its record in reducing the range of violence and conflict between Iraqi ethnic and religious groups. My question will be what has been the effect of federalism on ethnic conflict in Iraq? Has federalism in Iraq decreased ethnic violence or fueled more ethnic problems? I will evaluate the role of federalism in Iraq and the effect of federalism on ethnic conflict in Iraq. I will evaluate this new political system and then make some observations about tensions and disagreements between Kurds and Arabs since the implementation of Iraqi federal system. The idea of Federalism in Iraq as an approach to solving these ethnic conflicts and decreasing the bloodshed between all the different ethnic and religious groups has become a necessary and vital strategy for maintaining the fragile balance of power in the new nation . I will focus on federalism's effect on ethnic conflict in Iraq and how federalism can be used to improve the ethnic tensions in the country.

This study explores the different effects of gendered migration focusing on migration, return migration and reintegration challenges and opportunities facing female Ethiopian migrant returnees from Middle East countries. It looks into the different stages of migration to understand some of the cultural, economic and social transformations women domestic workers experience as immigrants and laborers in the Gulf region and upon their return to Ethiopia. In doing so, the study examines the different ways women try to renegotiate and reintegrate with their families and communities. In-depth interviews with eighteen women returnees reveal the uneven distribution of experiences and outcomes of gendered migration. However, there exists some consistency in the disruptive and disempowering effect of these experiences in the destination countries that usually extend after return. Post return experiences reveal that the renegotiations of women returnees on issues of reception, economic betterment, relationship rebuilding and exercising agency with families and communities are often stressful, isolating and disempowering.