In recent years, the IRI has managed to increase its influence in the Middle East. The strategic use of proxy warfare has played a central role as surrounding countries have become destabilised. However, following the positivist logic of structural IR theories, the materially inferior IRI should not be a stronger player in the region’s conflicts than the US and its Arab allies. The Iranian success in proxy warfare, therefore, provides a paradox for the explanatory framework of reductionist IR theories which rely on rational and positivist epistemologies. I argue that this is because these perspectives do not endorse an adequate comprehension of the mutual embedded relations which have served the IRI a strategic advantage in proxy warfare. In a challenge to the parsimonious reductionism of structural IR and security studies, I adopt Feklyunina’s constructivist framework for analysing soft power as a relational identity. Thereby, I switch the focus from a top-down analysis of the IRI to a focus including Iraqi insurgencies’ acceptance or rejection of the IRI’s national identity and foreign policy goals. I argue that identity matter in proxy relations. Hence, I estimate the IRI’s strength in proxy warfare based on potential Iraqi insurgencies’ compatible identities. I employ a longitudinal historical research design tracing the development of collective identities within Iraq. The study finds that the Iraqi Shi’ites share important common facets of their identity with the IRI and have subsequently been willing to fight as proxies against American and Sunni forces in Iraq. However, identity and legitimacy structures in the Middle East are complex, multifaceted, constantly changing, and dependent on context. Iraqi Shi’ites still preserve some reservations and antipathy towards the Iranian regime due to a nationalist sense of community.

It seems as of late the most acclaimed advertising campaigns have found a formula to commodify the politically correct through what has come to be described as “woke advertising”. This winning strategy has won public appeal for connecting with an ever-evolving audience that is young, diverse and liberal. Specifically, newcomer agency, Anomaly, has publicly proclaimed themselves as the “change-agent” in the space of advertising, capitalizing on the culture wars by positioning themselves as the leading advertising experts in challenging societal stereotypes and biases. This is a case study that explores one of Anomaly’s 2016 campaigns for Johnnie Walker, “Keep Walking America”, as they attempt to engage in cultural politics with the Latinx community during a period of heightened political tension for immigrant populations. Through a Social Semiotics analysis and postcolonial criticism, the focus of this thesis is to explore how Johnnie Walker leveraged woke capital and consequently attempted to represent the lived experiences of marginalized groups whose stories are generally silenced.

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This thesis tries to answer the question what Christians should be singing in worship and why. The situation in many congregations is one of conflict around music and worship styles. The question is how these can be bridged and how worship leaders can be guided to make responsible choices about what is sung in Sunday worship. It is argued that what is sung, strongly influences the theology and faith of congregants. The thesis locates the discipline of hymnology within a hermeneutical approach to practical theology and tries to develop a theory to answer the question how to determine quality in Christian songs. The current discussions in practical theology and hermeneutics are examined for their relevance to hymnology, particularly some of the insights of Habermas, Gadamer and Ricoeur. Here particularly the idea of “dialogue” and “fusion of horizons” becomes relevant for bridging the divides in the conflicts around worship music. The dissertation examines biblical and church historical answers to the question of whether and what Christians should be singing. It becomes clear that the answers have varied widely during the course of church history, sometimes swinging between extremes. The next chapter looks at songs in the context of the worship service, their function within various parts of the service, and particularly looks at the dialectical poles of worship which should be kept in balance. Musical perspectives are discussed looking at ways to help people not formally trained in music to evaluate tunes. This theoretical section leads to a catalogue of criteria for “Good songs”: These are criteria for quality, for “Good Text”, such as biblical and theological value, how easily it is understood, whether it takes human experience seriously and its poetic value. Criteria for “Good Tune” include its level of difficulty, how heavily it depends on accompaniment, and its balance between the familiar and the interesting and new. The third category of criteria evaluate the match between text and tune in mood, rhythm and climax. The last category looks at the balance in the song between different polarities, such as, amongst others, the balance of past and present, cognitive and emotive elements, between challenge and affirmation, and between universal and particular emphases. This list of criteria is then tested on three songs each of four different songwriters: two traditional and two contemporary: Paul Gerhardt, Charles Wesley, Graham Kendrick and Noel Richards. In each case a background is given, an overview of their work as a whole and a detailed analysis of each song. In the end the criteria themselves are evaluated as to their usefulness and user-friendliness. Suggestions are then made how these criteria can guide worship leaders in their choices of songs for the Sunday service. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Practical Theology / unrestricted

The sexual revolution was a movement in the United States that challenged traditional ways of thinking about sexuality. The heart of the revolution was the "radical" idea that women, just like men, had sexual needs and were able to enjoy sex. In the name of the revolution, feminists demanded women’s right to the same sexual freedom as men had been given. The revolution led to the normalization and increased acceptance of sex outside of marriage, as well as birth control. However, despite these achievements, some feminists believed that the achievements occurred at the expense of women.  Although the sexual revolution was intended to lead to female liberation, some people argue that the revolution instead resulted in other forms of female oppression. To investigate this further, this study analyzed three different works of feminists with different views on the revolution and its consequences.  This study will discuss the following topics: pornography and sexualization. These have been analyzed in relation to various theories of autonomy. Finally, this study will discuss how the subjects affects women's rights contained in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The questions in this study are answered throughout by using the method of critique of ideas. The method is based on the ideology that the authors themselves claim to defend as their own, in this essay it is the values of feminism. The critique is thus internal in the sense that no other values, other than those already stated in the material, are used in the assessment.  Products that are marketed using the female body are often packaged with feminist messages, which is a well-known paradox in feminism. Women today have achieved some success by being able to represent themselves as sexual subjects, but that does not mean that the sexualization that permeates the culture should be mixed with "girl power" or other feminist slogans. It is time to stop accepting objectification as a symbol of liberation and instead acknowledge it for what it really is, a contradiction. A culture where women are constantly and in various ways being sexualized should be considered a threat to her ability to choose her preferences in an autonomous way. In the same way, a society that is strongly influenced by pornography's notions of male dominance should be considered a threat towards women’s autonomy. States that have ratified CEDAW are required by Article 2 to pursue policies to eliminate discrimination against women and to take measures to promote gender equality. Thus, the affiliated states should take appropriate action in all sectors of society where women are discriminated.

The enduring question of why apparently ordinary individuals participate in the systemic perpetration of mass violence hallmarks genocide studies, and it arose yet again when the multifarious atrocities faced by civilians in the Yugoslav Wars of 1991–1995 were apparent. With explanations resting on notions of “ancient hatreds” having been denounced in favour of ones that emphasise the role of emotions like fear and resentment, ethnic myths and symbols, and competition on group and individual levels of society, there remains some issues with these approaches; they cannot account for what motivates variations in behaviour by on-the-ground perpetrators nor can they describe the process by which violence develops in tandem on micro- and meso-levels, while still accommodating macro-level causes for conflict. In this thesis, symbolic interactionist and social constructivist theories of social roles and social norms are applied in the search for finding the motives for violent behaviour by perpetrators in the Yugoslav Wars of 1991–1995 to establish a more complete understanding the dynamics of individual decision-making and collective action in the context of violence. A directed qualitative content analysis is conducted of testimony provided by twenty-nine on-the-ground perpetrators and by select witnesses. This testimony was collected from the Hugo Valentin Centre’s database of court transcripts from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The research revealed that the (dis-)organisation of the perpetrating groups’ social structures, as well as the presence, or lack thereof, of both role strain and role conflict were deciding factors in motivating violent behaviour.

This Ph.D. thesis focuses on the relations between the town of Cheb and Bohemian nobility in the late Middle Ages (from the second half of the 14th century to the beginning of the 16th century) with special interest in the period of the Hussite wars and the reign of King George of Podebrady. The thesis looks at these relations on two levels - conflicts (wars and courts) and non-violent (commerce, mutual assistance, information sharing) and tries to characterise and compare these phenomena. The thesis includes the case studies focusing on the question of the possibility of mutual interaction between examined subjects. It also focuses on particular noble families characterised by their transition from Cheb to Bohemia or otherwise.

Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill an increasing number of veterans and military students are seeking to complete degrees online and through enrollment at campuses across the nation (Brown 2011). The increased number of military students in postsecondary education settings presents challenges and opportunities for both the veteran student and institution of higher education. Military students also referred to as veteran students are choosing to pursue postsecondary education for occupational and employment opportunities, personal growth and enrichment, and to use their Post-9/11 GI education benefits. It is expected that military personnel with past military service in Afghanistan and Iraq will become a growing student population enrolled in U.S postsecondary education. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the experiences and expectations of an African American male veteran student at an institution of higher education. This qualitative research study included an in-depth interview with an African American male veteran student. Through interviewing the participant, I listened to the experiences and expectations from an African American male veteran student from Iraq War who attended a state assisted predominantly Caucasian university. The collection and analysis of his stories gave me an understanding of his diverse needs, experiences, and expectations.

In 1793, the British government embarked on a war against Revolutionary France that few expected would last twenty-five years and engulf all of Europe. Radical French policies provided an opportunity for William Pitt, the British prime minister, to endeavor to cobble a European alliance, including a number of Mediterranean states. These efforts never progressed beyond theory and negotiations because of conflicted policy and tension between the British diplomatic corps and Royal Navy over the strategic goals in the region. With diplomats focused on coalition building and military commanders focused on national objectives, British efforts never congealed into a unified effort to defeat Revolutionary France.

Resistance to oppression is a globally recognized cultural phenomenon that displays a remarkable amount of variation in its manifestations over both time and space. This cultural phenomenon is particularly evident among the Native American cultural groups of the Southeastern United States. Throughout the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries the European and American states employed tactics and implemented laws aimed at expanding the geographic boundaries of their respective states into the Tribal Zone of the Southeast. None of these groups, however, sat passively during this process; they employed resistive tactics and strategies aimed at maintaining their freedoms, their lives, and their traditional sociocultural structures. However, the resistive tactics and strategies, primarily manifested in the medium of warfare, have gone relatively unnoticed by scholars of the disciplines of history and anthropology, typically regarded simply as guerrilla in nature. This research presents a new analytical model that is useful in qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing the behaviors employed in combat scenarios. Using the combat behaviors of Muskhogean speaking cultural groups as a case study, such as the Creeks and Seminoles and their Protohistoric predecessors, this model has shown that indigenous warfare in this region was complex, dynamic, and adaptive. This research has further implications in that it has documented the evolution of Seminole combat behaviors into the complex and dynamic behaviors that were displayed during the infamous Second iv Seminole War. Furthermore, the model used in this research provides a fluid and adaptive base for the analysis of the combat behaviors of other cultural groups worldwide.