Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Domestic stability'

One of the most perplexing issues for students of politics is the proper role of externalization in accounting for interstate conflict. This process, which connects events at the domestic and international levels, also has been referred to as conflict linkage, conflict and cohesion, diversion and projection. The diverse terminology is fitting, because the pursuit by national elites of internal cohesion through external conflict is anything but a matter of consensus among scholars.
The present investigation will seek a more precise delineation of causes and effects. Following a review of the research program on conflict linkage, a reformulated model of externalization will be presented. Propositions will be derived from the model. Data pertaining to the experiences of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France at the domestic level and in international crises during the post-World War II era will be used to evaluate the propositions. These results will be in turn compared to the more traditional explanation on the causes of international conflict; namely, theories derived from the Realist perspective. The study then concludes with some recommendations for further research on the linkage of domestic and foreign conflict.

This dissertation addresses the puzzle as to why some regions in the world are engulfed in militarized disputes among member states, while other regions live under peaceful conditions. It argues that domestic regime-societal management strategies have significant explanatory value to understand variance in regional orders. These domestic factors have largely been ignored in International Relations (IR) literature. A domestic politics-based analytical framework explains how states with inclusionary governing regimes (those which account for the interests of societal actors in policy formulation and consequently give them stakes in the survival of the regime) are more likely to move the regional order towards stability. On the other hand, states with exclusionary regimes (those which do not account for the interests of societal actors in policy formulation and consequently do not give them stakes in the survival of the regime) are more likely to push the regional order toward instability.
The dissertation also addresses a frequently underexposed dimension of IR theory: exactly how do major powers influence regional orders? It argues that major powers penetrate regional states in support of either societal actors or regimes (and sometimes both). In that process major powers help alter the power asymmetries inside regional states affecting their preferences and strategies, and hence their behaviour towards the regional order.
The analytical framework is used to explain variations in Middle East regional orders through four paired comparisons of six states: Israel-Egypt, Israel-Turkey, Israel-Syria, and Iran-Saudi Arabia. The time frame under study is from 1950 to 2000. The change in the Middle East regional order post-1990 did not correspond in magnitude to the change in the international system, adding credibility to this framework which prioritizes domestic level variables in shaping regional orders.

This thesis is an analysis of the interrelationship between international and domestic determinants of state action in Ethiopia in the period 1974 - 1995. It uses an historical materialist framework to show that the Ethiopian state acts to further the interests of domestic merchant capital, and that continuities between successive regimes express a deeper underlying continuity in the structures of the social formation. It discusses the ways in which land reform further entrenched peasants in their existing conditions of production, in response to which the Derg regime undertook to extend state interventions in trade. State involvement in trade has been crucial to the ability of successive regimes to preserve and expand state structures. The alliance with merchant capital which underpinned the state's role in trade explains the decision to nationalise industry. Nationalisation led to a decline in industrial production to the benefit of domestic merchant capital. However the dominance of merchant capital exists alongside low-levels of capital accumulation which renders the state dependent on external alliances and therefore makes regimes highly susceptible to changes at the international level. The low-level of development of the productive forces has retarded the integration of Ethiopia and strengthened regional identities. The resulting fragmentation of power has been an enduring theme of Ethiopian politics. These continuities in underlying structures have contributed to continuities in regime action at the level of the degree of state penetration, the formation of state revenues, and the military basis of regime legitimacy. Finally, it suggests that the model offered here, of a state supporting a domestic merchant class, may be useful in explaining the relationship between states and classes elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

Les mangroves sont des forêts côtières des régions tropicales et subtropicales, situées dans la zone de balancement des marées. Elles fournissent un grand nombre de services écosystémiques aux sociétés humaines et aux milieux adjacents (ressources, habitats, protection). Les mangroves sont continuellement affectées par des variations environnementales naturelles (salinité, température, cycle des marées) mais elles sont également le réceptacle d'effluents anthropiques (aquacultures, centres urbains). Il a été suggéré que ces forêts humides pourraient participer à la bio-épuration d'eaux usées domestiques (EUD). Les objectifs de la thèse étaient à la fois d'apporter des éléments pouvant ultérieurement servir à définir un cadre pour cet usage spécifique d'un écosystème naturel, et, sur le plan plus fondamental, d'évaluer les capacités de résistance et de résilience à court et long termes d'une mangrove soumise à une perturbation anthropique contrôlée. Le travail de thèse s'est appuyé sur un système expérimental fonctionnant depuis 2008 dans la plus grande mangrove de l'île de Mayotte. Dans ce système pilote, des EUD prétraitées sont quotidiennement déversées dans deux zones de mangroves dominées par les palétuviers Ceriops tagal ou Rhizophora mucronata et ayant des caractéristiques contrastées. Plusieurs campagnes d'échantillonnage ont permis de suivre in situ l'impact de l'excès de nutriments et d'eau douce sur la végétation, les crabes, la méiofaune et les communautés microbiennes, et de déterminer leurs capacités de résistance et de résilience. Dans ce travail, les EUD ont fortement stimulé la croissance de la végétation, modifié la structure des populations de crabes, de méiofaune, et des communautés microbiennes, et induit une hausse des densités et des activités des microorganismes impliqués dans le cycle de l'azote. Ceci n'a cependant pas entrainé de dysfonctionnement majeur de l'écosystème (perte massive de couvert végétal ou forte régression des populations de crabes). L'observation de l'écosystème sur deux ans après l'arrêt d'apports d'EUD a également mis en évidence une capacité notable de résilience de la mangrove. Enfin, les résultats de cette étude indiquent que la zone dominée par R. mucronata serait plus apte à recevoir les EUD prétraitées dans le cadre de leur bio-épuration par la mangrove car moins impactée
Mangroves are coastal forests in (sub)tropical regions, located in the intertidal zone. They provide a many ecosystem services to human societies and neighboring ecosystems (resources, habitats, protection). Mangroves are continually affected by natural stresses (salinity, temperature, tidal cycle) but they are also subjected to anthropogenic effluents (aquaculture, urban centers). It was suggested that mangroves may be used for the bio-epuration of domestic wastewaters. This thesis aims at providing elements that will help defining the framework for this specific usage of a natural ecosystem and evaluating the long- and short-term resistance and resilience abilities of mangroves subjected to an anthropic disturbance. To reach these objectives, we used an experimental system set up in the largest mangrove of the island Mayotte. In this system, pretreated wastewaters (PW) are daily discharged in two mangrove zones dominated by Ceriops tagal or Rhizophora mucronata. Several sampling campaigns allowed to monitor in situ the impact of nutrient and freshwater excess on vegetation, crabs, meiofauna, and microbial communities and to determine their resistance and resilience capacities. In this work, PW strongly stimulated vegetation growth, altered the structure of crabs and meiofauna, modified the microbial structure and increased microbial density and activity of microorganisms involved in nitrogen cycle. However, no major dysfunction of the ecosystem (loss of vegetation, strong decrease in crab density) was observed. The monitoring of the ecosystem during two years after the PW discharge was stopped showed a marked ability of the mangrove to recover from the disturbance. Finally, the results indicate that R. mucronata mangrove zone, less disturbed, is more able to receive discharges for bio-epuration of domestic PW by mangrove ecosystem

Disposing of waste on land has been a method practiced by many countries because it is relatively inexpensive. This has led to the fast increase of landfilling option which is also due to increase of waste generation, resulting in the increase in the urgency of investigating cheap measures of treating wastewater (leachate) that is generated from landfills prior to its discharge to the environment. After the application of the process of nitrification using Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) such as is applied at Mariannhill landfill site, Durban, the treated leachate still contains high level of nitrate ranging from 500 – 2000 mg/ℓ, which greatly exceeds the discharge limit of 12 mg/ℓ. Ex-situ bio-denitrification has been used widely around the world in various technological applications (SBRs, anaerobic trickling filters, etc.) that generally employ expensive chemicals. Hence the need to investigate the removal of nitrates using in-situ biodenitrification processes using readily available carbon sources such as fresh commercial garden refuse (CGRraw) and composted commercial garden refuse (CGR10). Both carbon sources were mixed with waste that had been treated for 8 weeks (Cell 1) and 16 weeks (Cell 2). The aim of this study is to determine the viability of pre-treated general waste at different degrees of stability (carbon contents) as carbon sources for in-situ bio-denitrification in landfills. The focus was mainly on determining the suitability, the kinetics and the performance of the different substrate. The suitability of the substrates to perform denitrification was assessed based on the carbon content and carbon to nitrogen ratio in the substrate. On establishing suitability, the kinetic rate of denitrification was assessed for each substrate. The kinetics analysis was based on the time taken for full denitrification to occur and the concentration of the byproducts of the denitrification process such as Ammonia. Characterization tests were performed to determine the suitability of the substrates to be used as carbon sources for denitrification. In situ denitrification processes were simulated at smaller scale in the laboratory using anaerobic batch reactors, with biologically treated leachate and seeded Treated leachate from the Sequencing Batch Reactor. Batch tests were conducted at a nitrate concentration level of 500 mg/ℓ. The combination of 8 weeks treated waste with Fresh Commercial Garden Refuse (Cell 1 + CGRraw) and with Commercial Garden Refuse (Cell 1 + CGR10), respectively, provided the most suitable substrates for denitrification as they contained the highest carbon content as well as relatively high carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) . Although the 16 weeks treated waste together mixed with Commercial Garden Refuse (Cell 2 + CGR10) had the lowest C:N ratio, this could be due to a lack of homogeneity within the sample. The results of the batch tests confirms that 8 weeks treated waste (Cell 1) and 16 weeks treated waste (Cell 2) substrates were both too stable and contained too little carbon to attain full denitrification. In addition to the inability to attain full denitrification, Cell 2 leached out nitrate of approximately 500 mg/ℓ NO3-N back into the batch. The batch test results showed that the cells substrates augmented with CGRraw and CGR10 achieved positive results as full denitrification was achieved within a maximum of 7 days for Cell 1 and 14 days for Cell 2.
Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

博士
國立臺灣科技大學
企業管理系
97
The purpose of this study is first to investigate the different effects in terms of various aspects of the DeLone & McLean constructed e-commerce model (DMECM) on domestic and cross-national e-commerce customers. We then introduced a modified DeLone & McLean e-commerce model (MDMECM) since we found there appears a new endogenous construct that derived from some exogenous constructs, and thirdly developed a renewed e-commerce model (RNECM) that fits Pan-China economic entities by empirically investigating the roles of perceived service benefits, perceived service costs, system quality, information quality, service quality, e-commerce quality, e-customer-satisfaction, e-trust and e-customer-commitment in an e-commerce context for the customers of e-Brokerage systems (EBS). Analyses using structural equation modeling and mean comparison tests were presented to evaluate the research hypotheses. Some 1108 responses from major securities and futures brokers in Taiwan, China, and Hong-Kong were elicited for a response rate of 97%. The results reveal that, in MDMECM, the cross-national EBS users rated aspects pertaining to users’ trust lower than the domestic EBS users did. We will refer to that difference as ‘Cross-national Trust Deficit (CRTD)’; and, the cross-national EBS users seemed to subordinate “user satisfaction” when compared to the domestic EBS users. That is to say, instability between domestic e-commerce and cross-national e-commerce was discovered. However, in RNECM, the conceptualization of structural equation model keeps stable across the two groups. In conclusion, the conceptualization of structural equation model did differ across the domestic EBS users and the cross-national EBS-users in DeLone & McLean e-commerce model, that is, domestic EBS users and cross-national EBS users do not equally emphasize every aspect of DMECM. Therefore, we develop a fitter new e-commerce model with some different constructs other than the model that DeLone & McLean constructed has.

To the Republic of China, the decade between 192 8 and 1937 was the best and the worst of times. Best because warlordism that had disrupted the nation came to an end in 1928 as a result of the Northern Expedition. With the Republic unified under the National Government in Nanjing, the country embarked on reconstruction. Worst because China in the mean time had to deal with internal strifes, stirred up by the regionalist militarists and the Communists, and Japanese aggression. Caught between two evils which were domestic and external enemies, Chiang Kai-shek turned to China's past for guidance. In Chinese history and ancient writings, Chiang found precedents which convinced him that before Republican China could resist the Japanese invasion, the country had to achieve internal stability in order to strengthen itself. Hence Chiang's famous catchphrase "domestic stability takes precedence over resisting foreign invasion" (rangwai bixian annei). Influences from China's past taught Chiang that before China was militarily and socially strengthened, it had to appease the invaders to avoid war. Last but not least, past influences prompted Chiang to go after the regional militarists and the Communists who he considered were disrupting the nation and distracting his war effort. In addition to past influences, contemporary affairs of state weighed heavily on Chiang Kai-shek as well. According to a 1934 confidential Kuomintang document, national defense was greatly compromised by financial straits, poor transportation network, gasoline shortage, and low morale among others. The inadequacy in national defense reinforced Chiang's determination to avoid war. The fact that Chiang Kai-shek tried to annihilate the Communists while making concessions to Japan gave rise to the conventional wisdom which holds that the Chinese Communist Party was Nanjing's foremost enemy, not Japan. In fact, this thesis shows that the opposite was true. Historians have yet to reach a unanimous verdict of the wisdom of "rangwai bixian annei." From the historical perspective, however, the policy of putting the house in order before resisting foreign invasion is a long-established Chinese practice. In pursuing this policy, Chiang Kai-shek was going with the historical tide.

Capability and domestic credibility are two essential components of national security, though little has been examined as to the latter. Domestic credibility is a feeling of safety by the public, which is created or damaged by policy process in relation to national government. Japan’s national security policy from the 2000s showed a confrontational posture in relation to China, but its policy of domestic credibility has not been well managed in terms stabilizing relations with China. Postwar Japan adopted a pacifist national security policy in which capability and domestic credibility were harmonized under the 1947 pacifist constitution. Japan had a special relationship with China which was respected under the policy of “China particularism”. Japanese leaders adopted a concessional attitude towards China, making concessions to facilitate friendship diplomacy in the 1970s-80s. In the face of a rising China, this postwar China policy gradually changed and was discredited from the 2000s. Japan’s defence policy came to define China as its object. Pacifist constraints on defence planning and military deployments were weakened and “territorial defence” of the south-west island chain became the leading concept in the 2010s. Japanese neo-conservative political elites adopted non-concessional attitudes over history and the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, and allowed political and security issues to escalate with China. In the U.S-Japan alliance, Japan began to insist on deterrence against China, which was a completely different posture compared to the 1990s when Japan attempted to mitigate the impact of the alliance on China. In view of these changes in capability and external postures, domestic credibility was gradually transformed, but was not stable. Japan increased its defence capability against China, but it only resulted in China’s counter-measures. Japanese neo-conservative non-concessional attitudes resulted in a deterioration of relations with China. Japan’s resort to deterrence through the US alliance was not endorsed by the United States, it was basically domestic language for the Japanese public who believed that the alliance was almighty for Japan’s national security. Japan’s emerging national security was distorted by the inclusion of national pride and did not allow for the stabilization of relations with China. This confrontational policy employed a one-sided public justification and resulted in a polarization of opinion in the Japanese public. National security requires domestic credibility, and without it there may be tensions. How to manage domestic credibility by public justification is the key to the achievement of national security.

Ce mémoire s’intéresse aux conditions qui ont mené à la guerre de six jours de 1967 au Moyen-Orient. Tout particulièrement, mon mémoire investiguera les dynamiques domestiques qui influent sur la prise de décision politique. L’hypothèse principale suppose que le mode de gestion de la société, choisi par le gouvernement au pouvoir, influe et contraint les options de politique étrangère disponibles à celui-ci. . Un régime peut recourir à deux modes de gestion de la société : l’exclusion et l’inclusion, à plusieurs degrés. En fonction du mode de gestion choisi, le gouvernement aura besoin de plus ou moins de ressources pour le mettre en place et pour le préserver. La quantité et la nature des ressources utilisées au niveau domestique contraindront les options de politique étrangère disponibles au régime Les guerres du Moyen-Orient, et la politique étrangère des pays de la région sont souvent interprétées selon des principes réalistes : la recherche du pouvoir et de sécurité guide la politique étrangère. Ce mémoire cherche à souligner l’importance de dynamiques domestiques sur le processus de prise de décision politique, mais également l’influence qu’a le conflit israélo-arabe sur la structure, le fonctionnement et la société des pays concernés.
This thesis looks at the conditions that led to the outbreak of the 1967 Six Day War in the Middle East. Specifically, my thesis investigates the domestic dynamics that influence the political decision-making process. The main hypothesis suggests that the type of societal management chosen by the government in power will influence and determine the foreign policy options available. A regime may choose between two types of societal management: exclusion and inclusion, which can be applied to greater or lesser degrees. Depending on the type of societal management chosen, the government will need more or less resources to implement and maintain it. The quantity and nature of resources used domestically will determine the foreign policy options available to the regime. In the Middle East, wars and foreign policy are often interpreted according to realist principles: the quest for power and safety are said to be the main determinants of foreign policy. This thesis seeks to highlight the importance of domestic dynamics in the process of political decision-making, but also the influence of the Arab-Israeli conflict on the structure, development and society in the countries involved.