Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Wars'

It looks obvious, that a debate about information wars (as well as wars in general) should not disappear from the current research agenda. Internal and external political reasons make military topics periodically appear and vanish.

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2006.
"September 2006."
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-42).
The wandering buffalo of Yellowstone National Park are the subject of a heated debate in the western United States. The animals carry a disease called brucellosis, which infects both buffalo and cattle and has economic consequences for ranchers. Some ranchers fear that buffalo, as they migrate out of Yellowstone in search of forage, will transmit the disease to cattle around the park and jeopardize their financial well-being. The Park Service and other government agencies have tried to control the situation by exercising a lethal form of boundary control for buffalo, though other wildlife species are unregulated. Animal advocates dispute the agencies' tactics. Native Americans wonder why the buffalo are entirely under agency control. The park has become somewhat of a war zone, where the groups quarrel throughout the migratory season. Their disagreement is about much more than the animals themselves, taking root in even older and deeper conflicts. Yet despite the tangled nature of the problem, there may be room for negotiation and eventual resolution.
by Susan L. Nasr.
S.M.in Science Writing

The thesis examines a normative account of war which seeks to regulate warfare through the mechanism of conventions based-on equality and reciprocity between combatants - what is termed the 'regular war paradigm'. It is a view that contrasts sharply with classical just war theory, which rejects the idea of combatant equality. The history of normative thinking about war has often seen the two views become intertwined resulting in deep tensions in a number of the central arguments within contemporary normative theories of war. There are two main. themes to the thesis: first, the continued relevance of the ideas and critiques of the regular war paradigm of limited war; and second, the normative significance of the changing character of contemporary warfare, which represents both a challenge to, but also reiterates the importance of, the regular war approach. The essence of the argument of the thesis is that developing mechanisms for regulating the conduct of war is an important task of normative theories of war and that we therefore have to understand how and when institutions and practices which regulate war operate effectively. The regular war paradigm provides tools to do this in ways that classical just war theory, and its modern heirs, does not. iii To further this argument, the thesis explores the work of several regular war theorists, some of whom are seldom discussed in contemporary normative theory. It is my view that this has led to a failure to adequately recognise the antecedent theories that underlie much of the contemporary discourse, which in turn has contributed to the lack of engagement with the important normative content of the regular war paradigm. Throughout the .. thesis I discuss the work of Michael Walzer, both as a point of reference to situate my arguments, and to highlight the neglect among prominent contemporary war theorists of regular war ideas. The aim is to illustrate the continuing significance of regular war arguments, to explore weaknesses in the contemporary discourse on just war, and to recast the discussion of the normative problems we face in 21 st century wars. I am not attempting to simply restore the regular war paradigm for the 21st century, but to illustrate the continuing relevance of regular war ideas and institutions and to provide additional ways of arguing against those who think the equality of combatants in war is morally misguided. Structure of the thesis In traduction: The Introduction sets out the theoretical debates that provide the contemporary setting for the thesis. Primarily, I highlight the fundamental division within normative theory between the just war and the regular war paradigms. I explain these paradigms' divergent perspectives on the relationship between politics and war, and outline the regular war tradition's emphasis on developing effective rules for restraint in war. The Introduction also sets out the background assumptions which guide my approach to the thesis; specifically I outline a value-pluralist account of political conduct, and discuss the implications of this view for perspectives on conflict and political institutions. Chapter 1: The purpose of this chapter is to explain the central goal of the regular war paradigm of limiting war. It does so by setting out and explaining the concept of conventional war. This discussion, which draws on the work of Emerich de Vattel, illustrates how the idea of political legitimacy, the equality of belligerents, and rules based on reciprocity underpin the formation of conventions in war. The chapter also demonstrates how the concrete content of contemporary conventions developed out of the military practices of 19th and 20th century European armies. A key point of this chapter is that the important role that conventions play in restraining war is based on the assumptions of the regular war perspective. This understanding helps us see more clearly how conventions operate, but also how they are vulnerable to changes in military practice. v Chapter 2: Chapter 2 aims to further explain how the regular war perspective operates, by examining Clausewitz's account of the link between the political aims of war and how war is fought. Clausewitz's theories are often depicted by contemporary normative theorists as being empty of normative content. I, however, argue that contrary to common interpretations, (~au.sewitz offers significant insights into the operation of limited war through his emphasis on the importance of political control in war. Further, I also argue that the current trend towards irregular war reaffirms the importance of Clausewitz's focus on war's political character. This conclusion also points to the relevance of the regular paradigm for understanding and limiting contemporary wars. Chapter 3: The objective of Chapter 3 is to explore one of the regular war perspective's most powerful critiques of just war theory, by showing how classical just war theory is not able to provide an adequate answer to the question of how to achieve restraint in war. The chapter discusses Carl Schmitt's account of regular war to argue that the just war approach promotes a disposition in combatants and belligerent political communities which is actively detrimental to restraint. Schmitt's account stresses that, under conditions of political conflict, institutions based in equality and reciprocity of belligerents are crucial to the 'bracketing' of war. Contrary to the just war view, moral symmetry between combatants is a crucial feature of such institutions. Chapter 4: Drawing on the ideas set out in previous chapters, Chapter 4 argues that fairness is a crucial component of normativity in war, from both a consequentialist and a deontic perspective. The argument rejects the position Walzer sets out in Just and Unjust Wars that fairness - understood as rough equality of capabilities between belligerents - is not normatively important in war. Contrary to Walzer, I show how fairness is an essential component for creating institutions to regulate warfare, and as such is a necessary - though not sufficient - condition for restraint in war. The chapter highlights the role of fairness in fostering a sense of reciprocity between combatants, and in creating a relationship between combatants where restraint becomes a possibility. I argue, therefore, that the critical importance of fairness is a central insight flowing from the regular war paradigm, one which should be seen as significant for how we judge the conduct of contemporary conflicts. Chapter 5: Chapter 5 seeks to apply the insights of the regular war paradigm to war in the 21st century, by examining the depth and scope of the changes in military practice since the mid-20th century and their implications for restraint in war. Following this discussion I argue that the moral challenge posed by new weapon systems such as drones is that they break down the relationship between belligerents which is fundamental to establishing restraint in war. As such, drones contribute to the prevalence of irregular wars, and essentially vii eliminate the boundary between the battlefield and civil society. This critique opens up a new way of conceptualisin.g the wrong that is specific to the inherent features of robotic weapons systems, and provides a focus point for those who would argue against their use. -

Religious elements are not uncommon in the field of popular culture, especially regarding movies, and the Star Wars series have implemented all sorts of different religious themes and religious symbolisms, almost as a sort of religious melting pot. This work, however, seeks to isolate and focus on a singular religious tradition. This essay aims to examine if, and what kinds of Christian elements are present in the first Star Wars trilogy. To determine what kind of religious and Christian elements that are present in the source material, which consist of the three original Star Wars films, episode IV through VI. The films were analyzed by using a hermeneutic theory and method, which would allow an interpretation of elements in the films which later could be considered religious and directly Christian, by connecting them to direct and indirect connotations in the Bible and Christian theology like that of Martin Luther. The results of the analysis show a few different kinds of Christian elements to be found in the first three movies. The results consist of: Names and symbols, Christian thematic in scenes and three overarching themes, salvation, Luke Skywalker as a messiah’s character, and different interpretations of the Force. An example of the results is regarding Martin Luther and sola fide and how that connection can be made to Star Wars. In the scene where this connection is made, we see our protagonist Luke Skywalker, using faith, and faith alone do destroy the Death Star, thereby redeeming not only himself but also the rebel alliance, which in turn can be likened as a symbol for the resurrection of Christ.

The first browser war took place during the second half the 1990s, and Internet Explorer cameout as the winner over Netscape Navigator. Today a new browser war is being fought withmany competitors and the future is uncertain. The purpose of the thesis is to find out how theweb browser market has developed since the start of the previous conflict, and we ask ourselveshow it will continue to develop in the future. This is accomplished with, among otherthings, interviews, tests and already existing statistics. The thesis' conclusions shows that theweb browser market has developed in a positive way from several perspectives, both for theusers as well as for the web developers. The conclusions also show that the web browser market'sfuture looks stable and indicate a probability that the browser war will transition into anormal, healthy market situation with several competitors.The first browser war took place during the second half the 1990s, and Internet Explorer cameout as the winner over Netscape Navigator. Today a new browser war is being fought withmany competitors and the future is uncertain. The purpose of the thesis is to find out how theweb browser market has developed since the start of the previous conflict, and we ask ourselveshow it will continue to develop in the future. This is accomplished with, among otherthings, interviews, tests and already existing statistics. The thesis' conclusions shows that theweb browser market has developed in a positive way from several perspectives, both for theusers as well as for the web developers. The conclusions also show that the web browser market'sfuture looks stable and indicate a probability that the browser war will transition into anormal, healthy market situation with several competitors.

This thesis takes as its focus book I of Procopius' Persian Wars in an attempt to investigate both the events it describes and the way in which they are reported. A two-fold approach has therefore been employed, on the one hand dealing with the actual events, and on the other with Procopius' handling of them compared to that of other sources. While the first chapter thus considers Procopius himself and the genre of 'classicising' history, the second provides the fifth-century background to the events. Subsequent chapters generally consider the events in question first, before going on to examine Procopius' account in detail. The third chapter investigates Procopius' information on Sasanian history and the Hephthalite Huns, which is remarkably detailed. The following chapter considers his account of the war waged against the Persians under the Emperor Anastasius (502-506), and concludes that he is offering a very partial account. Chapters five and six consider the centrepiece of Persian Wars I: the campaigns of 530 and 531, including Belisarius' victory at Dara and defeat at Callinicum. Close comparison with the chronicler John Malalas is undertaken in the case of the latter battle. Chapter seven analyses Procopius' excursus into southern Arabian affairs. where he seems to have had access to good geographical and historical information. Chapter eight considers the final events reported in Persian Wars I, which, it is argued, were added at a later stage; his account of the Nika riot in Constantinople is omitted from consideration, but his final detailed excursus on internal Persian history and his report on the coup at Dara are examined. A conclusion is offered at the end, emphasising the general accuracy of Procopius, particularly concerning events of his own day, and seeking to account for his selectiveness in the deployment of information.

Mestrado em Estudos Ingleses
Esta tese propõe-se a procurar explicações para a popularidade da saga de filmes levando em linha de conta o contexto cultural e histórico no qual A Guerra das Estrelas encontrou a sua génese. Desde os primeiros anos de vida do mentor da saga, George Lucas, fontes de inspiração para a série de filmes são exploradas, e ligações são estabelecidas com outros objectos culturais previamente existentes ou posteriores à saga. Premissa central a esta tese é a de que A Guerra das Estrelas veicula, por parte do seu autor uma leitura alternativa à história recente dos Estados Unidos, particularmente à participação norte-americana na guerra do Vietnam. O caminho proposto foi o do Mito como fator regenerador. Seguindo a uma abordagem teórica relativa ao contributo de diferentes disciplinas para o estudo do Mito tais como antropologia, história, psicologia, religião, semiologia ou sociologia; é abordada a forma como são endereçadas política e ideologia na saga de filmes. Uma análise relativa ao género cinematográfico, tendo em consideração a fluidez do conceito, ajuda a identificar a saga de filmes como transcendendo género, englobando elementos relativos à ficção-científica, ao Western ou mesmo à telenovela. O derradeiro capítulo discrimina personagens arquetípicas (heróis, vilões e mentores) que fortalecem o argumento de que a saga de filmes alcançou o estatuto de mito na sociedade contemporânea.
This thesis aims to search for explanations for the popularity of the saga of films taking into consideration the cultural and historical background in which Star Wars had its genesis. From the early years in the life of its creator, George Lucas, sources of inspiration for the space opera are explored, and connections to other previously exiting or posterior cultural objects are made. Central to this thesis is also the idea that Star Wars elicits on behalf of its creator an alternative reading of recent American history, particularly of the Vietnam War. The route proposed was that of Myth as a significant healing factor. Following a theoretical approach to the contribution of different subjects to the study of Myth such as anthropology, history, psychology, religion, semiology or sociology; the way ideology and politics are addressed in the Star Wars saga are the focus of attention and study. An analysis of film genre, bearing in mind the fluidity of the concept, helps to identify this saga of films as transcending genre, encompassing elements from science-fiction, to the Western or even soap opera. The final chapter discriminates archetypal characters (heroes, villains, mentors) who are consistent with the argument that the saga of films has itself achieved the status of influential myth in contemporary society.

In this thesis, I examine how claims regarding the environmental and health impacts of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” are constructed by industry advocates who promote the practice and environmental and social justice groups who reject it. More specifically, I examine the cultural underpinnings of the debate over fracking, and the prominence of gender as a central framing device in that debate. While the controversy over fracking is often presented as scientific or technical in nature, I maintain that it is as much a culture war as it is a science war. I demonstrate this by showing how both pro-fracking and anti-fracking groups mobilize cultural symbols and identities—motherhood, environmentalism, family farming, family values, individualism, and patriotism among them—in order to persuade the public and advocate for their positions. I contend that engagement with the cultural and ideological dimensions of those debates, including their gendered dimensions, is as important as engagement with its scientific and technical dimensions. Ultimately, I argue that a greater focus on gender contributes to our understanding of environmental risk more broadly, and to the field of environmental sociology as a whole. As such, gender deserves more scholarly attention within the field than it is currently receiving.

The aim of this thesis is to enhance our understanding of Swedish marine insurers' choices of business strategies under the potentially difficult business circumstances of the interwar period 1918-1939. Little previous research exists on marine insurance during the interwar period. This is remarkable in the Swedish context since the Swedish economy has traditionally depended on its exports. The focus on Sweden is justified since the Swedish insurance market saw regulatory stability during the interwar period. It was also characterised by the coexistence of stock and mutual insurers, allowing this thesis to contribute with insights on potentially problematic insurance cartelisaton. This thesis employs a mixed methods design, including qualitative methods and regression analysis. To interpret results, this thesis employs insurance risk theory, cartel theory, theories on reinsurance and risk diversification, and agency theory. By employing this combination of theories, it is possible to explain choices and outcomes of adopted strategies both with reference to particularities of marine insurance and with reference to particularities of the two different organisational forms. The results show that the insurers conceived several new characteristics of their business environment as challenges and implemented both cartel strategies and company-specific strategies of risk diversification. Among the challenges were rapid inflation, rapidly decreasing prices and business volumes in shipping and trade, the introduction of motor ships, and the existence of naval mines on many trade routes. Also, exchange-rate fluctuations were considered to cause losses on established marine insurance contracts and rendered business results uncertain. Swedish insurers adopted cartel strategies from 1918 through The Swedish Association of Marine Underwriters (Sjöassuradörernas Förening) since they had anticipated a post-war crisis. Market division agreements were adopted for the most attractive market segments, but eventually price agreements became the primary cartel strategy, supported by prohibitions of competition. The work on price agreements sometimes increased the market efficiency since it reduced uncertainty, for instance in insurance of cargo with motor ships. Few price agreements were however adopted for the insurance of shipping since that market segment was dominated by mutual insurers, highlighting the difficulties of cartelisation in insurance markets inhabited by both stock and mutual insurers. The cartel further adopted reinsurance agreements to create barriers to entry in the Swedish marine insurance market. It however experienced prominent difficulties to implement the cartel strategies. One prominent difficulty of implementation was cheating. Also international competition created difficulties. The cartel companies therefore engaged in international cartelisation through The International Union of Marine Insurance (Internationaler Tranport-Versicherungs-Verband) from the late 1920s. This international cartel sought to reduce international competition by agreements not to compete in foreign markets. It also sought to manage the exchange-rate fluctuations of the early 1920s and the early 1930s by agreements among marine insurers, but it failed to obtain sufficient support. In spite of cartelisation, the returns on marine insurance were pushed down by the recognized challenges during the early 1920s, inflicting losses. The business however recovered and remained profitable throughout the 1930s, showing that the great depression was not as great as the deflation crisis in marine insurance. Exchange-rate fluctuations affected the international competitive strength of both stock and mutual insurers and additionally influenced the stock insurers' returns on established marine insurance contracts. The insurers were however compensated for the poor marine business results of the early 1920s by greater reliance than previously on reinsurers and by diversification among insurance lines, which rendered profits less negative than the returns on marine insurance. The business ceded to reinsurers on average inflicted losses during each of the first seven years of the 1920s. These losses were indirectly caused by World War I since that war had caused the establishment of new reinsurers in different countries, not the least in Scandinavia, and in turn caused over capacity during the 1920s. New contractual formulations evolved internationally to the benefit of ceding insurers, indicating information asymmetries. Exits became frequent among reinsurers. In effect, into the 1930s, ceding insurers internationally found it difficult to obtain obligatory reinsurance treaties. During the early 1920s, the Swedish stock marine insurers also increasingly diversified their insurance businesses among insurance lines. This process had been catalysed by World War I, was accelerated during the 1920s, and continued into the 1930s.
Syftet med denna avhandling är att förståeliggöra svenska marinförsäkringsbolags val av affärsstrategier under mellankrigstiden 1918-1939, en period som kännetecknades av potentiellt svåra affärsförhållanden. Försäkringsverksamhet är känslig för ekonomiska kriser, men har uppmärksammats mindre än bankverksamhet när det gäller mellankrigstiden. Inte minst marinförsäkring är känslig för ekonomiska kriser eftersom de försäkrade verksamheterna, sjöfart och handel, endast förekommer i den mån som transporterade varor efterfrågas. Tidigare forskning har endast i liten omfattning fokuserat på marinförsäkring, vilket ur ett svenskt perspektiv kan tyckas anmärkningsvärt med tanke på att den svenska ekonomin har i hög grad varit beroende av sjöburen handel. En studie av svensk marinförsäkring är motiverad ur ett internationellt perspektiv eftersom den svenska försäkringslagstiftningen förblev i stort sett oförändrad under perioden, vilket gör det rimligt att tolka marinförsäkringsbolags val av affärsstrategier som svar på ekonomiska omständigheter. Under mellankrigstiden var katellstrategier ett vanligt svar på svåra affärsförhållanden i olika verksamheter, men kartellisering var potentiellt problematisk i marinförsäkring eftersom den verksamheten är internationell och eftersom marinförsäkring är en heterogen produkt. Dessutom befolkades den svenska försäkringsmarknaden av både aktiebolag och ömsesidiga bolag, vilket är ett ytterligare potentiellt hinder för kartellisering. Studier av kartellisering under potentiallt svåra förutsättningar kan bidra med insikter om under vilka förutsättningar karteller uppstår, vilket ytterligare motiverar studien. Denna avhandling analyserar även två företagsspecifika riskdiversifieringsstrategier, som potentiellt kan kompensera för låg avkastning på mottagen försäkring, nämligen återförsäkring och diversifiering mellan försäkringsgrenar. Återförsäkring har av tidigare forskning framhållits som ett underutforskat område. Avhandlingen tillämpar både kvalitativa och kvantitativa undersökningsmetoder. För att uttolka de empiriska resultaten tillämpas riskteori för försäkring, kartellteori, återförsäkringsteori, riskdiversifieringsteori, samt incitamentsteori på företagsnivå (agency theory). Denna kombination av teorier gör det möjligt att förklara strategival med utgångspunkt både i marinförsäkringens karaktäristika och i de båda olika organisationsformers karaktäristika. Resultaten visar att försäkringsbolagen noterade ett antal nya affärsförhållanden som utmaningar och att dessa bolag implementerade både kartellstrategier och företagsspecifika riskdiversifieringsstrategier. Bland de noterade utmaningarna märks snabb inflation, snabbt fallande priser och affärsvolymer i sjöfart och handel, införandet av motorfartyg, samt sjöminor på många fartygsrutter. Försäkringsbolagen behärskade endast lite erfarenhet av risker associerade med motorfartyg och sjöminor, vilket gjorde riskbedömningar osäkra. Även växelkursfluktuationer uppfattades som utmaningar eftersom de orsakade förluster på etablerade marinförsäkringskontrakt och skapade problem att förutsäga affärsresultaten. Från 1918 antog svenska marinförsäkringsbolag kartellstrategier genom branschorganisationen Sjöassuradörernas Förening, detta eftersom de förväntade sig en efterkrigskris. Marknadsuppdelningsavtal infördes i attraktiva marknadssegment, men med tiden blev prisöverenskommelser den främsta kartellstrategin, understödd av avtal som förbjöd konkurrens. Arbetet med prisöverenskommelser ökade marknadseffektiviteten i vissa marknadssegment, detta genom att reducera osäkerheten i riskbedömningarna. Ett tydligt exempel på ett sådant marknadssegment är försäkring av varor transporterade med motorfartyg. Kartellen etablerade däremot få prisöverenskommelser för försäkring av sjöfart eftersom detta marknadssegment dominerades av ömsesidiga försäkringsbolag. Denna kontrast mellan varuförsäkring och sjöfartsförsäkring belyser svårigheterna med att kartellisera en försäkringsmarknad som befolkas både av aktiebolag och av ömsesidiga bolag. Kartellen antog också återförsäkringsavtal i syfte att skapa etableringshinder på den svenska försäkringsmarknaden. Den upplevde emellertid svårigheter att implementera överenskommelserna, såsom brott mot prisöverenskommelserna och mot konkurrensförbuden. Ytterligare svårigheter skapades av internationell konkurrens. Från slutet av 1920-talet deltog därför kartellbolagen i den internationella marinförsäkringskartellen Internationaler Tranport-Versicherungs-Verband (senare benämnd The International Union of Marine Insurance). Medlemsbolagen i denna internationella kartell skapade överenskommelser med innebörden att utländska försäkringstagare inte skulle erbjudas försäkring. Dessa överenskommelser syftade till att reducera den internationella konkurrensen. Denna kartell försökte också reducera effekterna för marinförsäkringsbolag av växelkursfluktuationer genom överenskommelser om hur växelkurser skulle beräknas i marinförsäkringsfrågor. Sådana försök gjordes både under de första åren av 1920-talet och under de första åren av 1930-talet. Det avsedda resultatet kunde emellertid inte nås, detta eftersom uppslutningen förblev otillräcklig. Trots kartelliseringen reducerades avkastningen på marinförsäkring till förlustnivåer under det tidiga 1920-talet. Avkastningen förbättrades sedan stegvis och förblev positiv under 1930-talet. I marinförsäkring var alltså den stora depression inte lika stor som deflationskrisen. Växelkursfluktuationer påverkade både aktiebolags och ömsesidiga bolags internationella konkurrenskraft. Dessutom påverkade växelkurserna aktiebolagens avkastning på etablerade marinförsäkringskontrakt. Försäkringsbolagen kompenserades för 1920-talets förlustresultat i marinförsäkring genom ökad cedering av risk till återförsäkringsbolag och genom diversifiering av de mottagna riskerna mellan olika försäkringsgrenar. Under 1920-talet var bolagens vinster därför mindre negativa än resultaten i marinförsäkring. Den affär som cederades till återförsäkringsbolag var i genomsnitt förlustbringande under vart och ett av 1920-talets första sju år. Dessa förluster orsakades indirekt av första världskriget, eftersom det kriget stimulerade etablering av nya återförsäkringsbolag, detta i olika länder och inte minst i Skandinavien. I förlängningen skapade första världskriget därmed överkapacitet på återförsäkringsmarknaden. Nya kontraktsformuleringar introducerades internationellt till de cederande bolagens fördel. Detta förhållande indikerar informationsasymmetrier i relationen mellan cederande och mottagande försäkringsbolag. Många återförsäkringsbolag lämnade marknaden. Resultatet blev att cederande bolag under början av 1930-talet i olika länder fick svårigheter att sluta obligatoriska återförsäkringsavtal. Under början av 1920-talet diversifierade aktiebolagen också sin verksamhet mellan olika försäkringsgrenar. Denna process katalyserades av första världskriget, accelererade under början av 1920-talet och fortsatte in på 1930-talet.

We're in an alternate universe, circa Dickensian London. Leofric Lieven, a local crime lord, is about to find the past catching up on him. The Romany Carnival has come to town, and a gypsy woman, his former lover and partner in crime, demands from him a favour which will redress his betrayal of years before: he must secure a stolen object and return it to her. But things go horribly wrong when local delivery boy Cards Bennish is kidnapped by Leofric’s competitor before he can deliver the goods that will cover Leofric's debt to the gypsy. In this world, humans can shape shift into animals, entirely or only partially, dog fighting is the favourite pastime for high stakes betting, and power belongs to the highest bidder. The gypsy’s final bet, for the highest stakes yet, will seal the fates of a number of people, for better or worse

The first part of this thesis, Between The Wars, is a novel based on the life and work of pacifist and social reformer Muriel Lester. It is an interrogation of the beliefs that inspired her, the christian pacifist movement she was a part of, and the challenge of living out the values of peace through two world wars. The novel is also an exploration of the relationship between activism and fiction, and the possibility of representing Lester's ideas in fictional form. The second part of the thesis discusses the process of writing an activist novel that seeks change and yet allows, indeed encourages, the reader to question its beliefs. Idealistic, complex, unflinching, and yet ultimately likeable, Muriel Lester is a challenge to the familiar narratives of 20th century history. Yet the closer to her activism the novel gets, the less certain it becomes, the more it casts itself into question.

For many cultural commentators, the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) signalled a new era in which technological advances transformed warfare into what Jean Baudrillard refers to as a virtual experience epitomised by “surgical strikes” and “smart-bombs”. In contrast, the Iraq War (2003-2009) was hailed by many as a return to a more conventional form of combat in which soldiers fought their enemy in face-to-face interactions. This thesis argues that such an analysis of the conflicts overlooks the complexity of the war experience for many Gulf and Iraq War combatants. It therefore seeks to construct a reading of the literary responses to these conflicts, including novels, memoirs, and poetry, as well as alternative forms of narrative, which acknowledges the complexity of each war. Whilst it is important to recognise the ways in which Gulf War combatants experienced virtual war and Iraq War soldiers experienced guerrilla warfare, it is equally important to acknowledge the ways in which these conflicts resisted popular perceptions of them, and how this incongruence affected the combatants. The specificity of each of these conflicts produced multiple literary responses which indicate that combatants‟ fragmented experiences of contemporary war often resulted in a crisis of the unified self. This thesis undertakes a thematic study of US identities in the existing corpus of Gulf and Iraq War narratives, addressing the ways in which the unique nature of each conflict shaped soldiers‟ experience of war, how transformations in military technology impacted on the perceived gendering of the military, and how technology affected national identity and the perception of the “other”. Crucially, it also examines the ways in which new communication technologies enabled Iraqi civilians to write back to Western discourses of the latter conflict.

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary approach that studies the relationship between power, language, ideology, and social structures in the various forms of discourse.  Fairclough’s three-dimensional model was employed as the foundation and van Dijk’s ideological square as an assist to deepen the analytical focus on the speeches held by George H. W Bush addressing Somalia and Kuwait. The size of conflict and period differ, this study sees the relevance of comparing the two speeches since they were given by the same person during his period as presidents of the United States and Commander in Chief. The results have shown how Bush uses language to lay arguments for U.S. military action in the out-group nations. By employing concepts such as national self-glorification, empathy, lexicalization, victimization, and polarization: He lay the grounds for the U.S. interventions through language. The results show that representing the United States in a positive light and the out-groups in a negative light e.g. as threat leads to the justification for U.S. intervention but also exposes the underlying power structures and inequality of power.

The Indian wars of early New England were traumatic events. During King Philip's, King William's, and Queen Anne's Wars (1675 to 1715) dozens of towns sustained attacks, and English communities and their inhabitants were buffeted and challenged by the experience. The scholarship on colonial warfare and New England as a whole has focused on change and development that occurred as a result of these wars. War places great stress on individuals and societies, forcing them to act in new ways and often to reevaluate and abandon old habits. New Englanders and their communities did change dramatically as a result of repeated wars with the region's natives and their French allies. Yet New Englanders were also resistant to change, and this persistence of core culture ideals is often as historians analyze the transformation of New England from colonies to provinces.;Beyond the extensive physical damage, the conflicts challenged the identities and values of English colonists in myriad ways. In the midst of battle, many men failed to live up to the expectations of their gender, while some women stepped beyond theirs to act in a manly fashion. Despite the troubling behavior of cowardly men and manly women, gender norms and roles in New England did not change under the pressures of Indian wars, in part due to the uncoordinated management by ecclesiastical and political leaders of the narratives of the conflicts. Alternately chastising and praising their constituents, leaders offered examples of "proper" behavior, reasserted control over "amazons" and "viragos," and created larger-than-life heroes.;Indian raids forced hundreds of English settlers from their homes, putting great stress on towns and colonies and creating the dilemma of either aiding refugees (and abandoning the traditional insular nature of towns) or excluding and expelling them (failing John Winthrop's exhortation to bind together). Historians argue that traditional aid through family and towns was incapable of meeting the demand. Instead, New England's governments responded by relieving towns of this responsibility. However, this aid was actually limited and narrowly directed. Towns remained exclusive, gathering in those they were obliged to aid through familial or proprietary connections and allowing outsiders to remain only conditionally. Following the natural hierarchy of their community, refugees sought to support themselves before turning to family and friends, and sought town and colony aid only when traditional sources were exhausted.;Finally, in the midst of Indian wars, New Englanders often had to "dispose of" captured Indians. Having suffered grievously in the wars, New Englanders might have abandoned the law (albeit English law for Englishmen) and exacted revenge. Many prisoners suffered vigilante justice, and others faced servitude or public execution after a formal trial. New Englanders are rightly criticized for their actions, but while the colonists' treatment of prisoners was "uncivil" by modern standards, when viewed through the context of the time, New England's leaders tempered the "rage of the people," and the colonies remained within bounds of tradition and law.;New Englanders resisted changes to the core cultural ideas and institutions of patriarchy, localized community, and morality based in English law. Though these notions of gender, community, and morality were battered by war, they survived and remained central to New England identity.

The twentieth century was a convulsive one in terms of wars, political conflicts and terrorism. Crime is now more international than it has ever been before. These days, geographical borders do not limit any war; conflicts are cross-border. The nature of armed conflicts has suffered a deep transformation. The most relevant change is moving from state-financed wars to armed conflicts financed by private parties with dark financial interests. The end of the Cold War established the end of an era where the State had the central role in the establishment and financing of the conflict. We now speak about “New Wars” (Kaldor, 2012). State armies no longer characterise the conflicts of the post-Cold War era; states have lost the monopoly of violence (Munkler, 2002). The new actors leading the “new wars” are local warlords, paramilitary units, criminal gangs and mercenary groups who challenge the authority of the state (Kaldor, 2013). Currently, the figures by IISS (“Institute for International Strategic Studies”) reflect 42 active conflicts and two global, Al Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State). Crime has expanded internationally and can affect directly or indirectly each single individual; and civil wars have not only national consequences but also international ones. These days, no matter where we are, we cannot hide and we can always be the targets of any type of crime. Fear lives among us in airports, in trains or even at our office. However, we should be aware of the moral, legal and political responsibility that we, developed world, have on the on-going conflicts in the developing countries. Despite the lack of acknowledgment in the official discourse, most of the natural resources nourishing the current conflicts are destined to the consumer market in the developed countries. We could be supporting financially an on-going civil war somewhere in the world with only the simplest act of buying a mobile phone. Mobile phones contain a very little portion of a mineral called Coltan, short for Columbite-Tantalite. This Coltan most probably has been extracted in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Nonetheless, the phone producer might have bought the Coltan in Rwanda. The way our little portion of Coltan went from DRC to Rwanda was probably illegal. The consequences of this “conflict” trade are linked to the nature of the current armed conflicts and to the reasons for the contemporary conflicts. If we can analyse what are the causes, then, could we envisage what are the solutions? There is a large number of scholarly and political studies about the political economy of many of our contemporary armed conflicts, especially those characterised by the predatory exploitation of natural resources and the criminalisation of economic life (Berdal and Malone, 2000). The common point among these conflicts is mainly their “self-financing” nature. These war economies are based on the illegal trade of natural resources facilitated by the economic globalisation and the financial market liberalization. As we will see in this work, civil wars can have a contagion effect upon adjacent countries. It is this complicated reality of intra-state wars that presents policymakers with a twofold challenge. Firstly, to assess accurately the impact of resource predation on the economics and dynamics of the conflict. Secondly, to develop and implement effective policies of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding (Ballentine and Nitzsche, 2005). Traditionally, scholars focused on the study of the economic dimensions of inter-state wars. However after the Cold War, studies began to focus on the intra-state conflicts as it has been demonstrated that countries with an abundance of natural resources show macroeconomic instability, high level of corruption, oppressive elites and increasing level of poverty. This is known as the “paradox of plenty”, or the “resource curse”, as for these countries, resource wealth is more a curse than a blessing. This work intends to be an overview of the economics of armed conflicts. We focus on those conflicts that are financed by the exploitation of natural resources and we run some empirical analysis on the effect of governmental measures to control or promote war. We aim to raise awareness on the lack of social and political accountability from governments and international institutions of the developed world on the current conflicts financed by the illicit trade of natural resources in developing countries. Our first chapter provides the reader with a general background on the economics and dynamics of armed conflict and gives an update on the current theories and findings. We analyse what is an armed conflict and offer a comprehensive analysis of the dimensions that define the nature and type of war. We characterise the different types of wars as per location and scope; and we also examine the diverse opinions of scholars on the causal roles of economic factors in civil wars and how natural resources are linked to conflict. In the last section, we evaluate the possible solutions that United Nations might implement in order to achieve conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Chapter 2 provides a general overview of the political and economic environment in DRC, a country rich in natural resources, and especially in Coltan. That is the product to which we will pay special attention in Chapter 3 when we analyse the competitive interaction in the labour market between governments and producers. We introduce in Chapter 3 a different set of models, theoretical and empirical where we evaluate the effects of governmental responses (economic policy tools), which are often presented in the political discourse as mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution. We analyse the effect of a tax on product and tax on profits in an economy where market and war activities exist at the same time. We suggest a novel approach to the interaction between markets and war activities. Specifically the former are assumed to both favour war by generating the resources necessary to sustain it, as well as compete with war activities in a labour market in which both workers and soldiers are recruited. We argue that war activities in two different countries may be interdependent as long as production and exports in an international market make the two countries’ producers interact with each other. In such a framework, strategic substitutability in the product market should be combined with strategic relations between economic and war activities in each country to determine the predicted strategic relation between war activities across countries.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att utföra en jämförande strukturanalys samt utforska hjältekaraktärernas motivation och moral i filmerna Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope samt dess uppföljare Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. Metoden som används har utformats från Christopher Voglers omarbetade version av Joseph Campbells hjälteresa. Resultatet av analysen visar på flera likheter i strukturen av filmerna samt hjältarnas motivation och moral. Uppföljaren använder dock en medvetenhet om de liknelser som den drar och lyckas därmed skapa en egen unik historia som vävs samman med de redan existerande elementen från originalet.

The present licentiate thesis analyses developments in Swedish marine insurance during the interwar period, including both direct marine insurance and marine reinsurance. This is done in order to provide insights on how companies of a highly internationalised and vulnerable line of insurance were affected by and responded to new risks during a period of far-reaching international financial and economic crises. Finally, the consequences of new risks and strategies are assessed. This thesis argues that during the interwar period Swedish maritime trade and Swedish marine insurance greatly depended on each other for marine insurance cover and marine insurance premium incomes. The business results in Swedish marine insurance partly depended on the development of Swedish trade. These business results were also vulnerable to currency risks. Swedish marine insurers faced no similar trade or currency risks during the two decades preceding World War I, and accordingly the returns on Swedish marine insurance were lower during the interwar period than during the last two pre-war decades. These factors probably bore their most severe consequences during the early 1920s when Swedish marine insurance on average induced losses to insurers. The remaining years of the period constituted a long-run recovery, and the Great Depression of the early 1930s caused no difficulties of the same order. This thesis also indicates that interwar Swedish marine insurers responded to new risks by increasing the level of cession to reinsurers. Another response was to increase the level of differentiation among insurance lines. This thesis describes the consequences of new risks and strategies in interwar Swedish marine insurance, focusing on the development of the Swedish marine insurance market structure and on the business results of Swedish marine insurers. Though this market shrunk and grew excessively, the relative importance of stock and mutual insurers showed only minor fluctuations. The importance of specialised marine reinsurance companies, however, fluctuated greatly. Also, cooperation between interwar marine insurers and the formation of insurance groups set new trends of concentration for the future. Finally, even though Swedish marine insurance during some years induced losses the Swedish marine insurers never experienced true losses on their total businesses.

Multiple myeloma is characterized by the malignant proliferation of clonal plasma cells producing monoclonal paraproteins, leading to multi-organ damage. On the other hand monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBCL) is characterized by the malignant proliferation of clonal B-lymphocytes, with potential to develop into chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). CLL/SLL can result in visceromegaly, anemia, thrombocytopenia, fevers, night sweats and unintentional weight loss. Literature review demonstrates these two malignant clonal bone marrow disorders are most frequently seen independently in patients; however, we report one rare diagnostic challenge where both clonal disorders were identified in a single patient concurrently. A 64-year-old man initially presented with worsening back pain. Thoracic spine x-ray revealed a T11 compression fracture, confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. Complete blood count revealed a white blood cell count of 7.3 K/uL with 54% lymphocyte predominance and peripheral smear demonstrated a population of small lymphocytes with round nuclei and an atypical chromatin pattern suggestive of CLL/MBCL. Flow cytometry revealed a monoclonal B-cell CD5 positive, CD23 positive, CD10 negative population with an absolute count of 1.6 K/uL. Due to the instability and pain associated with the spinal fracture, patient had kyphoplasty performed and intraoperative bone biopsies were taken from both T11 and T12 vertebrae. Interestingly each bone biopsy revealed involvement by both a kappa-light chain restricted plasma cell neoplasm, ranging from 15% to 30% cellularity, as well as a CD5-positive B-cell lymphocyte population. It suggested two concurrent but pathologically distinct pathologies including plasma cell myeloma and a separate B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder with immunophenotypic features suggestive of CLL/MBCL. Bone marrow biopsy was performed for definitive evaluation and confirmed multiple myeloma with 15-20% kappa-restricted plasma cells identified, and also confirmed concurrent MBCL with CD5 and CD23-positive, kappa-restricted B-cells identified on bone marrow flow cytometry. Adding an additional layer of complexity, bone marrow molecular genetics revealed presence of a MYD88 mutation, raising concern for possible lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL). However, secondary pathologic review ruled out LPL, as the immunophenotypic pattern of the clonal B-cells was not consistent with that of LPL, and although the MYD88 mutation is predominantly seen in LPL, it has also been seen in a small percentage of CLL/SLL cases and exceedingly rarely described in MM as well. Serum protein electrophoresis with immunofixation, serum quantitative immunoglobulins and serum quantitative free light chain assay revealed findings consistent with IgG kappa multiple myeloma and systemic CT imaging was negative for any lymphadenopathy, confirming MBCL. Patient was started on first-line multiple myeloma systemic therapy for transplant eligible patients and has demonstrated an excellent response to treatment thus far. This patient case serves to demonstrate the importance of maintaining a broad differential when approaching hematological problems; It also underlines the necessity for a complete diagnostic evaluation to identify rare clinical conundrums such as with our patient, allowing for proper and timely treatment. While we use “Occam’s razor” to explain multiple problems with a single unifying diagnosis the rare possibility of divergent diagnosis is to be always entertained.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on April 29, 2009) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Ghost Wars: the politics of war commemoration: research into dissenting views to war and other aspects of the Australian experience of war that are marginalised by the Australian War Memorial. A study taking the form of an exhibition of a filmic (video) essay, which comprises the outcome of the Studio Practice component, together with the Exegesis which documents the nature of the course of study undertaken, and the Dissertation, which comprises 33% of the Thesis.

English
Ph.D.
My dissertation explores a turn in British literature back toward naturalism in the late modernist period, a literary move I call unnaturalism to refer to the way it resembles but deviates from the classic naturalist tradition of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. In the 1930s, Virginia Woolf, Samuel Beckett, Jean Rhys, and George Orwell separately play with the form that can best merge literature and politics. The resulting novels—The Years (1937), Murphy (1938), Good Morning, Midnight (1939), and Coming Up for Air (1939)—might not all look like naturalism, but they share a concern with determinism and social conditions, a tendency toward extreme external detail, and an engagement with contemporary scientific and medical discourse. Socially and politically engaged, these writers work to expose the mechanics behind the ‘natural’ order and reveal social determinism misrepresented as biological determinism. Rather than work to disprove or deny this way of understanding the world, the novels of my study complicate all singular understandings of human development. In short, these writers recover naturalist conventions in order to expose a functional determinism that is not rooted in biology—is not, in another word, natural—but rather constructed and reconstructed by contemporary discourses. By focusing on the details of the immediate, individual experience of women and economic or national outsiders, unnaturalists seek a more accurate presentation of the deep inequalities of society and the forces that keep them in place. In The Years, Woolf focuses on the way women continue to be limited by social norms despite the women’s rights developments of the early twentieth century (the professions were unbarred in 1919 and the Representation of the People Act of 1928 provided women with the same suffrage terms as men). In Murphy, Beckett gestures toward the growing field of experimental psychology, revealing the determinist assumptions on which the field relies. Rhys reveals similar assumptions in popular male depictions of women in Good Morning, Midnight as she addresses and revises Sigmund Freud’s “Femininity” and James Joyce’s Ulysses. Orwell looks at politics and language itself in Coming Up for Air, turning to sensory description as a way of working within a language tradition that he sees as keeping in place an anachronistic class system.
Temple University--Theses

This thesis has examined the Bolshevik newspaper, Pravda, which began its broadcasting life in April 1912, for the period of the Balkan Wars from October 1912 to October 1913. The objectives of this study are to present and examine the position towards the Balkan Wars of a political group, which viewed the world and the Ottoman Empire from a different angle than the traditional Russian political position of the time, and would seize the power only five years later in Russia.

During the 1920s and 1930s, science history achieved widespread cultural success, featuring prominently in universities, museums and international expositions throughout Britain, America and much of the rest of the world. Maintaining that the broad advance of interwar science history cannot be sufficiently understood without reference to its broader cultural context, it is the main contention of this thesis that both the extent and diversity of interest in science history can be more productively examined in light of a common cultural memory -- the memory of war. In the wake of the Great War science history stood as a site of salvage, allowing for both continuity with the past by proclaiming the cultural and historical universality of science and the possibility of a better future in its accepted positivity. Although like other aspects of the past science could be implicated in the failure of the pre-war order and in wartime atrocities, its history could still stand as a positive seat of cultural memory from which a post-war future might be built -- a lieu de memoire sympathetic to both reflection and reconciliation. In this the post-Great War rise of science history was essentially a post-Great War phenomenon. In the aftermath of war, science history emerged offering hope to a fractured and uncertain world.

This dissertation develops and tests a new theoretical synthesis for understanding how armed groups keep their combatants fighting rather than deserting or defecting. It examines two basic methods of limiting desertion: keeping coercive control over combatants, and fostering norms of mutual cooperation among them. It argues that the effectiveness of each approach is conditioned by the degree to which combatants value the common aim of the success of the armed group. Norms of cooperation require a commitment to this common aim to be effective. Control can be effective even when combatants are uncommitted, but loses effectiveness with severe disagreements among combatants. This approach provides an advance on past work on the requirements for armed groups in civil wars. Some assume, unrealistically, that common aims drive individual behaviour directly. Others focus exclusively either on individual rewards and punishments or on norms of cooperation. This dissertation, in contrast, sees each as important and as contingent upon the prior consideration of whether combatants share a common aim.A qualitative analysis of armed groups in the Spanish Civil War examines micro-level evidence about common aims, the provision of control, and the emergence of norms of cooperation. The dissertation then tests its major hypotheses statistically using two original datasets of soldiers from that war, based on the author's archival research. It conducts further statistical tests against a new dataset of defection from government armies in 28 civil wars during the 1990s. It concludes with a discussion of new directions.
Cette thèse élabore et met à l'essai une nouvelle synthèse théorique permettant de comprendre comment les groupes armés arrivent à faire en sorte que leurs membres continuent de se battre au front plutôt que de déserter ou de faire défection. Elle examine deux méthodes traditionnelles permettant de limiter la désertion, soit l'exercice continu d'un contrôle coercitif sur les combattants et l'encouragement de normes de coopération mutuelle entre eux. Elle soutient que l'efficacité individuelle de ces approches est déterminée selon l'importance accordée par les combattants à l'objectif commun de la réussite du groupe armé. Les normes de coopération nécessitent un engagement envers cet objectif commun afin de pouvoir être efficaces. Si le contrôle peut être utile même lorsque les combattants ne sont pas engagés, son efficacité est réduite lorsqu'il y a des désaccords profonds entre ces derniers. Cette approche présente une avancée sur des travaux antérieurs portant sur la présence nécessaire de groupes armés dans un contexte de guerre civile. Certains savants croient à tort que ce sont les objectifs communs qui influencent directement les comportements individuels alors que d'autres ne pensent qu'aux récompenses et punitions individuelles, ou alors aux normes de coopération. Quant à elle, cette thèse reconnaît l'importance individuelle de ces deux méthodes et considère qu'elles sont liées à la considération antérieure cherchant à savoir si les combattants partagent un objectif commun.Une analyse qualitative des groupes armés de la guerre civile espagnole traite de données détaillées en lien avec les objectifs communs, la disposition de contrôle ainsi que l'émergence des normes de coopération. La thèse met ensuite ses hypothèses principales à l'essai sur le plan statistique à travers l'usage de deux bases de données originales de soldats tirés de cette guerre, basés des recherches d'archives de l'auteur. Elle réalise des tests statistiques additionnels à partir d'un nouvel ensemble de données sur la défection d'armées gouvernementales dans 28 guerres civiles au cours des années 1990. Pour conclure, elle ouvre un dialogue portant sur de nouvelles directions.

The usage and meanings of public space within the night-time city have been issues of contestation for centuries. This thesis employs primary and secondary historical literature, formal and informal interviews and participant observation to trace the evolution of such contestation and explore some of its current manifestations. In doing so, the thesis charts the emergence of the 'night-time high street,' a bounded social setting purged of heterogeneity in order to conform more fully to the expectations of its core constituency. This theme of commercially moulded social order is brought to the fore in a discussion of social control within licensed premises. The tendency to focus upon individual or limited combinations of factors in the strategic management of crime risk is eschewed in favour of an analysis of the purposive, complex and interconnected orchestration of security-related activity. By comparison, public policing of the streets is revealed as reactive, and increasingly reactionary, the State having compromising its role as primary guardian of public order. The thesis goes on to identify the adversarial licensing trial as a key arena of contemporary contestation. At trial, combatants deploy a range of skills, resources and capacities in interaction and have access to a repertoire of arguments and counterarguments. In addition to the strategic manipulation of content, effective engagement requires attention to the form in which evidence is delivered. These factors work to the detriment of objectors as they seek to prepare, present and defend their case. The practical success of industry players arises by dint of their success at persuasion and seasoned ability to denounce the arguments of their opponents. These interactional accomplishments are facilitated by enhanced access to financial and legal resources and combine with the threat of litigation and ideological affinities with Government to create a situation of 'regulatory capture'.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-210).
This dissertation explores two interrelated puzzles about external intervention and internal war. The first asks why rebels, governments, and third party interveners often continue to invest in costly and protracted conflicts rather than sue for peace and a negotiated settlement. The second considers the consequences of these behaviors for temporal variation in the average duration and global prevalence of civil wars. A central finding that emerges concerns the critical role of competitive intervention-two sided, simultaneous military assistance from different third party states to both government and rebel combatants-in the dynamics and intractability of civil wars across time and around the globe. Developing a generalizable theory of competitive intervention, the dissertation explains the distortionary effects this form of external meddling has on domestic bargaining processes, describes the unique strategic dilemmas it entails for third party interveners, and links its varying prevalence to international systemic change. In doing so, it moves beyond popular anecdotes about "proxy wars" by deriving theoretically-grounded propositions about the strategic logics motivating competitive intervention in civil wars. It also uncovers a heretofore overlooked feature of this form of intervention-namely, that "not losing" is often more important than "winning" from the perspective of third party interveners under the shadow of inadvertent escalation. The theory is tested with a mixed-method design that combines statistical analyses of all civil wars fought between 1975 and 2009 with detailed case studies of competitive intervention in Angola (1975-1991) and Afghanistan (1979-1992). The dissertation's theoretical and empirical results shed new light on the international dimensions of civil war, address ongoing debates concerning the utility of intervention as a conflict management tool, and inform policy prescriptions aimed at resolving some of today's most violent internal conflicts.
by Noel Thomas Anderson.
Ph. D.

The thesis examines how the Russian army interpreted and what lessons it learned from the wars in Europe between 1859 and 1871 and the American Civil War. This was a time marked by rapid change - political, social, economic and technological. By raising the question of learning from foreign wars the thesis attempts to fill a gap in the historiography of the Russian army. The army was one of the pillars on which the Russian regime built its power, and it was crucial for the survival of the regime both in domestic and foreign affairs. The reactions and thinking of the military at a time of rapid social, political, economic, and technological change, therefore, tell a lot about the regime's ability to adjust, develop, and ultimately survive. Furthermore, the influence of foreign wars on Russian strategic war planning is analysed with the use of the first Russian war plan of 1873 and the proceedings from the strategic conference, chaired by Alexander II, in 1873. The influence of foreign wars on the General Staff officer education is also investigated. The thesis is largely based on extensive research in Russian archives. Special attention is given to the military attaches and, thus, the thesis fills a gap in the historiography of the Russian army. It uncovers the development of the military attache institution with the use of new archival material. The Russian military attache reports from the European Great Powers 1859-71 and the observer reports from the different war scenes are also examined. In addition, extensive use has been made of the military press and contemporary military literature with regard to the wars.

Procopius of Caesarea wrote a classicizing history of the wars of Justinian, which focuses squarely on warfare in an age when his contemporaries were often directing their attention towards theological matters. Battles make up a significant portion of this history and they are the focus of this thesis, with particular attention paid to their literary construction, as well as the values, norms, and assumptions which underscore them. Chapter one focuses on the life and social background of Procopius, addressing issues such as his literary career and education. Chapter two looks at the wider context, including the three strands of thought concerning the composition of a work of history written in Greek, namely rhetoric, historiographical theory, and Greek military theory. It looks, particularly, at the theorists’ respective discussions of battle; and, the practices adopted by Procopius’ contemporaries when approaching battle, whether writing an ecclesiastical history, chronicle, or classicizing history, or a military treatise. In the next four chapters I focus on the text itself. Chapter three, on the Persian Wars, looks at issues such as narrative order and pace, the exhortation, and morale, discipline, and the use of stratagems. Battles in the Vandal Wars is the subject of chapter four, and here I look at how Procopius engages with his audience through the use of literary devices such as narrator interventions and narrative markers, as well as how he characterizes the warfare itself. In chapter five I explore the influence that Homer has had on Procopius’ descriptions of battle in the Gothic Wars, especially the siege of Rome. The last chapter, six, skips the thematic approach used in the previous three chapters and instead evaluates his battles on a case-by-case basis. While Procopius’ conception of battle betrays many of the hallmarks of his classical predecessors, there are unmistakable signs of the influence of his contemporary context, such as the attribution of outcomes to God. What is more, these battles, which are carefully constructed, and integrated into the wider text, showcase Procopius’ skill and ingenuity as a writer, and historian. As a result, my thesis demonstrates that Procopius needs to be taken seriously as a literary, cultural, and historical source for the sixth century.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2009.
Thesis Advisor(s): Gregg, Heather S. Second Reader: Freeman, Michael. "December 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 27, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Internal war, Civil War, Insurgency, Revolution, Counterinsurgency, Conflict duration, Stalemate, Conflict resolution, Negotiated settlement, Political will, Philippines, New People's Army (NPA), Sri Lanka, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Colombia, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85). Also available in print.

String theory, over its near five decade history, has attracted a great deal of controversy, which continues to evolve to the present day. The string theory controversy has novel aspects which highlight how contemporary science continues to develop. Those novel aspects include: non-empirical scientific methodologies and theory appraisal; a negotiation of the boundary between science and non-science where the dominant group is forced to defend its authority; and a potentially new form of peer review. With the controversy yet to be settled, at stake is how science is understood within high energy physics, acceptable methods for generating theoretical science and the optimal organization of expert communities. There are many points of conflict in the string wars. Rather than a debate between two incompatible and opposing sides, this thesis offers a more complex understanding of the string wars. The picture that is presented is organised into a taxonomy that groups the points of conflict into debates concerning ‘philosophy’, ‘sociology’, ‘technology’ and ‘methodology’. This approach seeks to shift the understanding of the debates from where it currently stands, namely where the string wars are held up as evidence of an emergent conceptualisation of science that is contested by a traditional conception of science, to a more nuanced understanding. Instead of two opposing sides, characterised by a positive and negative appraisal of string theory, a variety of positions can been identified, each concerning a different point of conflict.

Målet med denna studie är att undersöka om det finns några principer för hur actionsekvenser är klippta och om utvecklingen av ny klippteknik ändrat på sättet man klipper actionsekvenser i Star Wars eller om man arbetar för att behålla och återskapa samma emotionella klippkänsla som i de äldre filmerna. Studien är genomförd i form av två stycken analysmetoder, den första metoden bygger på Berry Salt's analysmetod för att få ut statistik över hur actionsekvenserna är klippta, genom att se hur många klipp det är i en sekvens och dela antal klipp med tiden som sekvensen utspelar sig under, på så sätt får man ut en så kallad "average shot lenght" (ASL). Den andra metoden är en bildanalys där jag undersöker hur man har arbetat med dramaturgin och informationen man ger publiken. Undersökningens ramverk bygger på Dancygers  (2011) kriterier för en actionssekvens och det innebär i korthet att en actionsekvens ska innehålla identifikation, excitation, en konfilkt och intensifiering för att en actionsekvens ska räknas som en actionsekvens. Undersökningens resultat visar på att de actionsekvenser som ingått i studien skiljer sig åt. Men det finns en del genomgående principer som gäller samtliga sekvenser och de är att varje bild ska ge information om var man befinner sig, vad det är som händer och vad som kommer att hända i nästa bild. Ur min studie kan man se att sekvenserna skiljer sig i tid, antal klipp och hur lång ASL varje sekvens har. Med hjälp av klippningen ska man ge publiken den information som dem behöver för att förstå berättelsen som projiceras framför dom. Utgår man ifrån hur Star Wars filmerna är klippta i en bransch som utvecklats under 40 år, då ser man hur man använt sig av en liknande klippteknik för att fånga publikens uppmärksamhet, föra berättelsen framåt och ge publiken rätt information.