144 research outputs found
Preparing for a post-Assad Syria: What role for the European Union? CEPS Commentary, 2 August 2012
No full textIn this CEPS Commentary, Steven Blockmans notes that a prolonged period of instability lies ahead for Syria, with an on-going risk of spill-over effects affecting the entire region. The author argues that the EU’s plans for a post-Assad Syria should extend beyond the half-hearted responses to the monumental changes that have ripped through other parts of the Arab world. In recognition of the geostrategic shifts in the Middle East and the Gulf, and pursuant to the obligation imposed upon it by the Lisbon Treaty, the EU should plan for the creation of a regional space of shared security. Such a plan would fit well into the current efforts to revamp the European Security Strategy
Assad and the Peace Process: The Pivotal Role of Lebanon
No full textThe world is waiting for peace in the Middle East. At present the possibility of a settlement is delayed by differences between Israel and Syria. The two are far apart on how to solve one of the thornier problems of the negotiations--the eventual status of the Golan Heights. That Syria\u27s President Assad and Israel\u27s Prime Minister Rabin should find themselves in disagreement is not unusual--Israel and Syria have been enemies for years. But that Assad should be able to hold out against Israeli power is quite extraordinary. Assad has played an extremely astute game of diplomatic intrigue against the Israelis, with successes far beyond anything one might have imagined. This study shows how the Syrian was able to improve his originally weak position in the peace talks by exploiting crisis conditions in Lebanon. Assad\u27s major weapon against the Israelis has been the guerrilla group Hizbollah. The author claims that the fact that a small group of guerrillas could have such an enormous impact in this international drama reveals changed power relations in the strategic Middle East.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1245/thumbnail.jp
Unravelling Syria's Entho-Sectarian Politics
No full textGoaded by the regional repercussions of the Syrian crisis sectarian tensions are emerging as the key threat to Middle Eastern and Syrian stability. Sectarianism has had a big impact on politics in Syria, it is implicated in the maintenance of authoritarianism, and sectarian dynamics are escalating the intensity of the uprising against the Assad regime. Prior to the civil war communal bonds between regime members and minority sect insecurity were key to the survival of the regime. Political power and control was maintained through fear and this was not just fear of the powerful security forces but also fear of sectarian conflict with the regime highlighting the risk of sectarian conflict, minority persecution and instability should the regime fall. As a result many supported or tolerated the Assads out of fear of the alternative.
This thesis aims to analyse the extent and the manner in which political players in Syria have used religious narratives and manipulated sectarian identities in their pursuit of power. It concludes that sectarian tactics have been intensified within the Syrian uprising by both the regime and within the opposition. Religious narratives for mobilising support have become widespread and an emphasis on dangers from the ‘other’ is prevalent. Given Middle Eastern history of intolerance towards other religious and ethnic groups this emphasis on confessional narratives is intensifying the dangers of sectarian violence within the civil war and creating rifts that will be hard to heal.
The use of religious narratives for political goals is a feature of the religious and political landscape and this is analysed through the lens of Ethnic Conflict Theory. With radical Islam heavily featuring narratives that emphasise opposition to other, an entitlement to dominate and an admiration of religious warrior characteristics alongside the cultural importance of nested communal groups, Islam has served as a readymade construct for mobilising sectarian groups against political foes.
However although many sectarian narratives refer heavily to history the current confessional tensions relate specifically to the present. With Middle Eastern autocratic regimes under threat due to the Arab Spring many groups perceive that political power is up for grabs and are finding it expedient – and religiously justifiable - to mobilise through the established channels of confessional loyalties and networks particularly along Sunni versus Shia lines. Plus given the importance of religion to the region it is a clear front runner as justification for political and/or armed action.
Advances in communications technology, specifically social media, and the breakdown of regime authority has allowed for voices to be heard from within an autocratic state that had otherwise been silenced, thus providing an unprecedented opportunity to analyse sectarian politics within a civil war
Fractionation of lignin-polysaccharides complex from different lignocellulosic biomass by twin-screw extrusion and chromatographic separation
No full textL’objectif de ces travaux est de développer une nouvelle voie de valorisation de différents coproduits agricoles et forestiers. L’étude s’est focalisée sur l’étape de séparation entre les hémicelluloses et les lignines contenues dans des extraits aqueux obtenus par extrusion bi-vis. La technologie bi-vis du fait de sa modularité a été choisie pour évaluer différentes conditions d’extraction. Les essais ont été menés afin de mettre en évidence l’influence des effets mécanique, thermique et chimique sur l’extraction des hémicelluloses à partir des différentes matrices végétales étudiées. Les travaux ont été conduits soit en conditions hydrothermales, eau sous pression et haute température, soit en conditions faiblement alcalines pour extraire des molécules les plus natives possibles. Ceci a permis d’identifier les conditions d’extraction les plus favorables en fonction des caractéristiques de chacune des biomasses. Dans un second temps, les extraits obtenus, contenants des hémicelluloses et des composés phénoliques, ont été purifiés au moyen de méthode de fixation sur résines d’échange d’ions et d’adsorption. Les travaux se sont focalisés sur la compréhension des mécanismes de fixation des molécules avec des solutions modèles contenant un ou plusieurs solutés. La cinétique et les isothermes d’échanges ont été évaluées pour l’acide férulique, l’acide coumarique et la lignine. Les résultats ont ensuite été comparés à ceux obtenus avec les extraits alcalins. Cette étude a permis d’identifier les mécanismes d’échanges qui interviennent lors de la séparation des complexes lignine-polysaccharides.The objective of this work is to validate a new way of valuing various agricultural and forestry coproducts. Study was devoted on the separation of lignin and hemicelluloses contained in extracts obtained by twin-screw extrusion. Twin-screw technology has been chosen to evaluate different extraction conditions. Trial conditions have been adopted in order to highlight the influence of mechanical, thermal and chemical effects on the extraction performances for various plant matrices. Efforts have been made to give priority to mild extraction conditions in the interest of preserving the integrity of the extracted polymers and limiting the environmental impact. Thus hydro-thermal extraction tests without chemical solvents were compared to more conventional alkaline extraction to evaluate their efficiency. This identified the most favorable extraction conditions according to the characteristics of each biomass. The extracts, with hemicelluloses and phenolic compounds, were purified with ion exchange and adsorption resins. Work focused on mechanisms fixations characterization with model solutions conditions containing one or several molecules. Kinetic and isotherm were determined for lignin, coumaric acid and ferulic acid. Then, results were compared to results obtained with the extracts. This study allowed to identify the mechanisms involved in the separation of the lignin-carbohydrates complex
Fractionnement des complexes lignine-polysaccharides issus de différentes biomasses lignocellulosiques par extrusion bi-vis et séparation chromatographique
No full textL’objectif de ces travaux est de développer une nouvelle voie de valorisation de différents coproduits agricoles et forestiers. L’étude s’est focalisée sur l’étape de séparation entre les hémicelluloses et les lignines contenues dans des extraits aqueux obtenus par extrusion bi-vis. La technologie bi-vis du fait de sa modularité a été choisie pour évaluer différentes conditions d’extraction. Les essais ont été menés afin de mettre en évidence l’influence des effets mécanique, thermique et chimique sur l’extraction des hémicelluloses à partir des différentes matrices végétales étudiées. Les travaux ont été conduits soit en conditions hydrothermales, eau sous pression et haute température, soit en conditions faiblement alcalines pour extraire des molécules les plus natives possibles. Ceci a permis d’identifier les conditions d’extraction les plus favorables en fonction des caractéristiques de chacune des biomasses. Dans un second temps, les extraits obtenus, contenants des hémicelluloses et des composés phénoliques, ont été purifiés au moyen de méthode de fixation sur résines d’échange d’ions et d’adsorption. Les travaux se sont focalisés sur la compréhension des mécanismes de fixation des molécules avec des solutions modèles contenant un ou plusieurs solutés. La cinétique et les isothermes d’échanges ont été évaluées pour l’acide férulique, l’acide coumarique et la lignine. Les résultats ont ensuite été comparés à ceux obtenus avec les extraits alcalins. Cette étude a permis d’identifier les mécanismes d’échanges qui interviennent lors de la séparation des complexes lignine-polysaccharides
Fractionnement des complexes lignine-polysaccharides issus de différentes biomasses lignocellulosiques par extrusion bi-vis et séparation chromatographique
No full textThe objective of this work is to validate a new way of valuing various agricultural and forestry coproducts. Study was devoted on the separation of lignin and hemicelluloses contained in extracts obtained by twin-screw extrusion. Twin-screw technology has been chosen to evaluate different extraction conditions. Trial conditions have been adopted in order to highlight the influence of mechanical, thermal and chemical effects on the extraction performances for various plant matrices. Efforts have been made to give priority to mild extraction conditions in the interest of preserving the integrity of the extracted polymers and limiting the environmental impact. Thus hydro-thermal extraction tests without chemical solvents were compared to more conventional alkaline extraction to evaluate their efficiency. This identified the most favorable extraction conditions according to the characteristics of each biomass. The extracts, with hemicelluloses and phenolic compounds, were purified with ion exchange and adsorption resins. Work focused on mechanisms fixations characterization with model solutions conditions containing one or several molecules. Kinetic and isotherm were determined for lignin, coumaric acid and ferulic acid. Then, results were compared to results obtained with the extracts. This study allowed to identify the mechanisms involved in the separation of the lignin-carbohydrates complex.L’objectif de ces travaux est de développer une nouvelle voie de valorisation de différents coproduits agricoles et forestiers. L’étude s’est focalisée sur l’étape de séparation entre les hémicelluloses et les lignines contenues dans des extraits aqueux obtenus par extrusion bi-vis. La technologie bi-vis du fait de sa modularité a été choisie pour évaluer différentes conditions d’extraction. Les essais ont été menés afin de mettre en évidence l’influence des effets mécanique, thermique et chimique sur l’extraction des hémicelluloses à partir des différentes matrices végétales étudiées. Les travaux ont été conduits soit en conditions hydrothermales, eau sous pression et haute température, soit en conditions faiblement alcalines pour extraire des molécules les plus natives possibles. Ceci a permis d’identifier les conditions d’extraction les plus favorables en fonction des caractéristiques de chacune des biomasses. Dans un second temps, les extraits obtenus, contenants des hémicelluloses et des composés phénoliques, ont été purifiés au moyen de méthode de fixation sur résines d’échange d’ions et d’adsorption. Les travaux se sont focalisés sur la compréhension des mécanismes de fixation des molécules avec des solutions modèles contenant un ou plusieurs solutés. La cinétique et les isothermes d’échanges ont été évaluées pour l’acide férulique, l’acide coumarique et la lignine. Les résultats ont ensuite été comparés à ceux obtenus avec les extraits alcalins. Cette étude a permis d’identifier les mécanismes d’échanges qui interviennent lors de la séparation des complexes lignine-polysaccharides
“There are so many ways to tell a story”: An Interview with Carlos Martínez Assad
No full textIn this interview, Carlos Martínez Assad reflects on his transition from a long career as an academic and historian to an author of fiction, as well as what it means to be Lebanese in Mexico. Before delving into the creative world of novels, Martínez Assad taught as a professor of sociology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). As a scholar, he has published prolifically (over twenty books and essays) and received numerous prestigious awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Medal of Historic Merit, and the Mexican National Prize of Arts and Sciences. His fiction draws heavily from his academic research into Lebanese Mexican history, and he acknowledges that although fiction grants the author artistic license, his goal is to write fictionalized accounts that are still as accurate as possible. His creative process, he states, is one of imagining how history might be duplicated, allowing for a new encounter with Lebanon, lived again with the family left behind
DINAMIKA KONFLIK SURIAH PADA MASA PEMERINTAHAN BASHAR AL-ASSAD
No full textThis paper departs from the conflict that occurred in Syrian City, so it makes the author interested in trying to understand the basic problems that are the cause of the conflict. In addition, the author also tries to see who the actors who played a role in the conflict are, as well as the impact that the Syrian conflict has on the international world. The Syrian conflict has been going on for forty years to date, and the conflict has not yet seen its end. Since March 2011 the conflict in Syria has claimed so many lives, thousands of people have been displaced, and thousands of children orphaned. Many houses collapsed, infrastructure and public facilities were destroyed due to the conflict. Data on the Syrian conflict is collected from books, journals, and the web. These data are then categorized, systematized, and analyzed according to the purpose of writing. This paper concludes that the cause of the conflict in Syria is not due to differences in religious sects but rather the political and economic interests of the opposition opponents of Assad and opposition-supporting countries. There are three actors who play a role in the Syrian conflict: President Bashar al-Assad and his supporters, the Syrian opposition, and the Jihadist group. The resulting impact of the Syrian conflict is the large number of casualties that have fallen and the problem of refugees. From the time of the conflict in March 2011 to April 2013, The death toll was 150,000. Meanwhile, the displaced population is 2.4 million people, which is dominated by women and children. Meanwhile, 4 million Syrians are homeless. For the international community, the Syrian conflict has an impact on the handling of refugees
An extension of Assad-Kirk's fixed point theorem for multivalued nonself mappings
No full textAltun, Ishak/0000-0002-7967-0554In the present paper, taking into account the recent developments on the theory of fixed point, we give some fixed point results for multivalued nonself mappings on complete metrically convex metric spaces. Our main result properly includes the famous Assad-Kirk fixed point theorem for nonself mappings. Also, we provide a nontrivial example which shows the motivation for such investigations of multivalued nonself contraction mappings.TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK)The authors are grateful to the referees because their suggestions contributed to improve the paper. The second author would like to thank TUBITAK for their financial supports during his PhD studies
Adapting authoritarianism: institutions and co-optation in Egypt and Syria
No full textThis PhD thesis compares Egypt and Syria’s authoritarian political systems. While the tendency in social science political research treats Egypt and Syria as similarly authoritarian, this research emphasizes differences between the two systems with special reference to institutions and co-optation. Rather than reducibly understanding Egypt and Syria as sharing similar histories, institutional arrangements, or ascribing to the oft-repeated convention that “Syria is Egypt but 10 years behind,” this thesis focuses on how events and individual histories shaped each states current institutional strengthens and weaknesses. Specifically, it explains the how varying institutional politicization or de-politicization affects each state’s capabilities for co-opting elite and non-elite individuals.
Beginning with a theoretical framework that considers the limited utility of democratization and transition theoretical approaches, the work underscores the persistence and durability of authoritarianism. Chapter two details the politicized institutional divergence between Egypt and Syria that began in the 1970s. Chapter three and four examines how institutional politicization or de-politicization affects elite and non-elite individual co-optation in Egypt and Syria. Chapter five discusses the study’s general conclusions and theoretical implications.
This thesis’s argument is that Egypt and Syria co-opt elites and non-elites differently because of the varying degrees of institutional politicization in each governance system. Rather than view one country as more politically developed than the other, this work argues that Syria’s political institutions are more politicized than their Egyptian counterparts. Syria’s political arena is, thus, described as politicized-patrimonialism. Syria’s politicized-patrimonial arena produces uneven co-optation of elites and non-elites as they are diffused through competing institutions. Conversely, the Egyptian political arena remains highly personalized as weak institutions and individuals are manipulated and molded according to the president’s ruling clique. This is referred to as personalized-patrimonialism. As a consequence, Egypt’s political establishment demonstrates more flexibility in ad hoc altering and adapting its arena depending on the emergence of crises.
This study’s theoretical implications suggest that, contrary to modernization and democratization theory’s adage that institutions lead to a political development, politicized institutions within a patrimonial order actually hinder regime adaptation because consensus is harder to achieve and maintain. It is within this context that Egypt’s de-politicized institutional framework advantages its top political elite. In this reading of Egyptian and Syrian politics, Egypt’s personalized political arena is more adaptable than Syria’s. These conclusions do not indicate that political reform is a process underway in either state
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