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    Managing presence and absence : experiences of partners of New Zealand soldiers deployed to Iraq : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Guesgen, Maike
    Deploying overseas for New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel is seen as a career-defining opportunity, one that puts into action the training and skills acquired by the soldier. However, it is also important to understand who is left at home during a deployment, and what their experiences are of life without their family member. This thesis focuses on the experiences of seven women who had a partner deploy to Iraq as part of the Building Partner Capacity mission. What I found was that my participants talked about managing a presence-absence dynamic brought out as a result of the deployment. By this I mean the state of either occupying, or being absent from, a space in a particular form. During the three phases of deployment, soldiers were present and absent in different forms: physically, emotionally, and psychologically. The way in which partners managed this presence-absence dynamic was through resilience building. These women needed to become resilient to this presence-absence change, during the three phases of deployment: pre-deployment, during deployment, and post-deployment. This thesis explores how resilience was built through the concept of social capital, the social connections and networks between people. Social capital allowed my participants to maintain positive mental health, and support themselves and their families during the deployment. Social capital, coupled with the NZDF welfare support services helped with resilience building. Becoming resilient, and developing resilience in different forms, through the NZDF and through their own strategies, allowed my participants to not only manage their soldier’s deployment, but to thrive.
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    Islamic State, Syria's civil war and the reshaping of the Middle East : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Defence and Security Studies at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) White, Michael
    The Islamic State grew out of the ashes of a defeated al-Qaeda in Iraq. The continued conflicts in Iraq and Syria have provided the catalyst for a resurgent Islamic State. Syria’s civil war has allowed the Islamic State to remerge like a terrorist phoenix, reborn from its own ashes. This thesis analyses the origins of the Islamic State, and the geo-political conditions and on-going conflicts in Iraq and Syria which have permitted the growth and expansion of the Islamic State. It also analyses how the fight against the Islamic State is changing the security environment within the Middle East.
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    Inclusive education policy, practice and progress : a transformative analysis of Middle East countries : a manuscript drawn from a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Khayat, Karen Ruth Chesterton
    Access to an inclusive education for children who are disabled is internationally agreed to be a basic human right. As such, it has been enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Governments of all countries in the Middle East have signed the convention and committed to ensuring this right as soon as possible. As they incorporate these obligations into relevant education legislation and policy, there remains concern that multiple factors which persist in marginalising children who are disabled will impede progress and effective implementation of policy. This study reviewed a sample of three countries in the Middle East; Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan. Replicating the ‘Pathways to Inclusion’ Toolkit used in Europe, data were gathered through questionnaires and interviews and aligned with the requirements set out in the United Nations Convention. An analysis framework applied a rating to policy, practice and progress to indicate how supportive they were of the progressive realisation of inclusive education. Some alignment was found between the complex realities of the three countries and the expectations of the Convention. However, this study took a unique strengths approach in order to inspire the interest of policy makers. Some of the strengths noted were the traditional and religious responses to those with impairments, the tenacity of interdependence within communities and the parental preference for inclusion. These strengths were situated alongside the widespread drive towards modernisation, developing technology, and participating in the global community. Conducted through a transformative lens, the intention of this research was that the identification of these strengths would shift thinking forward to empower political and civil processes in their ongoing bid to implement the expectations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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    Exploring decentralisation for improving education administration in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration and Leadership at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Mohialdeen, Mohammed Ahmed
    Decentralisation features in most education reforms around the world. However, the rebuilding and development of education in the Kurdistan region of Iraq has yet to include movements towards increased school autonomy. With international development partners's agendas and local in interest in increasing the autonomy of local level authorities and schools, it is an opportune time for education stakeholders to participate in change plans. This study gathered the perspectives of a sample of school principals, education academics and education officers in the Kurdistan region of Iraq through a questionnaire designed around four elements of decentralisation in education. Reflective interpretation using a phenomenological approach identified shared themes and synthesised them to reveal the essence of the shared experience of the participants in terms of the current school administration structure. Some of the central shared themes found were the call for closer connection between decision-makers and school needs, concerns about accountability, and a bid for equality. Unique findings showed some innovative ideas, a belief in the power of local networks to ensure accountability, and also that there is a need to develop confidence and a belief in the possibility of improvement in education.
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    Diversity, autonomy and control in news media coverage of modern warfare : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Defence and Strategic Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Cotton, Morris B.
    The influence of the news media in time of war has been argued about since the Crimean conflict and became a major issue in more recent history over the US withdrawal from the Vietnam War. This thesis seeks to contribute to the debates by exploring the news coverage of incidents in the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict and post-invasion Iraq conflict to determine whether there has been an increase in that influence. Some analysts see an increase in influence arising out of the rise of the “new” internet-based and digital news media applications, including social networking sites, citizen journalism, dedicated on-line news sites and audience and specialist group news-related sites, and the linkage of these with traditional news outlets. They argue that increased diversity of coverage by an increasingly aggressive, adversarial news media, who have become participant actors in modern conflicts, is symptomatic of this increase in influence. This thesis concludes that there was unprecedented diversity in the coverage of three signal events in these the post-invasion Iraq and the Gaza conflicts and evidence of increased aggression by the news media as adversarial actors. But it did not find that there was substantial enhancement in the autonomy of the news media to the point where they presented a serious challenge to the control of the power holders in society. The evidence suggested that while there has been movement by the news media on a news media autonomy – power holder control continuum, it has to be kept in perspective. Such movement as occurred has been largely countered by the power holders (in these instances the political and military directors) through formal and informal forms of censorship and by adapting or adopting the new news media applications to their own purposes. This thesis takes a social constructionist approach applying quantitative and qualitative frame analysis in a single study, to the news content concerning the two conflicts, of an international range of multi-platform (print, broadcast and internet-based) news media outlets as revealed by their digital archives. Linking these three types of increasingly inter-woven media, and especially including a variety of internet-based outlets, represents an extension of recent trends in news media content research. This approach raises issues and challenges. But it necessary given that today large proportions of audiences obtain information on which they base their views and opinions from not one, but several news media platforms. Further research using this approach is urged as is the further development of the approach itself to keep pace with the rapidly evolving “new” news media (formed around bloggers, citizen journalists, the casual “everyperson” reporter and the interpersonal networks), increasingly interacting with or complementing more traditional forms of news media. Implications and lessons raised by this thesis for the principal actors, including suggestions for improving the sometimes difficult military-news media relationship, are also set out.