The analytical framework of water and armed conflict: a focus on the 2006 Summer War between Israel and Lebanon

This paper develops an analytical framework to investigate the relationship between water and armed conflict, and applies it to the ‘Summer War’ of 2006 between Israel and Lebanon (Hezbollah). The framework broadens and deepens existing classifications by assessing the impact of acts of war as indiscriminate or targeted, and evaluating them in terms of international norms and law, in particular International Humanitarian Law (IHL). In the case at hand, the relationship is characterised by extensive damage in Lebanon to drinking water infrastructure and resources. This is seen as a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of IHL, while the partial destruction of more than 50 public water towers compromises water rights and national development goals. The absence of pre-war environmental baselines makes it difficult to gauge the impact on water resources, suggesting a role for those with first-hand knowledge of the hostilities to develop a more effective response before, during, and after armed conflict

European civil actors for Palestinian rights and a Palestinian globalized movement: How norms and pathways have developed

The thesis is related to transnational social movements’ production of knowledge. Particularly, the research investigates the developed norms and pathways of a Palestinian-transnational movement (the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement- The BDS movement) during its formation period. The thesis reviews major social movement theories (i.e. Sidney Tarrow and Margeret Sikkink). While benefiting from major aspects of these theories, the thesis discovers that the researched movement suggests major deviations from these theories. Hence, the thesis mobilizes other literature, particularly of Pierre Bourdieu, to better account for cultural and social dimensions. This choice is enforced by the presence of academics that form a pillar in the movement. Yet, the thesis mobilizes together diverse dimensions from social movement literature, sociology and history (i.e. the historical trajectory of individual and collective actors), and with a constant check with the case itself. The methodological choice of the research goes back and forth between theories and the case (abductive methodology). Two chapters of the thesis are dedicated to the agency of the Palestinian actors in addition to interactions inside the field of power in Palestine. Another two chapters discuss transnational relations with a focus on European actors. Specific cases are chosen from interactions with Belgian and British actors. Moreover, interactions in three transnational fora are discussed.The research concludes that this transnational movement infuses diverse norms from different experiences and regions while adhering to universal norms such as comprehensive human rights. Moreover, the movement follows diverse pathways that include a Palestinian emergence, a Global Southern path and through the North. And these pathways enforce the adherence of the movement to specific norms. Such findings diverge from “Euro-centric” approaches in discussed social movements’ literature in the thesis. The research finally discusses other literature more relevant to the case (i.e. by Amitav Acharya), which argues that local actors try to protect their norms from abuse by central forces, and they do not only import norms but also diffuse new norms. The thesis ends up with questions for further research on the patterns of norms diffusion.Doctorat en Sciences politiques et socialesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe