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Le 17 mai 2017, l’Union européenne et l’Ukraine signent un accord sur la libéralisation du régime des visas octroyant aux citoyens ukrainiens munis d'un passeport biométrique le droit de se rendre sans visa dans les États membres de l'espace Schengen pour de courts séjours. L’obtention d’un tel accord fait suite à la mise en œuvre par l’Ukraine de réformes encadrées par un « plan d’action pour la libéralisation du régime des visas » reçu à la fin 2010. Celles-ci couvrent un large éventail de politiques ayant trait aux matières « justice et affaires intérieures », parmi lesquelles le contrôle de la migration et des frontières occupent une place centrale. La thèse entend tout d’abord dépasser la vision de la libéralisation des visas comme simple levée des obstacles à la circulation des ressortissants de pays tiers vers l’UE. À ce titre, elle propose d’envisager cette politique comme une modalité d’intervention sur l’État en tant que régulateur des mobilités, qui a pour effet de reconfigurer celui-ci, de travailler sa relation avec la population et de façonner des sujets plus ou moins mobiles, des sujets (im-)mobiles. La thèse propose également de renouveler les approches de la libéralisation et de l’action extérieure de l’UE. Elle examine ainsi les interactions multiples entre les programmes et pratiques d’intervention de l’UE d’une part, et un large panel d’acteurs européens, internationaux et ukrainiens d’autre part. Ce faisant, elle met en lumière les dynamiques d’appropriation, de traduction et de conflit, tout en soulignant la manière dont la libéralisation redéfinit les contours de l’européanité et de l’appartenance à l’Europe. La thèse s’appuie sur une enquête multi-située menée entre Bruxelles, Kyiv et la région ukrainienne de Transcarpathie entre 2018 et 2021, ainsi sur une stratégie de collecte de données plurielle (entretiens, observations, analyse de documents)., On May 17, 2017, the European Union and Ukraine signed a visa liberalization agreement granting Ukrainian citizens holding biometric passports the right to short-stay visa-free travel to Schengen member states. The agreement follows Ukraine's implementation of reforms contained in a "Visa Liberalization Action Plan" received at the end of 2010. These cover a wide range of "justice and home affairs" policies, among which migration and border control are central. The thesis aims to move beyond the vision of visa liberalization as simply the removal of obstacles to the movement of third-country nationals into the EU. As such, it proposes to consider this policy as a modality of intervention on the state as a regulator of mobilities, which has the effect of reconfiguring the state, transforming its relationship with the population and shaping more or less mobile - (im-)mobile - subjects. The thesis also advances a renewed approach to visa liberalization and the EU's external action. It sheds light on dynamics of appropriation, translation and conflict, while highlighting how liberalization redefines the contours of Europeanness and belonging to Europe. The thesis is based on a multi-sited inquiry conducted between Brussels, Kyiv and the Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia between 2018 and 2021, as well as on a mixed data collection strategy (interviews, observations, document analysis)., Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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This dissertation delves into the role of Pro-Government Militias (PGMs) in bolstering the resilience of the Syrian government throughout the Syrian civil war. Contrary to the prevailing narrative that emphasizes external support and domestic patronage networks as the primary factors behind the Syrian government's endurance, this study posits that PGMs played a more comprehensive role than merely providing "added manpower". Drawing from empirical evidence gathered between 2017 and 2022, the research is structured as an article-based thesis, encompassing four distinct essays that collectively address the overarching question: How did PGMs contribute to the Syrian government’s resilience during the Syrian civil war? The first essay underscores the military effectiveness of PGMs, highlighting their efficient leadership, cohesive units, and adaptability, which compensated for the shortcomings of the regular army. The second essay elucidates the multifaceted strategies employed by PGMs in the government's counterinsurgency campaign, ranging from exemplary force and massacres to amnesty and negotiations. The third essay sheds light on PGMs' economic contributions, revealing how they channeled funds to the government through illicit military business, thereby circumventing sanctions and bolstering the government's financial standing. The concluding essay synthesizes the findings, arguing that PGMs' multifaceted roles enabled the government to adapt to evolving challenges and re-establish its legitimacy., Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

info:eu-repo/semantics/published

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This thesis explores why the Chinese government allows Hui Muslims comparatively broad discretion in their religious practice, despite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) distrust of religion. In order to reveal the preferential treatment secured by Hui Muslims, particularly in comparison with their Uyghur compatriots, I illustrate the CCP’s ability to use and control Hui Islam for its own benefit, namely to strengthen Muslim support for the CCP. The primary reason for the Chinese government to allow Hui Muslims greater freedom of practice is the successful and ongoing Sinicization of Hui Muslims and the corresponding otherization of Uyghur culture and religious practice as dangerous and foreign. What role does the Islamic Association of China (IAC) play in shaping statist interpretations of religion? I answer this question by looking at the development of a religious bureaucracy in China. My main focus is on the IAC as a significant actor. Located between the Chinese state and Muslim communities, the IAC plays a vital role in securitizing “non-compliant” Islamic practices. My study explores the CCP’s definition of “Chinese Muslims” and “lawful Islam” as well as the centrality of the IAC for these processes of meaning-making, otherization and securitization. I trace the emergence of Hui Islam as the compliant and thus less securitized model for Chinese Islam with Chinese characteristics and the association of Uyghur religious practice with the “Three Evil Forces” (Separatism, Terrorism and Extremism)., Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

RÉSUMÉ :Le point de départ de cette recherche est un élément observé dans le conflit civil en Algérie durant la décennie 1990, ce que cette thèse appelle « l’incertitude » de la guerre. Il est désigné par-là une confusion, réelle ou apparente, entre les différents acteurs armés, une difficulté à appréhender l’affiliation des individus et des groupes prenant part à la guerre. Relèvent-ils de forces armées étatiques, de groupes irréguliers de l’opposition, d’entités auxiliaires ou paramilitaires ? Ici, ce qui pourrait apparaître comme un frein de la recherche (comment aborder ce qui est « incertain », ce à quoi l’on ne peut accéder ?) devient objet d’étude. Cette thèse repose sur la mise en dialogue d’un corpus de sources ouvertes avec la théorie des organisations armées et des conflits civils, le champ disciplinaire auquel se rattache cette étude. L’incertitude est considérée comme une ressource politique de la guerre et plus particulièrement comme le produit et le mode de fonctionnement d’un « système de guerre », entendu comme un ensemble d’acteurs armés interdépendants tirant des avantages matériels et politiques du conflit. Au système, il est adjoint le concept d’isomorphisme, comme un ensemble de mécanismes permettant de connecter les organisations entre elles et d’en accentuer les similitudes. Ainsi associés, le système de guerre et l’isomorphisme expliqueraient cette difficulté à distinguer les différents acteurs entre eux. Du point de vue théorique, cette thèse propose un approfondissement conceptuel. Le système de guerre est développé non plus seulement comme un outil d’économie politique de la guerre, littérature à laquelle il est emprunté, mais en s’intéressant à ses dimensions structurelles et opérationnelles. Cette thèse enrichit également le concept d’isomorphisme en en identifiant la capacité non plus seulement à faire « apparaître » les organisations, comme c’est le cas dans la théorie initiale, mais également à les « diluer » entre elles, à les rendr, The origin of this research is an element observed in the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s, designated in this thesis as the “uncertainty” of war. It refers to the real or perceived confusion between various armed actors and the difficulty in understanding the affiliation of individuals and groups participating in the conflict. Are they part of state armed forces, irregular opposition groups, auxiliary or paramilitary entities? What might appear as an obstacle to research (how can we approach what is “uncertain”, what cannot be accessed?) here becomes the object of study. This thesis is based on a dialogue of various open sources with the armed organizations and civil conflicts theory, the disciplinary field of this study. This thesis suggests considering “uncertainty” as a political resource of war, and more specifically as the product and mode of operation of a “war system”, understood as an ensemble of interdependent actors taking material and political advantage of the war. The concept of isomorphism is added to that of the war system as a group of mechanisms allowing armed organizations to be connected to each other and to exacerbate their similarities. Put together, both concepts of the war system and isomorphism can explain the difficulty in distinguishing the different actors from one another. From a theoretical perspective, this thesis proposes a conceptual progression. The war system is not only examined as a tool of the political economy of war, the theory from which it is borrowed, but is investigated in its structural and operational dimensions. The thesis also develops the concept of isomorphism by identifying its capacity not only to make organizations “appear”, as is the case in the initial theory, but also to “dilute” them, so they seem less visible. From an analytical point of view, the thesis identifies a series of processes that produce uncertainty and offers keys for comprehending many contemporary armed conflicts. The systemic framewor, Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

During the 2nd Indochina War (1956-1975), the United States Airforce made use of a set of herbicides and defoliants on the former Republic of Vietnam, through a mission named Ranch Hand. The most commonly used product was Agent Orange, named after the orange band marking its containers. Produced by American agrochemical companies (among which Dow Chemical and Monsanto – now Bayer), under the request of the United States government, the Rainbow Herbicides, as they were called, were considered to be only harmful to plants, and safe to human beings. Through a transnational study study of scientific research, legal activism, NGO work and policy making, and using a Science and Technology Studies lens, this research highlights the process through which Agent Orange's use and/or innocuousness has been contested., Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Background: Emergency surgery for acute type A aortic dissection in patients with previous cardiac surgery is controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association between previous cardiac surgery and outcomes after surgery for acute type A aortic dissection, to appreciate whether emergency surgery can be offered with acceptable risks. Methods: All patients operated on for acute type A aortic dissection between 2005 and 2014 from the Nordic Consortium for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection database were eligible. Patients with previous cardiac surgery were compared with patients without previous cardiac surgery. Univariable and multivariable statistical analyses were performed to identify predictors of 30-day mortality and early major adverse events (a secondary composite endpoint comprising 30-day mortality, perioperative stroke, postoperative cardiac arrest, or de novo dialysis). Results: In all, 1159 patients were included, 40 (3.5%) with previous cardiac surgery. Patients with previous cardiac surgery had higher 30-day mortality (30% vs 17.8%, P = .049), worse medium-term survival (51.7% vs 71.2% at 5 years, log rank P = .020), and higher unadjusted prevalence of major adverse events (52.5% vs 35.7%, P = .030). In multivariable analysis, previous cardiac surgery was not associated with 30-day mortality (odds ratio 0.78; 95% CI, 0.30-2.07; P = .624) or major adverse events (odds ratio 1.07; 95% CI, 0.45-2.55, P = .879). Conclusions: Major adverse events after surgery for acute type A aortic dissection were more frequent in patients with previous cardiac surgery. Previous cardiac surgery itself was not an independent predictor for adverse events, although the small sample size precludes definite conclusions. Previous cardiac surgery should not deter from emergency surgery.