Acknowledgements

First, I want to thank my two supervisors Tor Dybo and Stan Hawkins for their guidance and critique, and for challenging me throughout this project. And I also wish to thank my co-fellows and colleagues at UiA for their valuable feedback in seminars and conversations, particularly Geir Holmsen and Andreas Waaler Røshol. An appreciation goes to all my colleagues in Southeast Asia and The Middle East for their feedback in paper presentations, panel discussions and collaborative projects, especially Nachaya Nachanawakul, Damrih Banawitayakit, Isabella Pek, Kjell Skyllstad, Petter Frost Fadnes and Youssef Tannous. Thanks to Tor Jarle Wergeland for cover arts and to to Maury Saslaff for copyediting. I could not have done this project without these amazing artists, musicians and sound engineers:

Lebanon: Abeer Nehme, Rony Barrak and Elie Khoury
Palestine: John R. Handal, Tareq Abboushi, Shafeeq Alsadi and Munther Al Rashi
Syria: Feras Charestan
Turkey: Istanbul Strings and Hüseyin Kemancı
Cambodia: Ouch Savy and Yun Theara
Thailand: Pattaporn “Synth” Saengsamang, Nithitorn Hiranhankla, Tontrakul Kaewyong, Naris Sakpunjachot and Somnuek Saengarun
Slovenia: The Bratislava Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Hernando Rico
Sweden:  Björn Engelmann
Norway: Karl Oluf Wennerberg, Torbjørn Tveit, Knut Ingolf Brenna, Eirik Mordal, Jon Marius Aareskjold, Ruben Lervåg, the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra with Stefan Sköld and Hans Bodin, Lars Erik Gudim, Hilde Norbakken, Bendik Hofseth and Hildegunn Gjedrem

I would like to thank my father and brother Gisle for their support, and my two magnificent children Rikke and Nicolai for their patience during my many journeys throughout the years. You mean the world to me.