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<p> Between 1937 and 1943 the Romanian blouse plays a more pivotal role than previously acknowledged in Matisse's development of a pictorial sign language. Its embroidered oak leaf motif eventually evolves into an abstract symbol of <i>&eacute;lan vital</i> that animates the artist's late cutouts. By tracking the Romanian blouse, this thesis offers a counter-narrative to the standard monographic study or formal reading of Matisse&rsquo;s work. We learn the back story of how the blouse becomes a fashion trend set by Queen Marie of Romania who used her celebrity and national dress to promote the welfare of the Romanian people following WWI. We also see how appropriation turns into misappropriation when fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent&rsquo;s 1981 collection inspired by Matisse&rsquo;s images of the blouse introduce a broadly defined ethnic fashion into haute couture.</p><p>

Is the application of international law unjust in prominent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union? In answering this question the thesis explains that Justice comprises both legal certainty, which seeks clear rules to govern future conduct, and [j]ustice, which seeks the correct outcome in an individual case. There is a frequent tension between these aims. Moreover, there is not an accepted model of Justice which resolves how to balance legal certainty and justice. Any loss in one aspect may be justified by a gain in the other. On this basis the analysis of legal certainty and justice is divided in the thesis. Legal certainty can be measured objectively, but the appropriate level of legal certainty which any legal system should achieve is contested. It is argued that legal certainty in internal case law - case law not applying international law - is the appropriate measure of legal certainty in external case law - case law applying international treaty and customary international law. This is implicit in scholarship and has been expressly approved by the Court itself. The thesis will identify that external case law is les certain than internal case law. [j]ustice cannot be measured objectively and is contested in its substantive or 'thick' form. However, formal, or 'thin' justice, which is encapsulated in the obligation to treat like cases alike and unalike cases unalike to the extent of their unalikeness, is widely accepted. Accordingly, the thesis compares internal case law, which reveals strong and consistent conceptions of justice across EU law, to external case law. It identifies differing justice conceptions in external as copared to internal case law. Based on a 'thin' model of justice these justice modifications must be accounted for based on the context of applying international law; the extent of the unalikeness. It will be identified that unalikeness in the context of applying international law cannot account for the justice modifications in external case law and a fortiori the lower levels of legal certainty. Accordingly, this thesis endeavours to show that the application of international law in prominent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in unjust.

The aim of this thesis is to add to the growing literature on Euroscepticism by providing an in-depth comparative study of groups in civil society that actively campaign against European integration in Denmark, Estonia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. This study labels these groups as ‘Eurosceptic Protest Movements' (EPMs). Five explanatory factors drawn from the literature on Euroscepticism and social movements are used to ask the research question of why EPMs are formed. These are namely, Euroscepticism in the party system, the number of referendums in each case study, the availability of resources, the openness of the policy making process, and the perceived pro-EU bias of the media. Empirically it proceeds on a case by case basis, providing an in-depth account of each state's relationship with the EU from party system, public opinion, referendums to case specific factors to allow for an appreciation of the environment in which EPMs are formed. Data is gathered primarily from interviews with the founders and both current and former members of EPMs, with additional information coming from EPM documents, referendum manifestos and posters. Contextual information is provided by interviews with academics, journalists and pro-European activists, and secondary literature in EU studies and social movements. The thesis comes to two key conclusions. Firstly, in relation to the literature on social movements, EPMs conform strongly to the political opportunity structure paradigm in that body of work. More specifically is the importance of referendums to EPM formation, an element of the political opportunity structure that has not been researched in relation to social movements. Secondly, with regard to Euroscepticism the thesis concluded that EPMs emerge because of a lack of available space for contestation on the EU issue and the inability of political parties to act as an interlocutor between the electorate and the EU.

Author: Andrey Khayrullaev Title of the Thesis: EXPANSION STRATEGY OF RUSSIA'S GAZPROM INTO EUROPEAN MARKET AND EUROPEAN COUNTERACTION POLICY Year of defence: 2012 ABSTRACT In the period of globalization, energy security has substantial implications for the mutual security of supply and demand. It is dependent on several factors as security of supply, resilience and interdependence. As the result, multi-national corporations controlling wide energy resources are becoming more and more involved in the international politics - the situation when supplier is not just one of the contractual parities but "tool" for political pressure of its host state. Russian Gazprom, which operates on European natural gas market, is the vivid example of such situation. The research project is based on a deep review of relevant literature sources using the data analyzing, comparative analysis and the case study methods. The main research questions are the following: are European "fears" justified and what are the perspectives for Europe to decrease its dependency on Russian natural gas export? The main conclusions to be drawn from this study are that Europe has full grounds to be against growing dependence on Gazprom, taking into account Gazprom's involvement into politics, its aggressive actions directed toward prevention of...

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The Mediterranean World: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Napoleon Eric Dursteler and & Monique O’Connell, The Mediterranean World: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Napoleon, Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MD, 2016; 352 pp.; 25 colour illus., 68 halftones, 8 maps; 9781421419015, $34.95 (pbk)