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The Limits of Europe: Membership Norms and the Contestation of Regional Integration

by Daniel C. Thomas

Where does Europe begin and end? How have the European Union and its precursors decided which countries are eligible to join the community and which are not? Few issues are more hotly debated, more important for the course of European integration, or more consequential for individuals in and around the EU. As this book demonstrates, the limits of Europe are determined by the values shared at particular moments in time by the leaders of the community's member states, regardless of their particular policy preferences. These membership norms shape the community's decisions on enlargement by empowering certain political forces and disempowering others. And contrary to conventional wisdom, these norms have changed considerably over time. The Limits of Europe: Membership Norms and the Contestation of Regional Integration uses a novel combination of normative genealogy, statistical analysis and detailed tracing of EU decision-making on Greece, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine to demonstrate that changing membership norms have had a stronger impact on the community's enlargement since the 1950s than treaty rules, the location of the states seeking membership, or even the commercial or security interests of member states.

The Limits of Europe: Membership Norms and the Contestation of Regional Integration

by Daniel C. Thomas

Where does Europe begin and end? How have the European Union and its precursors decided which countries are eligible to join the community and which are not? Few issues are more hotly debated, more important for the course of European integration, or more consequential for individuals in and around the EU. As this book demonstrates, the limits of Europe are determined by the values shared at particular moments in time by the leaders of the community's member states, regardless of their particular policy preferences. These membership norms shape the community's decisions on enlargement by empowering certain political forces and disempowering others. And contrary to conventional wisdom, these norms have changed considerably over time. The Limits of Europe: Membership Norms and the Contestation of Regional Integration uses a novel combination of normative genealogy, statistical analysis and detailed tracing of EU decision-making on Greece, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine to demonstrate that changing membership norms have had a stronger impact on the community's enlargement since the 1950s than treaty rules, the location of the states seeking membership, or even the commercial or security interests of member states.

The Oxford Handbook of Portuguese Politics


The Oxford Handbook of Portuguese Politics brings together the best scholars in the field offering an unrivalled coverage of the politics (broadly defined) of the country over the past 50 years. The Handbook includes eight sections. First, it looks at the past and present by making an overview of Portuguese political developments since democratization in the 1970s. Second, it looks at political institutions as the building blocks of Portuguese democracy. The third section examines mass politics and voters, that is, a thorough analysis of the demand-side of mass politics. The fourth section turns to the supply side of mass-politics by looking at parties and the party system. The fifth section looks at the Portuguese society by unpacking a plethora of societal aspects with direct implications for politics. The sixth section examines governance and public policies, with a view to understanding how a constellation of public policies has an impact on the quality of governance and in fostering well-being. The seventh section looks at Portugal and the European Union. The eighth and final section unpacks Portuguese foreign policy and defence.

The Oxford Handbook of Portuguese Politics

by Jorge M. Fernandes, Pedro C. Magalhães and António Costa Pinto

The Oxford Handbook of Portuguese Politics brings together the best scholars in the field offering an unrivalled coverage of the politics (broadly defined) of the country over the past 50 years. The Handbook includes eight sections. First, it looks at the past and present by making an overview of Portuguese political developments since democratization in the 1970s. Second, it looks at political institutions as the building blocks of Portuguese democracy. The third section examines mass politics and voters, that is, a thorough analysis of the demand-side of mass politics. The fourth section turns to the supply side of mass-politics by looking at parties and the party system. The fifth section looks at the Portuguese society by unpacking a plethora of societal aspects with direct implications for politics. The sixth section examines governance and public policies, with a view to understanding how a constellation of public policies has an impact on the quality of governance and in fostering well-being. The seventh section looks at Portugal and the European Union. The eighth and final section unpacks Portuguese foreign policy and defence.

Tort Law Directions (Directions)

by Carol Brennan

A considered balance of depth, detail, context, and critique, Tort Law Directions offers the most student-friendly guide to the subject; empowering students to evaluate the law, understand its practical application, and approach assessments with confidence. Gain a complete understanding of the topic: we won't overload or leave your students short, just the right amount of detail conveyed clearly -Understand the law in context: with scene-setting introductions and highlighted case extracts, the practical importance of the law becomes clear -Identify when and how to evaluate the law critically: we'll introduce the key areas of debate and give your students the confidence to question the law -Direct and consolidate their knowledge: visually engaging learning and self-testing features aid understanding and help your students tackle assessments with confidence -Elevate their learning: with the ground-work in place your students can aspire to take their learning to the next level, the authors provide direction on going further Digital formats and resources The 8th edition is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources. -The e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with functionality tools, navigation features, and links that offer extra learning support: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks -The online resources include: guidance on answering the questions in the book, podcasts introducing the issues covered in each chapter, bi-annual updates on the latest key developments in tort law, and self-test questions with instant feedback, providing an opportunity for students to test and consolidate their learning.

Criminal Law Directions (Directions)

by Nicola Monaghan

Do your students understand the difference between murder and manslaughter? Are they confused by the concept of mens rea and accessorial liability? Criminal Law Directions tackles these and many more questions, introducing students to this exciting area of law. The Directions series has been written with students in mind and are the ideal guide as they approach the subject for the first time. This book will help them: · Gain a complete understanding of the topic: just the right amount of detail conveyed clearly · Understand the law in context: with scene-setting introductions and highlighted case extracts, the practical importance of the law becomes clear · Identify when and how to evaluate the law critically: they'll be introduced to the key areas of debate and given the confidence to question the law · Deepen and test knowledge: visually engaging learning and self-testing features aid understanding and help students tackle assessments with confidence · Elevate their learning: with the ground-work in place you can aspire to take learning to the next level, with direction provided on how to go further Digital formats and resources The seventh edition is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources. The e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with functionality tools, navigation features and links that offer extra learning support: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks The online resources that support the book include: · Multiple choice questions · Flashcard glossary · Guidance on answering the end of chapter exam questions . Guidance on answering the end of chapter self-test questions Additional lecturer resources include: · Diagrams from the text · A test bank of further multiple choice questions

Insulin - The Crooked Timber: A History from Thick Brown Muck to Wall Street Gold

by Kersten T. Hall

Before the discovery of insulin, a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. One hundred years after a milestone medical discovery, 'Insulin - The Crooked Timber' tells the story of how insulin was transformed from what one clinician called 'thick brown muck' into the very first drug to be produced using genetic engineering, one which would earn the founders of the US biotech company Genentech a small fortune. Yet when Canadian doctor Frederick Banting was told in 1923 that he had won the Nobel Prize for this life-saving discovery, he was furious. For the prize had not been awarded to him alone - but jointly with a man whom he felt had no right to this honour. The human story behind this discovery is one of ongoing political and scientific controversy. Taking the reader on a fascinating journey, starting with the discovery of insulin in the 1920s through to the present day, 'Insulin - The Crooked Timber' reveals a story of monstrous egos, toxic career rivalries, and a few unsung heroes such as two little known scientists whose work on wool fibres, carried out in a fume-filled former stable, not only proved to be crucial in unravelling the puzzle of insulin but ushered in a revolution in biology. It was the author's own shocking diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes that prompted him to sit down and write this book, but this story has lessons for us all about what technology can - and more importantly cannot - do for us. As the world pins its hopes on effective and lasting vaccines against Covid-19, these lessons from the story of insulin have never been more relevant.

Making Refugees in India (Oxford Historical Monographs)

by Ria Kapoor

Offering a global history of India's refugee regime, Making Refugees in India explores how one of the first postcolonial states during the mid-twentieth century wave of decolonisation rewrote global practices surrounding refugees - signified by India's refusal to sign the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. In broadening the scope of this decision well beyond the Partition of India, starting with the so called 'Wilsonian moment' and extending to the 1970s, the refugee is placed within the postcolonial effort to address the inequalities of the subject-citizenship of the British empire through the fullest realisation of self-determination. India's 'strategically ambiguous' approach to refugees is thus far from ad hoc, revealing a startling consistency when viewed in conversation of postcolonial state building and anti-imperial worldmaking to address inequity across the former colonies. The anti-colonial cry for self-determination as the source of all rights, it is revealed in this work, was in tension with the universal human rights that focused on the individual, and the figure of the refugee felt this irreconcilable difference most intensely. To elucidate this, this work explores contrasts in Indians' and Europeans' rights in the British empire and in World War Two, refugee rehabilitation during Partition, the arrival of the Tibetan refugees, and the East Pakistani refugee crisis. Ria Kapoor finds that the refugee was constitutive of postcolonial Indian citizenship, and that assistance permitted to refugees - a share of the rights guaranteed by self-determination - depended on their potential to threaten or support national sovereignty that allowed Indian experiences to be included in the shaping of universal principles.

Making Refugees in India (Oxford Historical Monographs)

by Ria Kapoor

Offering a global history of India's refugee regime, Making Refugees in India explores how one of the first postcolonial states during the mid-twentieth century wave of decolonisation rewrote global practices surrounding refugees - signified by India's refusal to sign the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. In broadening the scope of this decision well beyond the Partition of India, starting with the so called 'Wilsonian moment' and extending to the 1970s, the refugee is placed within the postcolonial effort to address the inequalities of the subject-citizenship of the British empire through the fullest realisation of self-determination. India's 'strategically ambiguous' approach to refugees is thus far from ad hoc, revealing a startling consistency when viewed in conversation of postcolonial state building and anti-imperial worldmaking to address inequity across the former colonies. The anti-colonial cry for self-determination as the source of all rights, it is revealed in this work, was in tension with the universal human rights that focused on the individual, and the figure of the refugee felt this irreconcilable difference most intensely. To elucidate this, this work explores contrasts in Indians' and Europeans' rights in the British empire and in World War Two, refugee rehabilitation during Partition, the arrival of the Tibetan refugees, and the East Pakistani refugee crisis. Ria Kapoor finds that the refugee was constitutive of postcolonial Indian citizenship, and that assistance permitted to refugees - a share of the rights guaranteed by self-determination - depended on their potential to threaten or support national sovereignty that allowed Indian experiences to be included in the shaping of universal principles.

The Transparency Paradox

by Ida Koivisto

Transparency has become a new norm. States, international organizations, and even private businesses have sought to bolster their legitimacy by invoking transparency in their activities. This growth in popularity was made possible through two interconnected trends: the idea that transparency is inherently good, and that the actual meaning of the term is becoming harder and harder to pin down. Thus far, this has remained undertheorized. The Transparency Paradox is an insightful account of the hidden logic of the ideal of transparency and its legal manifestations. It shows how transparency is a covertly conflicted ideal. The book argues that counter to popular understanding, truth and legitimacy cannot but form a problematic trade-off in transparency practices.

The Transparency Paradox

by Ida Koivisto

Transparency has become a new norm. States, international organizations, and even private businesses have sought to bolster their legitimacy by invoking transparency in their activities. This growth in popularity was made possible through two interconnected trends: the idea that transparency is inherently good, and that the actual meaning of the term is becoming harder and harder to pin down. Thus far, this has remained undertheorized. The Transparency Paradox is an insightful account of the hidden logic of the ideal of transparency and its legal manifestations. It shows how transparency is a covertly conflicted ideal. The book argues that counter to popular understanding, truth and legitimacy cannot but form a problematic trade-off in transparency practices.

The Morality of the Laws of War: War, Law, and Murder (Oxford Monographs in International Humanitarian & Criminal Law)

by Marcela Prieto Rudolphy

Combatants are equal under the laws of armed conflict, regardless of whether the wars they fight are just or unjust, legal or illegal. They are permissible targets and can kill each other in battle. This basic feature of international law has been recently put into question by a group of moral philosophers known as revisionists, who argue that just combatants in an unjust war should be considered innocents, and their deaths considered murder. Dr. Prieto Rudolphy explains and assesses the conflict between the revisionist argument and the existing legal norms in The Morality of the Laws of War: War, Law, and Murder. The book provides an in-depth assessment of modern ethical thought on killing in wartime, deconstructing the revisionist view of war and offering a new perspective on the legal equality of combatants. Prieto Rudolphy not only examines the tension between the revisionist morality and the traditional thesis of symmetry between combatants but proposes a contingent justification of the latter and an alternative morality of war. Underlying both is the inescapable fact that regulating war is always a moral compromise. At the same time, she argues that there is urgent moral pressure to improve our laws - to bring them closer to an ideal whereby war does not exist. The Morality of the Laws of War is a must-read for scholars of moral philosophy and international law, from students to experts, providing a thorough account of contemporary debates on the ethics of warfare and using nuanced arguments to illuminate a fresh perspective.

The Morality of the Laws of War: War, Law, and Murder (Oxford Monographs in International Humanitarian & Criminal Law)

by Marcela Prieto Rudolphy

Combatants are equal under the laws of armed conflict, regardless of whether the wars they fight are just or unjust, legal or illegal. They are permissible targets and can kill each other in battle. This basic feature of international law has been recently put into question by a group of moral philosophers known as revisionists, who argue that just combatants in an unjust war should be considered innocents, and their deaths considered murder. Dr. Prieto Rudolphy explains and assesses the conflict between the revisionist argument and the existing legal norms in The Morality of the Laws of War: War, Law, and Murder. The book provides an in-depth assessment of modern ethical thought on killing in wartime, deconstructing the revisionist view of war and offering a new perspective on the legal equality of combatants. Prieto Rudolphy not only examines the tension between the revisionist morality and the traditional thesis of symmetry between combatants but proposes a contingent justification of the latter and an alternative morality of war. Underlying both is the inescapable fact that regulating war is always a moral compromise. At the same time, she argues that there is urgent moral pressure to improve our laws - to bring them closer to an ideal whereby war does not exist. The Morality of the Laws of War is a must-read for scholars of moral philosophy and international law, from students to experts, providing a thorough account of contemporary debates on the ethics of warfare and using nuanced arguments to illuminate a fresh perspective.

European Constitutional Imaginaries: Between Ideology and Utopia


How can the EU be made legitimate and sustainable through (constitutional) law - and what is the role of constitutional lawyers and their ideas in creating this "sense of legitimacy"? This book seeks to answer these questions through the concept of the "constitutional imaginary": sets of ideas and beliefs that motivate and justify the practice of government and collective self-rule. Constitutional imaginaries are as important as institutions and office- holders, as they provide political action with an overarching sense and purpose recognized as legitimate by those governed. Constitutional imaginaries are 'necessary fictions' that make political rule possible, and at the same time they are ideologies which hide from view various forms of domination. European Constitutional Imaginaries deals with a variety of questions and is split into four parts to address: the first part explores in more detail various meanings of European constitutional imaginary, as seen by different disciplines: legal sociology, political and constitutional theory, and philosophy. The second part revisits the contribution of some key authors to the creation of European constitutional imaginaries, and the third part offers various new ways of thinking about European constitutionalism. The fourth and final part examines political economy behind various constitutional imaginaries. Written by a balanced mix of well-established authors and newer talent, European Constitutional Imaginaries promises to open debates on European constitutionalism that are necessary to understanding Europe's present predicament and its various crises, all navigated through the medium of law.

European Constitutional Imaginaries: Between Ideology and Utopia

by Jan Komárek

How can the EU be made legitimate and sustainable through (constitutional) law - and what is the role of constitutional lawyers and their ideas in creating this "sense of legitimacy"? This book seeks to answer these questions through the concept of the "constitutional imaginary": sets of ideas and beliefs that motivate and justify the practice of government and collective self-rule. Constitutional imaginaries are as important as institutions and office- holders, as they provide political action with an overarching sense and purpose recognized as legitimate by those governed. Constitutional imaginaries are 'necessary fictions' that make political rule possible, and at the same time they are ideologies which hide from view various forms of domination. European Constitutional Imaginaries deals with a variety of questions and is split into four parts to address: the first part explores in more detail various meanings of European constitutional imaginary, as seen by different disciplines: legal sociology, political and constitutional theory, and philosophy. The second part revisits the contribution of some key authors to the creation of European constitutional imaginaries, and the third part offers various new ways of thinking about European constitutionalism. The fourth and final part examines political economy behind various constitutional imaginaries. Written by a balanced mix of well-established authors and newer talent, European Constitutional Imaginaries promises to open debates on European constitutionalism that are necessary to understanding Europe's present predicament and its various crises, all navigated through the medium of law.

Children in Police Custody: Adversity and Adversariality Behind Closed Doors (Clarendon Studies in Criminology)

by Miranda Bevan

Children in Police Custody shines a light on the hidden experiences of children in police detention in England and Wales. An episode in police custody is the single most common sustained experience of the criminal justice system for children. Yet child suspects have previously been largely overlooked in criminological research. Drawing on the first comprehensive study in England and Wales to review the police custody process from the perspective of children, the chapters trace the child's journey from arrest, through detention and interview, to release or remand. Adopting a rights-based approach, this work investigates whether the present legal framework provides effective protection for child suspects. Utilising the detailed insights provided by young participants in the research, and supplemented by the author's fieldwork, this analysis reveals the complex challenges facing children's legal agency in the adversarial setting of the custody block. In so doing, it evaluates the capacity of the available protections to enable children's participation in that setting. A parallel criminological exploration examines the intersecting adversities experienced by child suspects, and the complex power dynamics they navigate in police custody, to arrive at an understanding of the particular harms of police detention for children and their longer-term impact. The book closes with a call for a retrenchment in the use of police custody for children, and a reappraisal of how those who must be detained should be supported to enable their effective participation in the criminal justice process, both in custody and beyond.

Children in Police Custody: Adversity and Adversariality Behind Closed Doors (Clarendon Studies in Criminology)

by Dr Miranda Bevan

Children in Police Custody shines a light on the hidden experiences of children in police detention in England and Wales. An episode in police custody is the single most common sustained experience of the criminal justice system for children. Yet child suspects have previously been largely overlooked in criminological research. Drawing on the first comprehensive study in England and Wales to review the police custody process from the perspective of children, the chapters trace the child's journey from arrest, through detention and interview, to release or remand. Adopting a rights-based approach, this work investigates whether the present legal framework provides effective protection for child suspects. Utilising the detailed insights provided by young participants in the research, and supplemented by the author's fieldwork, this analysis reveals the complex challenges facing children's legal agency in the adversarial setting of the custody block. In so doing, it evaluates the capacity of the available protections to enable children's participation in that setting. A parallel criminological exploration examines the intersecting adversities experienced by child suspects, and the complex power dynamics they navigate in police custody, to arrive at an understanding of the particular harms of police detention for children and their longer-term impact. The book closes with a call for a retrenchment in the use of police custody for children, and a reappraisal of how those who must be detained should be supported to enable their effective participation in the criminal justice process, both in custody and beyond.

A Century of Anarchy?: War, Normativity, and the Birth of Modern International Order (The History and Theory of International Law)

by Hendrik Simon

The nineteenth century has been understood as an age in which states could wage war against each other if they deemed it politically necessary. According to this narrative, it was not until the establishment of the League of Nations, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and the UN Charter that the 'free right to go to war' (liberum ius ad bellum) was gradually outlawed. Better times dawned as this anarchy of waging war ended, resulting in radical transformations of international law and politics. However, as a 'free right to go to war' has never been empirically proven, this story of progress is puzzling. In A Century of Anarchy?: War, Normativity, and the Birth of Modern International Order, Hendrik Simon challenges this narrative by outlining a genealogy of modern war justifications and drawing on scientific, political, and public discourses. He argues that liberum ius ad bellum is an invention created by realist legal scholars in Imperial Germany who argued against the mainstream of European liberalism and, paradoxically, that the now forgotten Sonderweg reading was universalized in international historiographies after the World Wars. A Century of Anarchy? is a compelling read for historians, jurists, political theorists, international relations scholars, and anyone interested in understanding the emergence of the modern international order. In this groundbreaking work, Simon not only artfully deconstructs the myth of liberum ius ad bellum but also traces the political and theoretical roots of the modern prohibition of war to the long nineteenth century (1789-1918).

A Century of Anarchy?: War, Normativity, and the Birth of Modern International Order (The History and Theory of International Law)

by Hendrik Simon

The nineteenth century has been understood as an age in which states could wage war against each other if they deemed it politically necessary. According to this narrative, it was not until the establishment of the League of Nations, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and the UN Charter that the 'free right to go to war' (liberum ius ad bellum) was gradually outlawed. Better times dawned as this anarchy of waging war ended, resulting in radical transformations of international law and politics. However, as a 'free right to go to war' has never been empirically proven, this story of progress is puzzling. In A Century of Anarchy?: War, Normativity, and the Birth of Modern International Order, Hendrik Simon challenges this narrative by outlining a genealogy of modern war justifications and drawing on scientific, political, and public discourses. He argues that liberum ius ad bellum is an invention created by realist legal scholars in Imperial Germany who argued against the mainstream of European liberalism and, paradoxically, that the now forgotten Sonderweg reading was universalized in international historiographies after the World Wars. A Century of Anarchy? is a compelling read for historians, jurists, political theorists, international relations scholars, and anyone interested in understanding the emergence of the modern international order. In this groundbreaking work, Simon not only artfully deconstructs the myth of liberum ius ad bellum but also traces the political and theoretical roots of the modern prohibition of war to the long nineteenth century (1789-1918).

Transnational Securities Law 2e


Bringing together a team of globally renowned academics and expert practitioners in the field, Transnational Securities Law , Second Edition, presents a comprehensive analysis of the international harmonization of the law relating to securities. The book focuses on private law, insolvency law, and conflict-of-laws issues, as well as providing in-depth guidance on recent regulatory and technological developments. Each chapter assesses the current state of the law, and, for issues that have not yet been harmonized, identifies best standard practice solutions. This fully revised and updated edition considers the regulatory intervention in the wake of the global financial crisis and the impact of ground-breaking technological innovations in the securities markets, with a particular focus on blockchain and other types of distributed ledger technology, smart contracts, and crypto-securities. In so doing it addresses the paucity of attention given to issues of investor protection and custody of digital assets, and provides guidance on the development from legacy technology to a landscape in which a variety of DLT solutions are increasingly applied. It furthermore proposes an approach toward solving or ameliorating prevailing legal and regulatory problems with enhanced systems, infrastructures, regulatory approaches, and private-law doctrine. Alongside the well-established and comprehensive analysis of securities law at the transnational level, this new edition continues to provide best-practice solutions for practitioners working in the field of securities law.

Transnational Securities Law 2e

by Thomas Keijser

Bringing together a team of globally renowned academics and expert practitioners in the field, Transnational Securities Law , Second Edition, presents a comprehensive analysis of the international harmonization of the law relating to securities. The book focuses on private law, insolvency law, and conflict-of-laws issues, as well as providing in-depth guidance on recent regulatory and technological developments. Each chapter assesses the current state of the law, and, for issues that have not yet been harmonized, identifies best standard practice solutions. This fully revised and updated edition considers the regulatory intervention in the wake of the global financial crisis and the impact of ground-breaking technological innovations in the securities markets, with a particular focus on blockchain and other types of distributed ledger technology, smart contracts, and crypto-securities. In so doing it addresses the paucity of attention given to issues of investor protection and custody of digital assets, and provides guidance on the development from legacy technology to a landscape in which a variety of DLT solutions are increasingly applied. It furthermore proposes an approach toward solving or ameliorating prevailing legal and regulatory problems with enhanced systems, infrastructures, regulatory approaches, and private-law doctrine. Alongside the well-established and comprehensive analysis of securities law at the transnational level, this new edition continues to provide best-practice solutions for practitioners working in the field of securities law.

The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic

by C. F. Konrad

No public action of the Roman state, the populus Romanus, at home or at war, was to be carried out without prior permission from Iuppiter Optimus Maximus. Permission was obtained, in a procedure known as auspices, by the magistrate in charge of the intended action-usually a Consul, Praetor, or Dictator. Auspices thus occupy a fundamental place in the-unwritten-constitution of the Roman State. Yet especially in the 3rd century BCE, acceptance of the principle was not always universal. The Challenge to the Auspices presents an investigation into the interaction of Roman magistrates during the Middle Republic with the practice of auspices, with a focus on attempts to avoid, ignore, or resist this requirement. Proceeding from an examination of the Roman concepts of imperium and auspices (auspicia), especially as they relate to the realm of war, and of the constitutional position and powers of the Dictator and the Master-of-Horse (magister equitum) relative to each other and to the Consuls and lower magistrates, the work offers six case studies in which Roman commanders questioned, violated, or openly rejected the need for auspices. It is argued that these instances reflect a not insignificant minority view within the Roman ruling class regarding the efficacy of auspices and the necessity of observing them. The catastrophic outcome in several of these events, particularly during the early years of the Second Punic War, rendered further resistance to the practice politically unsustainable, and by the second century resulted in its universal acceptance, regardless of personal belief.

The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic

by C. F. Konrad

No public action of the Roman state, the populus Romanus, at home or at war, was to be carried out without prior permission from Iuppiter Optimus Maximus. Permission was obtained, in a procedure known as auspices, by the magistrate in charge of the intended action-usually a Consul, Praetor, or Dictator. Auspices thus occupy a fundamental place in the-unwritten-constitution of the Roman State. Yet especially in the 3rd century BCE, acceptance of the principle was not always universal. The Challenge to the Auspices presents an investigation into the interaction of Roman magistrates during the Middle Republic with the practice of auspices, with a focus on attempts to avoid, ignore, or resist this requirement. Proceeding from an examination of the Roman concepts of imperium and auspices (auspicia), especially as they relate to the realm of war, and of the constitutional position and powers of the Dictator and the Master-of-Horse (magister equitum) relative to each other and to the Consuls and lower magistrates, the work offers six case studies in which Roman commanders questioned, violated, or openly rejected the need for auspices. It is argued that these instances reflect a not insignificant minority view within the Roman ruling class regarding the efficacy of auspices and the necessity of observing them. The catastrophic outcome in several of these events, particularly during the early years of the Second Punic War, rendered further resistance to the practice politically unsustainable, and by the second century resulted in its universal acceptance, regardless of personal belief.

The Nations of NATO: Shaping the Alliance's Relevance and Cohesion


War has returned to Europe, and NATO stands at the forefront of the response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine. But how does NATO function? How do NATO member states perceive and act through the Atlantic Alliance? And ultimately how do states shape NATO's cohesion and relevance in the face of threats? The Nations of NATO explores national policies within the Atlantic Alliance. It examines the foreign policies of 16 allies, focusing on issues such as their strategic cultures, relationship with the United States, contributions to NATO operations, levels of defence spending, domestic challenges, and decision-making processes. The recent crisis in Ukraine has without doubt reinvigorated NATO as a military alliance, but over the last decade it has also been affected by a number of challenges, both endogenous and exogenous. Whether the Alliance is threatened from the outside (Russia, terrorism, China) or is being undermined from within (intra-Alliance politics, diverging threat perceptions) has become an increasingly debated issue. The degree to which the Alliance can adapt to evolving threats has also been at stake. At the heart of these debates are NATO allies' policies, preferences, threat perceptions, and level of commitment to the shared enterprise. By analysing the drivers, constraints, and specificities of relevant national policies, the volume offers an overview of NATO's contemporary functions and challenges, and constitutes an important source of data for future research and comparative analysis.

The Nations of NATO: Shaping the Alliance's Relevance and Cohesion

by Thierry Tardy

War has returned to Europe, and NATO stands at the forefront of the response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine. But how does NATO function? How do NATO member states perceive and act through the Atlantic Alliance? And ultimately how do states shape NATO's cohesion and relevance in the face of threats? The Nations of NATO explores national policies within the Atlantic Alliance. It examines the foreign policies of 16 allies, focusing on issues such as their strategic cultures, relationship with the United States, contributions to NATO operations, levels of defence spending, domestic challenges, and decision-making processes. The recent crisis in Ukraine has without doubt reinvigorated NATO as a military alliance, but over the last decade it has also been affected by a number of challenges, both endogenous and exogenous. Whether the Alliance is threatened from the outside (Russia, terrorism, China) or is being undermined from within (intra-Alliance politics, diverging threat perceptions) has become an increasingly debated issue. The degree to which the Alliance can adapt to evolving threats has also been at stake. At the heart of these debates are NATO allies' policies, preferences, threat perceptions, and level of commitment to the shared enterprise. By analysing the drivers, constraints, and specificities of relevant national policies, the volume offers an overview of NATO's contemporary functions and challenges, and constitutes an important source of data for future research and comparative analysis.

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