*** CHRISTIAN MILELLI, FRANCOISE HAY: La présence chinoise et indienne en Europe: au-delà des clichés. Centre d'études et de recherches internationales (56 rue Jacob, F-75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 58717000 - Fax: 58717090 - email: info@ceri-sciences-po.org - Internet: http://www.ceri-sciences-po.org ). "Les Etudes du CERI" series, No. 167. 2010, 42 pp.
What are the consequences for Europe of the ever increasing power in recent years of 'emerging' economies in the global economy? The authors of this research had the excellent idea of answering the question by focussing on investment in the European Union and Switzerland by Chinese and Indian companies. Why these two countries alone? Because the arrival of China and India as leading global economic players is particularly striking in terms of the sheer scale of the two countries, which between them make up nearly 40% of the world's population, and because of the rattling rate of growth they are experiencing, among the fastest in the world, which is expected to continue in years to come. Also due to the vitality of their corporations, which have no qualms these days about directly competing with big multinationals in the global marketplace and even on the multinationals' domestic markets. The authors focus on China and India alone because, along with Hong Kong, they are the leading 'emerging economies' in terms of investment in Europe, followed by Brazil. As for why the authors decided to focus on both countries rather than choose one, they explain that by comparing and contrasting the two countries' investment and investment strategies, they can move beyond the usual monographs, extending reflection by focussing on the countries' special nature, comparing and contrasting their approaches to globalisation. The authors' approach is particularly pertinent in that the multinational companies that have been created in China and India, despite their youth and dynamism, are 'strongly connected with the context, institutions and markets of their home country,' unlike big multinationals in the West, which tend to adopt strategies 'demonstrating their desire to break free of their traditional, national ties'. The two authors therefore believe that the persistence of a substantial connection between multinationals and their country of origin helps explain the distinct national development paths and the impact of multinationals' behaviour on local companies.
In terms of methodology, why did Christian Milelli (CNRS, Université de Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense) and Françoise Hay (Centre de Recherche en Economie et Management at Université de Rennes I in France) take the European area as their laboratory, focussing on the larger EU Member States and countries in Central Europe? Because the EU is the leading focus of world foreign direct investment and has become a leading trading partner in recent years for both China and India. Also, because 'given their unparalleled institutional and economic integration at global level' they 'are an ideal laboratory for comparing and contrasting agents from countries with differing characteristics and strategies'.
Using a database set up by the authors following interviews with managers of Chinese and Indian subsidiaries and representatives of state agencies in the EU, the research is fundamentally empirical in nature. The first section describes the approach taken and the global presence of the companies in question, along with the role of the European Union as an investment destination. The book then identifies the main characteristics of little-known or badly understood companies. After all, media attention paid to Ranbaxy Laboratories' acquisition of Aventis, Mittal's buy-up of Arcelor, Tata Steel's purchase of Corus, Hutchinson Whampoa's acquisition of Marionnaud and Geely's acquisition of Volvo was restricted and piecemeal. The two authors explain the extent and diversity of motivations and strategies of the players concerned. The second part of the book focusses on the infra-national, examining the relocation choices and registration criteria for Chinese and Indian subsidiaries in Europe. The authors also examine the nature of the network of interactions these companies build up, which allows them to examine the social and cultural dimensions of the companies' presence. Finally, in the third, resolutely exploratory part of the book, Christian Milelli and Françoise Hay sketch out an initial balance sheet of the impact of Chinese and Indian investment in European economies today, studying the visible impact of the global financial crisis of 2008. The underlying idea is to weight up the impact of the arrival of these new economic players at European level and also in terms of the various host countries, particularly in the light of sovereign wealth funds and other Chinese state funds active in Europe, examining whether such investment is to be welcomed or feared. If it is to be feared, the authors look at whether special safeguard measures should be taken at EU level or protective measures (if there is still time for that). The two scientists avoid giving a clear answer to these questions, preferring to shed light on what is at stake…
Pierre Bouvier
*** REINHARD HILDEBRANDT: US Hegemony. Glob al Ambitions and Decline. Editions Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen, Switzerland. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2009, 112 pp, €13-80. ISBN 978-3-631-59731-6.
This book by a political scientist specialising in globalisation and civil society provides analysis of the current geopolitical situation of the United States of America and the country's changing position on the world stage. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the United States found itself the only survivor of what it had viewed as a veritable war against the Soviet Union. From the viewpoint of the ruling US elite, it was clearly time to make US hegemony, that had been restricted until then, a global flavour. Several years later, however, it seems that the Soviet counterweight was needed for the survival of US hegemony, as is shown by the failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the outcome of the so-called 'war on terror' and international terrorists. Moreover, unconcerned by what looks like its imminent isolation, US experts persist in wanting to stick with their old ways of looking at their country's role, wronging for the good of the world and exercising their military power even if the rest of the world disagrees. The author draws attention to the fact that for some time now, US expects seem to be ignoring the emergence of an Asian triangle (China India and Russia) and the changes that have taken place in Europe. This author argues that this will inevitably lead to the decline of the US as a superpower that wanted to be a hyper power.
(NDu)
*** FABIEN MANGILLI: Le partenariat de l'Union européenne avec les Etats et groupements régionaux d'Amérique latine. Editions Helbing Lichtenhahn (8 Elisabethenstrasse, CH-4051 Basel. Tel: (41-61) 2289070 - Fax: 2289071 - email: info@helbing.ch - Internet: http://www.helbing-shop.ch ), Bruylant (67 rue de la Régence, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5129842 - Fax: 5119477 - email: jean@bruylant.be - Internet: http://www.bruylant.be ) and LGDJ (31 rue Falguière, F-75741 Paris). "Dossiers de droit européen" series, No. 19. 2010, 480 pp, €65, CHF 98. ISBN 978-3-7190-2834-3 (Helbing Lichtenhahn) and 978-2-8027-2915-0 (Bruylant).
This fine book is an extended reworking of a 2007 doctoral thesis at Geneva University. The author looks purely as a legal expert at how the European Union has been approaching its partner countries and regional groupings in Latin America since the Rio da Janeiro Summit of 1999. Since the publication of a report by the European Commission in December 2005 setting out an EU strategy to build special relationships with Latin America, the approach has taken the form of "bi-regional strategic partnerships" in three main areas - political dialogue, cooperation and building trade relations. This research shows, however, that there is a dichotomy between differentiation and uniformisation, because the EU is pursuing fragmented relation s with the various Latin American players, despite the fact that the end objective is supposed to lead to uniformity over the course of time. Abandoning the idea of defining the fluctuating concept of partnership that could have resulted in having to make a comparative study of the other EU partnerships (the one with ACT states, for example, or the partnerships in the Barcelona Process), the book is divided into three sections. The first looks at the legal partnership instruments in terms of their institutional aspects and the EU law on which they are based (although references are made to international law, the law prevailing in Latin Amnesia and treaty law, particular that of the WTO). The second section looks at the institutional partnership framework and the dispute-settlement mechanism, enabling the author to observe a highly differentiated approach among Latin American partners, although the analysis of joint bodies highlights the role played by the power-sharing system between the EU and its Member States. The final section examines the content of partnerships in each section of the above-mentioned three-pronged approach. In the conclusions, Fabien Mangilli believes that at the end of the day it is not correct to speak about a single partnership, seeing three categories of countries connected with the European Union. Firstly Chile and Mexico, then Mercosur and its member countries and finally the partnership with the Andean Community and the partnership with the countries of Central America. He argues that it would make sense to talk about the current situation as a 'plurality of partnerships" although a trend towards uniformity can also be observed, which may become tangible by the end of the decade… although the author steers clear of categorically stating that a proper bi-regional association in due form is what awaits the EU and Latin America at the end of the process.
(MT)
*** WOLFGANG BENEDEK, FLORENCE BENOIT-ROHMER, WOLFRAM KARL, MANFRED NOWAK (Eds.): European Yearbook on Human Rights. Editions NWP (Intersentia N.V., 31 Groenstraat, B-2640 Mortsel. Tel: (32-3) 6801550 - Fax: 6587121 - Internet: http://www.nwv.at ). 2010, 358 pp. ISBN 978-94-000-0063-6
Last year, 2009, was rich in political and legal changes to human rights, particularly with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and various political counter-terror initiatives. Human rights work has intensified to such an extent that even experts find it difficult to keep tabs on all the changes. Hence the utility of this book in which more than thirty experts draw up a balance sheet of changes in human rights issues over the course of last year. The first section describes the four 'themes of the year,' namely immigrants' rights in Europe, changes in human rights since the end of the Cold War, and how the accession of countries of the former Communist bloc to the European Union has changed them, reviewing fundamental rights as set up by the Lisbon Treaty and reflecting on counter-terror moves and how they interact with human rights. The remainder of the book is divided into four chapters examining how human rights have changed at various levels - in the EU, in the Council of Europe and in the OSCE. The final part of the book analyses civil society and non-governmental organisations from the angle of human rights.
(NDu)
*** WALTER LEAL FILHO, KERSTIN KUCHTA, FRANZISKA MANNKE, KONSTANTIN HAKER: Renewable Energy in Turkey and Selected European Countries. Potentials, Policies and Techniques. Peter Lang (see above). 2009, 231 pp, €34-40. ISBN 978-3-631-59922-8.
The domain of renewable energy is occupying an expanding role in concerns around the world, yet there is a staggering lack of material and documentation for research on the subject. The authors of this book aim to bridge this gap, focussing mainly on legislative changes in Turkey, Sweden and Germany. The authors all work in research and education on renewable energies and provide material for university studies in this field. Produced by the renewable energy networks of European and Turkish universities, the study also looks at solar energy, energy generated from waste, waste management, biofuel and biogas. This book is naturally designed for university lecturers and students.
(NDu)
*** TASSADIT YACINE, MARIA-ANGELS ROQUE, MANSOUR GHAKI, MOHAMED CHAFIK (Eds.): Les Berbères: les défis de l'amazighité aujourd'hui. Editions Publisud (15 rue des Cinq Diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - email: publisud.editions@cegetel.net - Internet: http://www.editionspublisud.hautetfort.com ). "Etudes méditerranéennes" series. 2010, 264 pp, €32. ISBN 978-2-86600-495-8.
The 'Amazigh' or 'Berber' civilisation is one of the major cultures in the Mediterranean area, past and present. It has various names today, with people from the Rif Mountains, the Soussis, the Kabyls and the Tuaregs all calling for their own culture to be recognised in Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Niger and Mali, while the Amazigh diaspora is trying to get itself recognised in Western countries rather than simply being assimilated as part of a crude Arab-Muslim melting pot. Following on from an international symposium organised by the European Mediterranean Institute, this book is an ideal introduction to this little-known culture.
(MT)