*** JANA HERTWIG, SYLVIA MAUS, ALMUT MEYER ZU SCHWABEDISSEN, MATTHIAS SCHULER (Editors): Global Risks. Constructing World Order through Law, Politics and Economics. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). “ Dresdner Schriften zu Recht und Politik der Vereinten Nationen / Dresden Papers on Law and Policy of the United Nations”, No. 14. 2010, 258 pp, €46.50. ISBN 978-3-631-59291-5.
This book begins with a quotation from the German sociologist and member of the Spinelli Group (set up at the European Parliament) - Ulrich Beck. He paints a very vivid picture of modern society, which has become, “an at-risk society in the sense that it is more concerned about debating, preventing and managing the risks that it has produced”. Some people would undoubtedly consider that this assertion is a little too strong but it is difficult to deny the current risk of a double phenomenon. Firstly, in all our European and western societies risk appears outlawed, as is death itself and the precautionary principle has literally become sacrosanct. This is perhaps the collateral impact of the assessment made by Ulrich Beck. In other respects (and this is precisely the subject of this book), risk now exists on an interplanetary scale, whether this involves the phenomenon of poverty (or, on the contrary, the endless accumulation of wealth to almost obscene levels), nuclear and biological weapons, terrorism, cross-border organised crime, water shortages, budget crises, climate problems, migration challenges, pandemics, in addition to failures in world governance and many other serious concerns …
Obviously, these risks can only be overcome if humanity has the appropriate global resources to tackle these colossal challenges. It is therefore up to the leaders (different countries), of course, but also regional political bodies and international organisations, to look at the whole picture and bring on board the academic world, in an attempt to identify new and innovative ways to save the world. This is precisely the objective of this book, which is the extension of a symposium organised three years ago at the International Studies School at the Technical University of Dresden. Young researchers, most of whom formerly studied at the International Studies School tackle this problem with a multidisciplinary approach, backed up with clarification from experienced scientific experts in the field.
The book is divided into three parts. The first seeks to identify risk through three different angles. On the issue of climate change, Jörn Richert draws on the example of the US Senate to demonstrate that this is no longer just a threat, “ at a vague and abstract notion of the environment” or to people and the environment in the far distant future but a phenomenon in which the political class cannot afford to ignore. Anke Dahrendorf tackles the bilateral agreements increasing in the trade arena and asks to what extent do they contribute to the global risk, which the collapse of the World Trade Organisation would represent. She seeks to provide some reassurances in this context and explains that developing countries have most to lose in this kind of adventure. Finally, Christian Burckhardt provides a far-reaching analysis into military operations carried out by the European Union in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in particular. He concludes that the EU27 carries out these operations more out of self-interest than for any humanitarian reasons, particularly in order to, “strengthen their respective statuses as major powers”. He considers that this will increase global risks and negatively impact on collaboration with other players such as the United Nations, because it will weaken multilateral institutions, by promoting military responses to the detriment of preventive measures.
In the second part of the book, the other authors look at the different modes of governance that exist and explore to what extent they can be adapted or changed in view of promoting optimum efficiency. The appropriateness of the 1951 Convention to protect people fleeing armed conflicts is examined by Vanessa Holzer, whilst Joris Larik asks whether international legal liability is, “an oxymoron or an efficient tool for 20th century governance”. Nicolas Lamp seeks to highlight the democratic limits to the World Trade Organisation. Finally, the third part of the book provides a number of examples of alternative models of governance. Ewa Karkowski tackles the presumably stable nature of the Islamic banking system and Carolin Görzig looks at different asymmetrical conflicts, such as terrorism, which appears to continue at an almost… stable rate. In this part of the book, the contribution by Susanne Lechner should be highlighted. She seeks to provide an answer to the question of whether having the right to withdraw from the Union, as stipulated in the Lisbon Treaty, is a factor for greater or lesser stability. This is summarised by the book's editors and she herself concludes that, “the risk of costly battles to secede, blockages in the process of integration or both of these developments are reduced by way of the legal provision which, apparently, appears to have the obverse effect”. This is in substance the idea often repeated by Ferdinando Riccardi: the Union's door is wide open to those that do not feel comfortable within the Community!
Michel Theys
*** JOHAN D. VAN DER VYVER: Implementation of International Law in the United States. Peter Lang (see address attached). “Rechtspolitisches Symposium / Legal Policy Symposium” series, No. 9. 2010, 309 pp. €51.20. ISBN 978-3-631-59880-1.
Born in South Africa, where he played an important role in the transformation from the apartheid regime to a full and functioning democracy, Johan D. van der Vyver, teaches international law and human rights in the USA. He is recognised as a global leader in this field. This book is based on the lectures he gave at the Universities of Trier and Dresden, which aimed to provide a scientific critique of the way in which the US implements international law. In the first part of the book, he describes the different key elements that have shaped history and US foreign policy and which combines isolationism and exceptionalism, “the only super power syndrome”, “a persecution complex” , the determination to promote its own interests and its conviction that it has “a messianic world mission”. On this basis, the author subsequently explains the details of ratification by the United States of international treaties, and describes US approaches to international tribunals. The book also contains an assessment of US military intervention in the light of commitments made to international law. Unsurprisingly, the author broadly considers that the US reached a nadir during the era of George W. Bush and is hoping that the Obama presidency can put things back on track. Nonetheless, he says that one should not have too many illusions because the Republicans will definitely have their say on this question … (PBo)
*** JING MEN, GIUSEPPE BALDUCCI (editors): Prospects and Challenges for EU-China Relations in the 21st Century. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: pie@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "College of Europe Studies" series, No.12. 2010, 262 pp, €44.50. ISBN 978-90-5201-641-2.
For the European Union and the world in general, China is becoming a major player. The problem facing Community Europe is, however, the fact that China does not really take it seriously. To the leaders in Beijing (and they are not alone in this case, on the contrary, this feeling is shared among many Europeans themselves…), the Union is not yet a unified international actor, nor is it a fully-fledged civilian power and that in it there are, “too many individual European leaders and not enough EU leadership”. In the preface to this book, the head of the Madariaga Foundation at the College of Europe, Pierre Defraigne, is certainly not guilty of harbouring any illusions. On the contrary, this former senior official at the Commission considers that certain circumstances will undoubtedly change the Chinese perspective of the EU, “for-better or for worse”. He considers that the current economic crisis subsequently provides a major incentive towards developing, “cooperation to overcome the first global recession for the last 60 years”, despite, “the US' over-zealous consumption patterns” that prevail in the US and the collapse of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008, a, “9/15” perhaps, which might overshadow 9/11 in history books. These factors are indicators that the former economic era was neither fair nor sustainable. The “Wall Street tsunami” has provided the Keynesians and other regulators with a new voice on this chapter, together with risk of protectionism and market fragmentation. In this context, this economic expert considers that, “system based on global governance and global rules and cooperation” is imperative in order to clean up the system. In this perspective, not bringing China on
board is not an option, and he suggests that it is crucial to get to know this essential partner better. This is the objective of this book, which is itself the extension of an international seminar organised in April 2009 on cooperation ties between Community Europe and China over the past 25 years. Overseen by Professor Jing Men, a number of different scientists analyse the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement concluded in 2007, as well as the points of friction and barriers that still remain. A number of indications are provided as to how these challenges can be overcome. (MT)
*** ALEXANDER MAXWELL (Editor): The East-West Discourse. Symbolic Geography and its Consequences. Peter Lang (see address attached). “Nationalisms across the Globe” series, No. 8. 2011, 229 pp. €37.80. ISBN 978-3-0343-0198-5.
Many human beings, whether they are politicians or eminent scientists, regard their countries as being at the centre of the universe. The centre of the world, however, is clearly at the intersection between the east and west of the globe. As Alexander Maxwell points out in his introduction, this geographical and/or geopolitical pride has no validity whatsoever and is nothing other than the simple manifestation that, “human beings are often self-centred”. Naturally, one is always to the east or to the west of something. Why does this banal and un-sound cliché continue to be so attractive? This book is an attempt to bring a number of responses to this question and examines the East-West rhetoric in different historical contexts, whilst focusing on a specific region of Europe. By describing the scene, the book's editor draws attention to the fact that East-West stereotypes often convey prescriptive and negative images of the East but which can also turn out to be highly profitable when they enable a country with weak economic and military resources to acquire support because the region has successfully been recognised as a geostrategic transition point. In the case in point, it transpires that always attempting to present itself as a “bridge” between East and West has not always proved to be a panacea. It may prove to be much more beneficial to portray oneself as the “last rampart of the West”, which was one of the themes in the Hungarian election campaign in 2007 and peddled by the Fidesz party. West Berlin played the same card as a rampart protecting democracy and the market economy against Bolshevism. Hitler attempted to exploit this concept a number of years earlier. Bridges and metaphorical ramparts should therefore be taken with enormous pinches of salt. The authors of this book point out that the Christian foundations to the geographical dichotomies appeared in the Middle Ages, symbolic geographies crystallised in 19th-century Germany, with its aversion to the “East” and Russian autocracy. The same aversion is felt by Polish intellectuals towards Russia, which they sometimes describe as the “Eastern other”. In the same connection, contributions in this book also focus on how Anglo-Saxon experts used this vocabulary when dealing with Yugoslavia, as well as in ethnic linguistic perceptions observed in Transylvania between the wars, the geographical symbolism of the Finns in the previous century, the perceptible developments in Ataturk's Turkey during the 1980s and the current east-west positioning of political leaders in Belarus. (MT)
*** ANNICK GIRARDIN: Accord de libre échange entre l'Union européenne et le Canada: à quel prix ? Commission des Affaires européennes de l'Assemblée nationale (Boutique de l'Assemblée nationale, 7 rue Aristide Briand, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40630033 - Internet: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr ). "Documents d'information" documents, No. 3206. 2011, 78 pp, €3.50. ISBN 978-2-11-132359-9.
This newsletter contains a critical analysis by a French MP of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada. He considers that this agreement primarily benefits the latter and that, “this project highlights questions regarding the legitimacy and coherency of trade policy with other European policies” and that the different parliaments are not always appropriately informed about this issue. (MT)
*** Revue de Droit Monégasque. Principauté de Monaco (Palais de Justice, BP 513, MC-98015 Monaco cedex). 2010, No.10, 213 pp, €30.
This publication covers 2008-2009 and examines the different developments affecting doctrinally and legislative issues in the principality of Monaco. Jurisprudence is examined and highlighted in the two other sections. (MT)