*** OLIVIER DE LAPPARENT: Raymond Aron et l'Europe. Itinéraire d'un Européen dans le siècle. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen, Switzerland. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Convergences", No. 58. 2010, 167 pp., 33 €. ISBN 978-3-0343-0416-0.
This book is an extension of a thesis on history that goes way back to 1997. Since then it has benefited from many quality additions and now contains an extremely interesting insight into one of the great French intellectuals of the last century. Raymond Aron, writer, sociologist and philosopher once met Sartre on the benches at the University he was studying. Raymond Aron was also a tireless publisher and international relations theoretician. He bequeathed an image of himself as an austere scientist and was described by Claude Lévi-Strauss as, “a professor of moral and intellectual hygiene”. In his introduction, the author of this book provides a brief summary of a, “cold analyst, a visceral sceptic, far removed from the figure of enthusiastic militant, an intellectual,, who never allows his emotions to get in the way of his ability to reason”. This is an accurate description. It is, however, not quite right in suggesting that Aron was largely disinterested in European construction. As underlined by Professor Robert Frank (who supervised his thesis that the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne) in his preface, the strength of this book is the way in which it completely deconstructs this image and dismantles, backed up with the evidence, how this man's European commitment was perhaps not a priority in his activities but it was a constant and continuous factor. Professor Frank concludes that Aron himself had affirmed when writing his Mémoires, that this commitment had provided meaning to life, that of his own. This is a direct reference to an idea that he had put forward to students in Frankfurt and the following extract can be used as an epigraph to the book, “the man of action is he who does not lose sight of the great task ahead, despite the daily mediocrities. The European or the Atlantic community is not just an enthusiastic theme for a day, it is the final theme of the efforts made that provide meaning to life or which sets out an objective for an entire generation”.
Some parties will obviously be tempted to interpret this quotation as evidence that Raymond Aron was more of a supporter of the alliance with the US than a supporter of the European Community. On this level as well, Olivier de Lapparent's book once again provides us with a guiding compass. It is true that Aron was not particularly enthusiastic about the European construction begun by Jean Monnet, because he thought his method was, “too technocratic to have a direct impact on the people” and too supranational for his taste. With de Gaulle, he shared the objective of building a “European” community that was able to demonstrate its independence from the US. The reality, however, led him to consider that, on the contrary, the Cold War meant that Europe had to firstly and unreservedly support the alliance with the US so that one day it could become, once Soviet totalitarianism had been annihilated, genuinely independent and fully European.
In this book, the author shows how the great thinker portrayed de Gaulle and Monnet back-to-back but the European in him since the 1930s was such that even in 1952 he proposed that the six founding countries of the first Community adopt universal direct suffrage, which did not come about until the European Parliament came into being. He was a great thinker of the time of the Cold War and the division of the continent and a lot of writing by Raymond Aron is now obviously that belonging to a happily bygone era. In the three parts of the book, the author describes the destruction of Europe between 1933-1950, in addition to the common future that was forged between 1950 and 1970. Finally, he also looks at a “triumphant or feverish Europe” between 1970 and 1983. There are also a number of other instances of wisdom. For example, in 1948 he called on Europe to face down the Soviet threat using these terms, “faced with a militaristic and religious sect, which rigidly applies the principle of if you're not with me you are against me, the only honourable attitude is total obedience or an absolute refusal to accept it. There is no half measure”. Obviously, certain parties would like to use these forgotten words from history in a way that could be used against the US of George Bush, without changing a single word! Similarly, on 3 July 1959, he explained to “Le Figaro” that European unity was a, “continuous creation, like the world in the philosophy of Descartes and demands that every single moment is an act of creative determination”. If only the European leaders at the helm in these testing times could remember this in time. If this creative determination is not forthcoming, the Union will become what Aron feared, “the combination of free trade at its foundations and an anonymous bureaucracy at the top of it”. Michel Theys
*** METIN AKSOY (Editor): Die türkisch-europäischen Beziehungen. Eine unendliche Geschichte. Peter Lang (see address attached). 2010, 153 pp, €26. ISBN 978-3-631-60436-6.
Relations between Turkey and the European Union have always been complicated. The accession to the Union of the country founded by Ataturk is a source of conflict between different European countries and even within them. Cultural, historical and religious differences are the main reasons for the opposition of certain Union countries and their respective populations, to Turkey joining the Community club. Turkey does, however, certainly have a number of strong points in its favour. Even though the country has had customs union for a long time with the Union, the Europeanization of Turkish legislation has meant that economic relations between this country and the Union have become even simpler too. Similarly at a strategic level, member state status that Union membership would confer on Turkey would give the Union excellent access to the Middle East and beneficial consequences in terms of relations with the countries in the region and also enhance energy security for Europeans. Nonetheless, there are so many opponents to Turkish accession, which are compounded with human rights problems, the domestic situation and its relationship with Cyprus, which obviously give these opponents grist to the mill. These are some of the issues analysed in this book. The book's originality can be located in the fact that the approach adopted by the different authors consists in taking Turkey's vision as their starting point. This book is, above all, about Turkey and its relationship with the Union and not the other way round…
After sketching out the relationship between the Union and Turkey, Metin Aksoy gets right to the heart of the subject by tackling the theme of European accession and particularly analysing the developments that have occurred in Turkey following the legislative initiatives taken by Ankara to meet the accession criteria. The following part of the book is drafted by Ali Yalata, who develops the subject even further by focusing on the state of democracy and human rights in Turkey. Cultural and identity dimensions are then discussed at great length and the authors seek to provide a comprehensive vision from within the country itself. The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy is analysed in two different parts of the book: the first part provides a description of the consequences that Turkish accession could have on this policy and the second part of the book looks at Turkey's aspirations within the framework of this policy. The book also contains a contribution by Rizal Arslan, which focuses on Germany's position. This country has played a dominant role in the “Turkish affair”, due to the large Turkish community living in Germany. The book ends with the only article that is not written by a writer of Turkish origin, Hans Walter Schmuhl, who looks at the ins and outs of Turkey's candidacy. (JD)
*** WOLFF-CHRISTIAN PETERS: The Quest for an African Economic Community. Regional Integration and its Role in Achieving African Unity - The Case of SADC. Peter Lang (see address attached). "Europäische Hochschulschriften / Publications Universitaires Européennes / European University Studies" series, No. 591. 2010, 339 pp, €46.50. ISBN 978-3-631-61032-9.
Wolff-Christian Peters is a political scientist from the University of Hamburg. He is a great lover of Africa, to the point that he has lived there for the past 20 years. It is on this basis of “living there” that he bases this weighty book. He also scrutinises the ambition expressed by the African Union to create an African Economic Community by 2034, 70 years after six European country precursors began their quest. In the first part of the book, the author considers that it is a very useful idea to underline the concepts and theory that formed the basis of the integration process. He then goes on to provide a brief examination of three examples in which similar projects were accomplished (the six decades of European integration, the development of Asean in Asia and Mercosur in Latin America) and clarify the main stages of the “Neo-classical regional integration model”, the free trade zone and political and supranational Union. He also looks at the examples of customs union, the common market and economic union. He then looks at the historical dimension of regional integration in Africa's specific context and goes back to colonial past and Africa's attempts to create pan-African integration. Ultimately, he gets to the central theme of the book and underlines the nature and the results of the different projects launched in the different parts of postcolonial Africa. The starting point of this analysis can be found in the fact that the African Economic Community is ultimately supposed to be based on eight distinct regional economic communities. He also points out that the South African Development Community is without any shadow of a doubt the most advanced regional African body and so far the most promising. The author looks at how it is striving to attain the integration objectives that it has set itself. The main thrust of the book therefore seeks to analyse from a political and economic point of view, the current state and potential of the SADC, as well as the effects of the Zimbabwean crisis on the regional integration process, in an attempt to verify whether the 2034 objective is a mirage or a very real goal that can be achieved. (PBo)
*** LEONIE HOLTHAUS: Regimelegitimität und regionale Kooperation im Golf-Kooperationsrat (Gulf Cooperation Council). Peter Lang (see address attached). "Europäische Hochschulschriften / Publications Universitaires Européennes / European University Studies" series, No. 586. 2010, 111 pp., €13.80. ISBN 978-3-631-60095-5.
The European Union is obviously the best developed cooperation system between states in the world. It has subsequently inspired other regional cooperation organisations throughout the world. Following on from the European Union, the next most developed organisation of this kind in addition to Mercosur, is that created by the Persian Gulf monarchies. Set up in 1981, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) seeks to establish economic cooperation and security in the region. The only country that it does not cover is the Yemen. The main reasons why it was set up became apparent during the war between Iraq and Iran. These reasons are, above all, based on the wish to strengthen political and economic stability in the region and contain the expansionism of its neighbours. Over the years and with support from the European Union and the US, the CCG has diversified its co-operation tools and set up a common market in 2008, as well as the foundations for a future single currency. Nonetheless, as with any political regime, the question of its legitimacy comes into question. Going beyond the neo-realist reasons that are most often underlined, Leonie Holthaus adopts a socio-constructivist analysis in her book towards this question and her analysis therefore goes beyond economic and security considerations to embrace questions linked to regional unity and the presence of a regional identity. The book begins with an explanation based on the socio-constructivist school of thought. The author looks at the external reasons that promoted the creation of the CCG, as well as the repercussions of this organisation on the domestic situation of the respective member countries. After providing a brief history of the Council, Leonie Holthaus analyses the so-so constructivist reasons for its creation, as well as its aim of exclusivity, which, she regards as the major difference between this organisation and the European Union. Institutional questions are also tackled, particularly in the field of the economy and security. The final part of the book examines cooperation between the Union and the CCG, as well as the possible consequences in terms of its legitimacy in the framework of regional cooperation. (JD)
*** MAHMOUD BEN ROMDHANE: Tunisie, Etat, économie et société. Ressources politiques, légitimation et régulations sociales. 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.hautefort.com ). "Le développement dans les faits" series. 2011, 282 pp., €26. ISBN 978-2-36291-008-1.
The author of this book is a university professor, economist and civil society activist (he is heavily involved in Amnesty International) and the Tunisian democratic opposition. Even though this book was written just a few weeks before the revolution that brought down the regime of president Ben Ali, it is still of huge pertinence and interest. Mahmoud Ben Romdhane provides a methodical analysis of Tunisia's history since independence in the areas of the economy and social and political fields. Why, more than half a century after independence, has Tunisia continued to live under an authoritarian regime? This is one of the key questions tackled by the author, as well as those relating to the wealth and income was generated in Tunisia, and how the latter has been distributed. A very useful tool for understanding how the post-Ben Ali Tunisia can develop. (MT)
*** YVES BOURRON: Jamal, un migrant acteur de développement. La revanche du territoire. Editions Publisud (see address attached). "Espaces méditerranéens" series. 2011, 268 pp, €16. ISBN 978-2-36291-009-8.
This book provides an original historical account of an immigrant who was saved and then who subsequently went on to save others after his own personal rebelliont. Born in the Moroccan Souss, to parents who were both farmers, Jamal Lahoussaine emigrated and was then taken on by a French aluminium company. He soon rebels against the conditions in which the immigrant workers are forced to work. When the factory closes, he sets up a charity, "Migrations & Développement". This body has been involved in countless development projects in the most remote corners of Morocco. The presidency of this body has now been assumed by someone else, but the charity itself is still recognised as a major co-development actor in both Morocco and France. (MT)