*** GILLES GRIN, REGIS CLAVE, FRANCOISE NICOD (Eds.): Relations transatlantiques face aux défis du monde global. Editions Economica (49 rue Héricart, F-75015 Paris) and Fondation Jean Monnet pour l'Europe (Ferme de Dorigny, CH-1015 Lausanne. Tel: (41-21) 6922090 - Fax: 6922095 - Email: secr@fjme.unil.ch - Internet: http://www.jean-monnet.ch ). Les Cahiers rouges series, No. 215. 2015, 373 pp, €33. ISBN 978-2-7178-6793-0.
This 215th Cahier rouge reports on a conference organised in Lausanne thirty-five years to the day after the creation of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe by Jean Monnet himself on 4 October 1978. The conference itself had been preceded in April 2013 by a seminar organised in the capital of the United States by the Washington European Institute in partnership with the Foundation - the Lausanne event also being supported by the George C. Marshall Foundation. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge in North America and Europe in twenty-five years and it was therefore wise to make an evaluation of the Euro-American partnership. Particularly because as Jacqueline Grapin explains in her welcoming note, things have changed a lot since it was set up in 1988-1989. She says that the Washington European Institute in cooperation with the Commission then chaired by Jacques Delors, had just two certainties to assert: the first was that European integration was a good thing, and the second was that good relations with the United Stales were desirable. She writes that this used to seem so obvious that it made people smile when you told them about it - but not these days.
Taking a detour through history allows one to understand why relations deteriorated and palled over time, or at least to understand the spirit that prevailed after the Second World War, of which not much remains in truth these days. The first contribution is therefore devoted by historian Barry F. Machado to General Marshall, the father of the plan bearing his name on which the transatlantic partnership was built. Reviewing the six rules that the US secretary of state imposed in this key period, the professor who until 2005 taught at the la Washington & Lee University in Lexington, shows that it never had the objective of Americanising society in the various countries of Europe. The General always insisted that the future organisation of Europe must be determined by the peoples of Europe - a rule that he respected everywhere except… Greece during the Civil War. Among other things, he refused to impose any US diktat accompanied by coercion or intimidation, his strong belief being that a 'true alliance was based on common interest, mutual respect, deliberation and cooperation among equal partners.' In this perspective, he refused to allow the United States to brag about being a superpower, as in his view, the US could neither dominate its friends nor treat them condescendingly. He was still convinced that he leaders of the world should not only define and promote the enlightened interest of their nation, but also bear in mind the concern for the common interest that extends beyond borders, even going as far aiding Tito who was not subject to Joseph Stalin. It was a time, basically, when the world could still compromise in politics and put up a barrage against cynicism. It was a different time, before the increasingly blatant arrogance of Kissinger, Haig and Rice, or the autism of Bush Jr. These were rules impregnated with wisdom, on which many national leaders, including in Europe, would do well to reflect…
In the same spirit, Prof. Gérard Bossuat looks at the career of Jean Monnet himself, examining whether this man, who was close to the Washington elite, was used by the Americans as was claimed by Gaullist, Communist, neutralist, far right and revolutionary currents. In reality, explains this French historian, Monnet always fought in favour of an equal partnership between the two sides of the Atlantic, whence this comment: 'Monnet was the man of the common interests of a United Europe and the United States, but Europe was not united!' It is still not united, which Monnet cannot be blamed for, but rather those that followed in the wake of General de Gaulle in his crusade in the service of national sovereignty, which explains why transatlantic relations are becoming looser in the various domains reviewed in the book, defence and trade being among the most important of them. Hence Prof. Bossuat's irrefutable conclusion, noting the disappearance of the convergence of the transatlantic elites: 'The concern for nationalism and the sovereignty of states currently wins the day because European ideology and transatlantic ideology have demonstrated their difficulties in resolving new problems such as climate change, the transformation of developed economies, the security of Europe and the battle against unemployment.' And it is not certain that a new Marshall or a new Monnet would improve the situation these days, because one now has to take account of the rising power of European civil society which, whether the editors of this book and some of the contributors like it or not, does not look favourably on the planned transatlantic trade and investment partnership.
Michel Theys
*** GEORGE VOSKOPOULOS (Ed.): La construction de l'Europe. Paix- Réconciliation-Collaboration- Achèvement. Editions Poiotita (2 rue Smirnis, GR-16672 Vari. Tel: (30-210) 9215842 - Fax: 9214693 - Email: info@piotita.gr - Internet: http://www.piotita.gr ). 2015, 720 pp, €38. ISBN 978-960-780340-5.
The European Union is the crowning point of transnational cooperation and the desire to integrate of sovereign states sharing the same understanding of common interests to be managed using common institutions. At the same time, it is a puzzle in terms of its capacity to be a global political player, capable of projecting its power beyond the economic domain. It is this paradox that is studied in by the authors of this book, mostly lecturers at Macedonia University. They say that the Union has been built in successive phases and these days reflects the current priorities of the political elite within a European system of sovereign states and the international system. Today, it is a force for peace, but there are patent weaknesses and shortcomings in the political domain when it comes for it to act as a balance in the international system and as an inter-cultural and inter-religious instrument in the service of enhancing peace and security at international level while responding to the challenges of globalisation. The twelve chapters in this collection of essays address subjects such as bipolar clashes, the trans-European cooperation attempt during the Cold War, and the identification parameters for European security and Central Europe against the backdrop of the Cold War. The book is punctuated by a vast bibliography.
(AKa)
*** The Federalist Debate. Papers on Federalism in Europe and the World. Einstein Center for International Studies (26 via Schina, I-10144 Torino. Tel/Fax: (+39-011) 4732843 - Email: info@centroeinstein.it - Internet: http://www.federalist-debate.org ). 2015, No. 2, 64 pp. Annual subscription: €15, $18.
This issue of the Federalist Debate opens with an editorial by Lucio Levi on the need to protect oneself from the disorder reigning at the borders of Europe. How? By not delaying any longer and entering a permanent structured cooperation as the first step in the creation of a European army that is more indispensable than ever now that the bipolar world has exploded. Whose fault is this? In the South, George Bush Jr, after his megalomaniac dream of turning the United States into a global empire, which took him into Afghanistan and Iraq. There, the editorialist says, the damage needs to be repaired by launching as soon as possible a conference on security and cooperation in the Mediterranean in the image of the conference in Helsinki that was the kick-off point for Détente between East and West, a Marshall Plan being a source of inspiration. In Eastern Europe with the Ukrainian crisis, it is also important to return to the 'Helsinki spirit' and revamp the plan for a 'common European house' mooted by Gorbachev. There are a number of articles on these subjects, not to mention federalist issues.
(MT)
*** ROBERT O. KEOHANE: Après l'hégémonie. Coopération et désaccord dans l'économie politique internationale. Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles (26 av. Paul Héger, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 6503799 - Fax: 6503794 - Email: editions@ulb.ac.be - Internet: http://www.editions-universit é-bruxelles.be). "UBlire / Fondamentaux" series, No. 38. 2015, 417 pp, €12. ISBN 978-2-8004-1591-8.
The fruit of seven years of research and writing, this book appeared in English when the word globalisation was not yet part of our vocabulary, explains Robert Keohane in the preface to the second edition of 2005, in other words twenty-five years after the first edition. So why did publishing house Les Editions de l'Université Libre de Bruxelles feel it would be good to issue this French version umpteen years after the original version? Prof. Mario Telò explains in the preface that it did so because this work representing the most eminent of the post-realist culture in the United States has become a classic and a source of hope: it becomes clearer by the day that multilateralism under US hegemony is on its death bed and the author, a professor of politics and international relations at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University, states that international cooperation is possible in the absence f hegemony since, as Prof. Telò explains in summary, it appears 'possible to introduce a new multilateralism (without hegemonic power, more balanced, more legitimate and more effective), a favourable framework for fairer and sustainable global peace.' This is no doubt not yet a done deal, but the European Union is not the last to have shown that it is not a pipedream.
(MT)
*** ELIAS KOUSKOUVELIS: Introduction aux relations internationales. Editions Piotita (see above). 2015, 732 pp, €32. ISBN 978-960-780331-3.
The basic concepts of international relations are presented in this book, reviewing the international system, its agents, national interest, power, the balance of power, war and its causes, decision-making, strategy, international cooperation and more besides. These concepts are addressed using theories and methodological tools from the science of international relations, in the light of examples from Greek foreign policy over the past fifty years. Utilising scientific and ideological pluralism, the author examines how States act on the international scene and how the international system functions, the fate reserved for strategic arms, the risk of war and current propensities for international cooperation. The book is punctuated by a vast bibliography.
(AKa)
*** L'Europe en formation. Revue d'études sur la construction européenne et le fédéralisme - Journal of Studies on European Integration and Federalism. Centre international de formation européenne (10 av. des Fleurs, F-06000 Nice. Tel: (33-4) 93979397 - Fax: 93979398 - Email: europe.formation@cife.eu - Internet: http://www.europeenformation.eu ). 2014, No. 374, 168 pp, €20. Subscription: €50.
Alongside the traditional chronicle by Jean-Pierre Gouzy, this issue of a review founded by the high-priest of extreme federalism, the late Alexandre Marc, contains a special report of burning relevance because it is devoted to the relations between the European Union and Russia. Initially, François Saint-Ouen considers this theme by inviting readers to revisit the idea of 'Great Europe,' this federalism specialist who is senior lecturer at the Global Studies Institute of Geneva University (he is also secretary general of the European Culture Centre) calls for a strengthening of links between the EU28 and the Eurasian Union in order to give Europe greater autonomy vis-a-vis the United States and NATO. Prof. Makarychev (University of Tartu in Estonia) discerns the 'technocratic' causes of the conflict between the European Union and Russia over Ukraine, while researcher Anke Schmidt-Felzmann explains that the deterioration of the strategic partnership between the Union and Moscow cannot be solely ascribed to the EU28's internal divisions. Other essays look at how the Russian question is dividing the Visegrad group, the commitments undertaken by Europeans and Moscow in Central Asia, the major role played by energy in Russian-European relations and, finally, the way Russia compromises with the European Convention of Human Rights.
(MT)
*** RUOMENG YANG: Die Rezeption der europäischen Privatrechte in China und die konfuzianische Tradition, das Beispiel des Deliktsrechts im frühen 20. Jahrhundert. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, P.O. 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Rechtshistorische Reihe" series. 2015, 181 pp, €44.95. ISBN 978-3-631-66352-3.
Ruomeng Yang looks in this book at the importing of foreign legal standards and their integration into the Chinese legal system during the first half of the twentieth century (1900-1949). The author demonstrates the complexity of this import process, pointing out that there hasn't been a simple adoption of foreign legal standards although there have been some policies in this direction. The result of these import policies has rather been to create a form of symbiosis or even interactions between elements imported from abroad and elements from China's traditional legal culture characterised by Confucianism. The author is careful to define the concepts used and recall the general backdrop to the period studied (China's huge heterogeneity, revival of national sentiment); and then, to shore up his argument and flesh it out with concrete examples, the author decides to analyse these legal standards import processes in Chinese civil criminal law.
(GLe)