*** CHRISTIAN DEBLOCK, JOËL LEBULLENGER, STÉPHANE PAQUIN (Editors: Un nouveau pont sur l'Atlantique. L'Accord économique et commercial global entre l'Union européenne et le Canada. Presses de l'Université du Québec (Le Delta I, 1650, boulevard Laurier, bureau 450, Québec G1V 2M2, Canada. Tel: (1-418) 657-4399 - fax: 657-2096 - Email: puq@puq.ca - Internet: http://www.puq.ca ). 2015, 351 pp. $40. ISBN 978-2-7605-4378-2.
The preface is written by Jean Charest, the former Prime Minister of Québec, who was in fact involved in the launch of the negotiations between Canada and the European Union, which led to the conclusion of a global trade and economic agreement. The book is an important reference with regard to the latter. It results from a four seminar cycle organised by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Rennes, in partnership with the University of Québec and Montréal. It reveals both the obstacles that had to be overcome to reach the agreement on 18 October 2013 and the advantages that are due to result from it if it is ratified in Canada (whether 10 different provinces are due to vote on it) and in the 28 member states of the European Union. This is certainly no done deal because it has provoked a number of negative reactions in segments of organised civil society, which have criticised it as heralding the possible Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement currently being negotiated with the US and Japan.
In the introductory chapter, the editors of this book do not attempt to conceal the fact that "nothing has been permanently resolved" given that difficulties have not ceased to multiply since the political agreement between the different parties on the negotiated text was adopted on 26 September 2014 in Ottawa. Three of the twenty-six academic authors contributing to this book had been keen to underline that CETA is a fair agreement that respects sovereign rights and the public interest. This is not the general drift of many of the of the criticisms made, however, and there ae claims that it is, "a bitter indication of what European countries have to expect" with the possible TTIP. The problems inherent in the CETA and their effect on the Canadians may actually result from the European Union's determination to ensure that any economic and trade partnership agreement is linked to a cooperation policy agreement. Joël Lebullenger (Emeritus Professor of law and political science at the University of Rennes and European Jean Monnet Chair) argues that, "very early on, Canadian negotiators did not understand and indeed were quite annoyed by the fact that the trade agreement was subject to political conditions and criteria, particularly with regard to human rights and democracy". An honourable compromise was ultimately reached, but the Union did, however, remain firm on the principle insofar as it will be negotiating with less democratic partnerships than the one with Canada. Another institutional difficulty obviously results, as explained by Professor Catherine Flaesch-Mougin, from the fact that this, "first comprehensive free trade agreement in the post-Lisbon period" does not have to be approved by the Council, "until after approval by the 28 member states”. This could legitimately create a number of concerns amongst those for whom this agreement is something entirely positive, such as the Commission, which is still hoping that this agreement can be approved by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament alone...
Therefore, as pointed out by Joël Lebullenger and professor. Christian Deblock (Faculty of Political Science and Law at the University of Québec) and Stéphane Paquin (École nationale d'administration publique), "CETA therefore risks significantly upsetting things before the process comes to an end". Nonetheless, they also believe that they are already in a position to assert that this, "marks a turning point in the relations between Canada and the European Union" particularly for American countries because it will allow them to come out of the shadow of the US and assert themselves in their own right in their dealings with Europeans. Will this agreement therefore be, "a new bridge between Europe and North America?" The authors are not far from thinking this and the three editors affirm that CETA will promote the interconnection of the two economic areas that have been for far too long too far removed from each other. The different provisions in this "novel agreement" are then methodically presented and analysed, as well as the transatlantic negotiations on investment ("a balancing act, illustrated by the standard of fair and equitable treatment"), the social clauses, which perhaps promote "a convergence of models", in addition to the dispute regulation, fishery sector, services, recognition of professional qualifications, cultural industries, telecommunications (in the era of free trade and digitalisation) and the question of personal data. This book is indeed a reference book in its own right! Michel Theys
*** THANOS VEREMIS: Balkans: Histoire et société. Un modèle coloré de nationalisme. Éditions Alexandria (133 rue Solonos, GR-10677 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3806305 - fax: 3838173 email: alexpubl@alexandria-publ.gr - Internet: http://www.alexandria-publ.gr ). 2016, 323 pp. €14.84. ISBN 978-960-221-676-7.
The basic aim of this book is to demonstrate the hybrid character of nation states during crucial periods in the stormy history of the Balkans. Emeritus Professor of political history at the University of Athens, Thanos Veremis, does not provide a traditional history of the Balkans and neither does he dwell on the phenomenon of "Balkanisation". Instead, he attempts a number of different interpretations in which we often see the clash of dominant views in the Western world. Leaving aside the aspect of a single religious tradition, other common factors are identifiable in the history of the nations of south-east Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Imported from at the … Western world, nationalism, has proved to be a major factor that has had a protracted influence on the young nation-states of the Balkans. There have been a number of different mutations there that, ultimately, led to civil war in Yugoslavia at the end of the last century. The author asks the question of whether there ever have been independent countries in the Balkans that have not been under the influence of the major powers. He also assume some distance from the Western view of the phenomenon of the Balkans, which he believes is often unreliable, for example, when many historians treat the Balkans as the nucleus of infection for the rest of Europe or when they describe the Balkans as being the "powderkeg of Europe" for the past two centuries. Professor Thanos Veremis believes that our era requires a new revision of the basic principles that previously governed nation-states and the relationships between them. The West will continue to play a decisive role in the life of South East Europe but now more on the basis of its economic influence rather than its firepower. It will therefore again become a controlling force in of the Balkans, as well as a factor for modernisation. (AKa)
*** NIKOS KOTZIAS, CONSTANTINOS FILIS (Editors): La politique étrangère de la Russie et les relations gréco-russe. Éditions Patakis (38 Panayi Tsaldari, GR-10437 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3650000 - fax: 3811940 - email: bookstore@patakis.gr - Internet: http://www.patakis.gr ). « Sciences sociales et politiques». 2016, 124 pp. €9.90. ISBN 978-960-16-5939-8.
The 24 different texts included in this book are studies that focus on the different aspects of Russian foreign policy, particularly Moscow's relations with Greece. It also focuses on the question of Russia's relationship with countries in the Caucasus, Russia's line on the Cypriot question and the Middle East, its relations with the European Union and China, etc. All the different studies are contributions by academics. Professor Nikos Kotzias (international relations at Pantheon University in Athens), current Minister for Foreign Affairs and his colleague Constantinos Filis, who teaches global geopolitics at the same university, both indicate in their introductory chapter that the analyses contained in the book could help towards the implementation of a constructive Greek foreign policy that is also beneficial towards Russia. (AKa)
*** DIMITRIOS-VASSILIOS KOKKINOS: La Géopolitique du système énergétique en Europe, en Asie et au Moyen-Orient. Éditions Limon (2-4 rue Nikitara, GR-10678 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3227323 - email: ekd.limon@gmail.com). 2015, 222 pp. €20. ISBN 978-618-81984-4-9.
Dimitrios-Vassilios Kokkinos is a specialist in the energy field, as well as in the negotiations to create new pipelines. In this book he provides an insight into one of the most interesting periods in his professional life in the area of hydrocarbons. This was an era in which rivalry existed between the Greeks and Americans with regard to the who should benefit from the oil in the Caspian Sea. This all took place at a time when Russian competition was becoming ever more aggressive and when it attempted to divert these very much coveted resources to Russian soil. The West's first option in this context was therefore to focus on the Bakou-Soupsa pipeline, which aimed to linkup between Azerbaijan and Georgia, pipe lines that had existed since the Soviet period. These were then repaired and improved by the addition, as well as other factors, of new pumps. The author explains that he had been greatly impressed by the figure in charge of this modernisation and for reactivating this link and the fact that it was none other than Richard Morningstar, US representative for Caspian Sea oil. He then recalls the pressure exerted by the Americans in the relations with the Azeris and even more so with the Georgians. Edward Shevardnadze, the president of Georgia declared that this pipeline would be the cause of his assassination. The author testifies to the fact that he was not lying when he said, "I had confirmation of the precise nature of this prediction during the attempted assassination by an anti-tank rocket aimed at him during my mission. The Georgian president survived thanks to an armoured Mercedes lent to him by Chancellor Kohl". The author concludes that it was then that he began to understand the stakes at play in the oil business and the fact that they could be "fatal". (AKa)
*** STAVROS LYGEROS: Le terrorisme islamique. Éditions Patakis (See address attached). Collection « Sciences sociales et politiques ». 2016, 192 pp. €12.50. ISBN 978-960-16-6843-7.
Stavros Lygeros, economist and respected editorialist on the journal, “Kathimerini” is also a political analyst for the Greek public television channel ERT. He could in fact have called this book, "The Revenge of Islam" because in it he looks at the consequences of US strategy, which seeks to "remodel" the Middle East through its military intervention. This policy has, on the contrary, opened up a Pandora's box. The first repercussions involve the extension and the spread of Islamic terrorism, which has succeeded in propagating fear and security right in the heart of Europe. The second involves the tsunami of refugees and immigrants, as observed over recent months. These two situations are very different from each other but they are being experienced by many Europeans as parallel crises on top of the economic crisis and another element that threatens to dismantle the federative project. The author believes that the collapse of neoconservative strategy has now compelled the US to abandon its "imperial" dreams and adapt itself to the international multipolar world now giving birth to a number of regional powers. In the interim, a void has been created and the Islamic State has managed to fill it, without, initially, meeting much resistance. Stavros Lygeros then analyses the reasons why there is an incompatibility between Islamic fundamentalism and open western societies that are perhaps too post modern. He also tackles the question of why Islamic fundamentalism seduces a certain number of young Muslims born in Europe to the point that they become a recruitment reserve for future jihads. (AKa)