*** PASCAL LAMY, NICOLE GNESOTTO: Où va le monde ? Le marché ou la force ? Odile Jacob (15 rue Soufflot, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 44416484 –Internet: http://www.odilejacob.fr ). 2017, 235 pp. €19.90. ISBN 978-2-7381-3528-5
The title of this book focuses on a subject that is causing increasing concern to European citizens and plunging them into a constant into a gloom that resembles the “Euro-pessimism” had previously prevailed before the Delors Commission in the middle of the 1980s managed to garner enthusiasm once again for the great project to develop an internal market without borders. The current malaise is even worse insofar as the era of “happy globalisation” has been succeeded by “painful globalisation” and the “crises of powerlessness”, of which the European Union is possibly a shining example. How should this negative spiral be interpreted? What has it produced? Is it the economy or geopolitics that dominate today’s world? Will it be the market or the force of the nationstate that ultimately lays down the law? In an attempt to provide an original response to these questions (and upon which our future depend), the authors of this book, the former head of the European Union’s Institute for Security Studies and currently the President of the French board of directors at the Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence, Nicole Gnesotto, obviously gets to grips with one side of this issue, whilst Pascal Lamy, the former director-general of the World Trade Organisation and former European Commissioner, examines the other very different side of the coin.
Initially, the authors pursue their own respective individual analysis, with Nicole Gnesotto highlighting the dominant role played by geopolitics and the return of dissension within the current “new world disorder”. Pascal Lamy then assesses, “the turbulence involved in the massive transformation” experienced by highlighting the structuring and conciliatory fractures of the geo-economy and exchanges between countries that have become interdependent. These two versions of a single world are then examined in the perspective of the positions and strategies of the different state actors and how they will have to deal with the important political and economic issues on the planet in the future and the challenges that “will cause or could cause current international governance to be rethought”. Placed under the leadership of another former member of the Delors cabinet, who subsequently became a senior Commission official, Jean-Michel Baer, this dialogue involves the authors discussing the different main economic powers, as well as Latin America, Africa in all its diversity, as well as the Middle East. The challenges tackled in this connection involve questions that are causing a lot of concern in the west right now: refugees and migration, as well as democracy and values, energy and climate change, terrorism, cyber security and governance.
The question of Europe and the way it has been built for almost 70 years is not discussed because this issue is discussed in the third part of the book, which focuses exclusively on “the global challenge” that Europe now has to face. This part is written by four different authors and is an act of faith insofar as it touches on the potential of European construction but whose “ultimate societal” goal has unfortunately been concealed due to the primacy accorded to the economy: the generations that followed the founding fathers, “despite the intentions demonstrated and treaties signed, are not following up the scenario written and according to which European integration should lead to the political existence of Europe”. This accusation is made by Delors’ former right-hand man and for whom it was nonsensical to think of the economy and market capitalism could, on their own, “provide a sense to Europe”. In reality, “by abandoning politics to the machinations of economic integration, we have left the question up to the states to decide”, these prosecutors argue, by pointing out implacably but very lucidly that these very states, “have never ceased to primarily defend what they are familiar with: the interest of the states and their respective governments”. This is why the European Union is creating a lot of despair among good citizens and why, consequently, it is of the utmost urgency to create a new “narrative”, which separates the good grain from the bad, allows European citizens to think positively about the future and to ultimately and, despite all the odds, succeed in, “civilising globalisation” and “pacifying” today’s world of disorder and replacing the threats to it with hope. The ideas put forward for putting this hope into practice by way of “a new European contract” warrant our attention. President Macron and his new colleagues the European Council should take all of this into account! Michel Theys
*** ASSEL TUTUMLU, GAYE GÜNGÖR (Editors): Multilateralism in Global Governance. Formal and Informal Institutions. Peter Lang (42-50 Eschborner Landstraße, D-60489 Frankfurt. Tel: (49-69) 780700 – fax: 78070550 – Email: frankfurt@peterlang.com – Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2016, 269 pp. €48.60, £39, $63.95. ISBN 978-3-631-66302-8.
This book is the extension of the 4th Annual Workshop on International Political Economy at the University of Gediz (which was obliged to close down last year when the government accused it of being linked to the Gülen movement). The workshop was organised in collaboration with the University of Leeds and Florida International. The book provides an inter-disciplinary insight into the position of multilateralism within global governance. This is, in fact, a new insight because the first generation of researchers working in the area of international relations only saw multilateralism as arrangements involving the states. Global governance involves both states and non-state actors at different levels, which has been taken into account by the second generation of researchers working in this domain. In this book, it is the representatives of a third-generation of researchers in this field that express their ideas and attempt to conceptualise the global governance architecture as a global political/policy space fragmented into myriad issue-areas where actors are located at different administrative levels (local, national and global/transnational). Given that the state is just one actor among many others, they seek to map the location of the actors at these levels and unpack the processes and mechanisms of political conflict and coordination in an effort to see how multilateralism functions in practice in an era when sates have to work together with private and public institutions. To this end, they provide a critical and robust analysis of three different beliefs: the first would like to have a global governance with a coherent standardising dimension; the second considers that multilateralism is dead and the third considers that multilateralism should be a form of global governance. This erudite demonstration involves the authors tackling questions relating to democratisation, migration, regionalism and support for multilateralism as demonstrated within the jurisprudence of the Union. (PBo)
*** VIRGINIA BALAFOUTI, IOANNIS MAZIS: La réalité géopolitique dans le duopole Grèce-Chypre. Editions Papazisi (2 rue Nikitara, GR-10678 Athens. Tel: (30- 210) 3822496 – fax: 3809020 – Email: papazisi@otenet.gr – Internet: http://www.papazisi.gr ). 2015, 200 pp. €14,84. ISBN 978-960-02-3070-3
This book highlights the absence of a geopolitical analysis worthy of the name as part of strategic planning in Greece with regard to the Cypriot question. In this context, the duopoly of Athens and Nicosia is effectively inconsistent or quite simply failing to deliver. The research in this publication is based on geopolitical disconnects such as: 1) the dynamics involving Russia’s geopolitical reaffirmation in the Arctic zone, following developments involving the melting of the icecaps due to climate change; 2) upheaval at a level of electricity distribution in the greater Middle East, involving the respective interests of Moscow and Peking, to the disadvantage of Turkey. Professor Ioannis Mazis (American universities of Hamlin and Athens), is an acknowledged expert in the Islamic movement and politico-cultural manifestations of this phenomenon in the international environment. Virginia Balafouti is a legal expert who also highlights international crimes that have not been given sufficient attention by the Greek-Cypriot side and where the international community has refrained from imposing sanctions on the side committing the offences, in this case Turkey. Although the negotiating process was relaunched between the president of the Cypriot Republic and the “representative” of the puppet regime of the island territories occupied by Turkey, the authors explained that these omissions have deprived Greece of powerful negotiating tools and mean that the aggressor and victims are affectively treated in the same way. Consequently, the dialogue between Greek and Turkish Cypriots lacks legitimacy and will mean that Greek power will progressively decline due to demographic change and external factors active on the island. (AKa)
*** VASSILIOS MAKRIDIS, VICTOR ROUDOMETOF (Editors) : Le christianisme orthodoxe en Grèce au 21ème siècle. Le rôle de la religion dans la culture, l'identité nationale et la politique. Editions Epikentro (9 rue Kamvounion, GR-54621 Salonika. Tel: (30-231) 0256146 – fax: 0256148 – Internet: http://www.epikentro.gr ). “Histoire et société” series. 2016, 312 pp. €17. ISBN 978-960-458700-1.
This is a collectively written publication and meeting point between sociology and religionand multicultural analysis. It examines the role played by orthodoxy as a whole, including the official church in Greece since the beginning of the 21st century. As an historically orthodox country, Greece is characterised by its many close links with the west and provides the possibility of an approach and examination of Orthodox Christianity that is different to those applicable to other eastern and south eastern European countries of which many lived under Communist regimes during the 20th century. Based on several individual studies and mainly focusing on the period of Archbishop Christodoulos, this book examines the many changes that have happened in relations between orthodoxy, politics, society, national identity, gender and popular culture. Ancient and outmoded stereotypes involving the church are examined, as well as the social and cultural importance of Orthodox Christianity. This collectively written publication it edited by Professor Victor Roudometof (University of social and political sciences in Cyprus and the Cultural Sociology Center at the University of Yale) and Vasilios Makridis (School of philosophy at the University of Erfurt in Germany). Around 15 specialists from the religious world demonstrate how traditional Orthodoxy has considerably changed and how these changes affect the public role and global image of the church. The latter now appears to be slowly but surely responding to the major challenges opposed to it by globalisation and multiculturalism. (AKa)
*** STAVROS ZOUBOULAKIS (Editor): Religion et politique. Editions Artos Zoes (28 rue Bouboulinas, GR-10672 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 8824547 – fax: 8228791 – Email: artos@otenet.gr – Internet: http://www.artoszoes.gr ). 2016, 474 pp. €20. ISBN 978-960-8053-56-4.
The relationship between religion and politics over the past few years has often become a bloody one due to the emergence and activity of Islamic groups. Within the different versions and subdivisions, political Islam is certainly the main form of the politicisation of religion today but it is not the only one. Throughout history, religion and politics have always maintained close and changing relations, which require a separate examination of each religion and historic epoch. Nonetheless, despite this relationship being a very ancient one, a critical discussion in order to understand it within historic developments is much more recent, as is the debate on the regulation of religious related issues in the modern Republic. The philosopher and psychologist, Stavros Zoumboulakis (University of Ioannina), brings together texts from around 15 different specialists on religious questions in this book. This helps us to understand this relationship as expressed within Christianity and the intellectual history of Europe. Two studies focus on Islam at the dawning of the Koranic period and another examines the phenomena embodied by the claims of having deceloped an Islamic state. On the other hand, there are no texts on the Greek Orthodox Church and its relationship with politics, which is discussed at length elsewhere, particularly in light of many different denunciations made of the nationalism of the Orthodox churches. Going beyond both apologetics or accusations, this peaceful debate on the relationship of religion with politics translates the victory, as observed, of secularism, and the fact that almost everywhere in Europe, the state is now neutral with regard to religion. (AKa)
*** CONSTANTINOS GOGOS: Le mouvement islamique en Turquie. Contribution à l'étude de la pensée islamique turque contemporaine. Editions Livanis (98 rue Solonos, GR-10680 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3661200 – fax: 3617791 – Email: webmaster@livanis.gr – Internet: http://www.livanis.gr ). 2016, 144pp. €10. ISBN 978-960-14-3096-6.
Constantinos Gogos is a lecturer at the Department of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies at the National University of Athens. In this book he provides a number of answers to the question of what are the suggestions and ideas propagated by Islamic intellectuals in Turkey today. How are they trained? What are the channels they use to express themselves? What are the different tendencies that dominate Turkish political Islam? How do Islamic writers help strengthen political Islam when contending secular Kemalist forces? These are some of the questions tackled in this book in which the main contributions are provided by three major Islamic intellectuals whose influence is to the fore in contemporary Turkish politics and society. The author also highlights the work and role played by Islamic thinkers in the context of social theory, whilst providing a Greek translation of important texts by these Islamic thinkers. In this study, he seeks to provide a contribution to fostering knowledge and understanding of political Islam and explaining why Islamic identity has been steadily getting stronger in Turkey since the 1980s. Islamic writers and intellectuals are obviously through their work, opinions, criticism and suggestions, decisive players in propagating the Islamic vision of politics, the state and its institutions, the economy, culture and history taking, the Muslim and indeed the entire world, particularly in the west. (AKa)