*** GRANT H. CORNWELL, EVE WALSH STODDARD (Ed.): Global Multiculturalism. Comparative Perspectives on Ethnicity, Race and Nation. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706. Tel: (1-800) 4626420 - Internet: http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com ). 2001, 354 pp, $22.95. ISBN 0-7425-0883-8.
This book brings together a number of original essays, which are the result of eight years of research at the St. Lawrence University in the United States. It would be advisable that the reader prepares him or herself intelligently and with detachment for a sensitive subject that is all too often the object of manipulation and crude reductionism, in an effort to assess this global issue. Through the study of specific cases in five continents, the contributors demonstrate the universality of multicultural societies: no country in today's world could claim to be exclusively monocultural. Nowhere is the nation but a monolith, with the interior of every State consisting of different ethnic and racial fringes. The way of meeting the challenges that this presents is also vary varied and which this book recounts with rigorous and scientific intransigence.
Following the theoretical introduction, the co-ordinators emphasise, amongst other things, how the concept of nation and nationalism mask a mass of ambiguities and contradictions, with the contributions seeking to provide answers to a whole set of other questions. Firstly, what is official national identity, where does the concept come from historically and what is included and excluded from within it? It then deals with the concept of "multiculturalism" and how the concept is interpreted in each country by officialdom, the education system, politics and the media. The third aspect on horizontal questions tackles the issue of how countries include and classify racial and ethnic differences, what groups are involved, how they are identified, as well as the political and economic weight they dispose of in a given country. The last section deals with the history of the power relationship between and within different groups, what tensions exist and the conflicts and alliances. The book on this basis is effectively divided into three chapters. In the first, the authors examine the way in which so-called ethnic differences are expressed faced with the "contested ownership of national culture" in Guatemala, Trinidad, Thailand…and in France where the Algerian community or more generally, the North African community, has become a fixed component of society and which now effectively compels a country that is based less on the notion of ethnicity and more on the ability of the Republic to translate its main founding principles into reality. The second part of the book focuses on countries where white and black cohabitation is an issue - Brazil, the USA (a country treated no less leniently by the authors), Kenya and Cuba. The third part tackles certain constitutional approaches to inequality in Zimbabwe, Bosnia, Mexico (with the issue of the Chiapas), China and officially multicultural China.
Europe might appear less on the centre stage of this book. It tackles, however, these very real issues that are present in every country, present and future within the Union with perspicacity and great depth and is a book that is undeniably of great interest.
Michel Theys
*** EDUARD SANCHEZ MONJO (Ed.): Réunion des représentants des administrations publiques des partenaires euro-méditerranéens dans le cadre du partenariat euro-méditerranéen. European Institute for Public Administration (22 O. L. Vrouweplein, BO 1229, 6201 BE Maastricht. Internet: http: //http://www.eipa.nl ). 2001, 333 pp. ISBN 90-6779-149-0.
This book provides an account of a Euro-Mediterranean conference organised in February 2000 by the European Centre of the Regions, a satellite organisation of the European Institute of Public Administration in Barcelona. A beneficiary of the Commission's MEDA programme, this meeting facilitated a debate on issues related to Euro-Mediterranean partnerships within the framework of the Barcelona Process, with the goal of enabling these partnerships to be more effective and improve their knowledge of the Member States and European Union administration services and institutions. The body of this work looks at the declaration of the meeting Chairman's declaration, Professor Eduard Sanchez Monjo, as well as the other contributions made at the conference.
(MT)
*** MICHEL DUMOULIN, GENEVIEVE DUCHENNE (Ed.): L'Europe et la Méditerranée. Actes de la Vie Chaire Glaverbel d'études européennes 2000-2001. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (Brussels. Internet: http://www.peterlang.net ). "Actes de la Chaire Glaverbel d'études européennes" series, No. 1. 2001, 329 pp. ISBN 90-5201-967-3.
This volume provides a selection of texts from the European Chair of Glaverbel Studies organised at the Catholic University of Leuven, as well as by external conference speakers invited to participate during the 2000-2001 term and focuses entirely on Euro-Mediterranean relations. The subject is treated in a multidisciplinary approach by historians, legal experts, economists and political scientists. As well as providing an historical examination, it explores the different aspects of the relationship between the Union and Mediterranean countries (the MEDA Programme, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnerships, Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements etc,). Some of the other contributions give an insight into the way in which Islam has influenced the bilateral relationship.
(MT)
*** ABDELKADER DJEFLAT, MOHAMED ABBOU (Ed.): Eau et technologie au Maghreb. Nouveaux défis pour le Maghreb. Publisud (15 rue des Cinq-Diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - E-mail: publisud@compuserve.com). "Maghtech" series. 2001, 301 pp. ISBN 2-86600-864-2.
The water issue is of great significance in the Maghreb, an area which is semi-arid, the ability to retain surface water levels is very low and progress at exploiting subterranean water sources still remains a challenge. In an effort to provide assistance in this area and help technological development, the Maghtech Network, organised a high-level conference on the issue. This book provides an accurate account of the theoretical, geo-strategic and technological dimensions to the issue, as well as the economic, sociological and cultural aspects to the question of water provision and its impact on health, environmental and educational matters.
(MT)
*** GÉRARD BOSSUAT, NICOLAS VAICBOURDT (Ed.): The United States, Europe and European Union - Etats-Unis, Europe et Union européenne. Uneasy Partnership (1945-1999) - Histoire et avenir d'un partenariat difficile (1945-1999). Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (Brussels. E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.net ); "Euroclio" series, No. 21. 2001, 283 pp. ISBN 90-5201-942-8.
This book brings together a number of contributions from French, German, English, Italian, Belgian, Austrian and American historians, political scientists and international relations experts on the relationship between the US and Europe, particularly the European Union since 1945. Edited by Gérard Bossuat, Professor of contemporary history at the Univeristé de Cergy-Pontoise and Nicolas Vaicbourdt from the Ecole normale supérieur and the Universities of Paris 1 and Cergy-Pontoise, this collective study based on discussions at a symposium, focuses on an historical perspective to those particularly interested in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. A detailed analysis of defence matters is provided but the authors also meticulously examine economic relations and discuss possible future developments in the USA-EU relationship.
(PB)
*** EBERHARD BRODHAGE, RODNEY WILSON: Financial Markets in the GCC: Prospects for European Co-operation. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (European University Institute, Convento, 9 via dei Roccettini, I-50016 San Domenico di Fiesole. Fax: (39-055) 4685775 - E-mail: forinfo@iue.it). "Policy Papers" series, No. 1-2. 2001, 30 pp.
In this new European University Institute of Florence publication, two experts analyse the specificities of the financial markets in Gulf Council Co-operation Member States (the situation of banking services, banking system structures, Islamic financial services etc) and provide a useful illustration in order for the European Union to play a more important role in the region.
(MT)
*** HEINZ-JÜRGEN AXT, CHRISTOPH ROHLOFF (Ed. ): Frieden und Sicherheit in (Südost-) Europa: EU-Beitritt, Stabilitätspakt und europäische Sicherheits-und Verteidigungspolitik. Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft (49 Widenmayerstr. D-80538 Munich. Tel: (49-089) 212154-0 - Fax: 2289469 - E-mail: Suedosteuropa-Gesellschaft@t-online.de). "Südosteuropa-Studie" series, No. 70. 2001, 436 pp, 67 DM. ISBN 3-925450-93-9.
The international conference on "Peace and Security in south-east Europe, EU Accession, the Stability Pact and Foreign Policy and Joint Security", organised in November 2000 by Professor Heinz-Jürgen Axt, holder of the Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Duisburg, drew a number of conclusions and put forward a number of proposals that are included in this book. Discussions focused on the conditions that need to be met by the Union as well as by the candidate countries in order that the enlargement project does not upset the project of political peace in Europe. The different contributors clearly put the emphasis on the reforms needed in the Union: budget adjustment for a large number of Member States, a thorough overhaul of all Union policies (not only that of the Common Agricultural Policy), reform of the institutions and the decision-making process etc. The writers also ask, with such an increase in the number of Member States, whether it would not be appropriate to make modifications to the "basic Union architecture" whilst differentiating the conditions for integration.
Even if the accession of south-eastern countries is not yet on the agenda, the writers have made an assessment of whether the Stability Pact and the Association Agreements constitute an intermediate stage on the road to accession, by developing a number of key points. The first is the instability and the conflicts in a region that is often classified as a tinderbox. Secondly, the Union in its role of "external actor" after 1989/90 and its "ambivalent strategy", as well as its inability to foresee the crisis in the Balkans. A section also focuses on the Stability Pact and its institutional weaknesses, as well as the lack of co-ordination between its different Members (a point of view shared by Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia and Bulgaria). The authors consider, however, that there is no alternative to this Pact. One of them criticises Union association policy and calls for a political re-evaluation of the association status policy because of the internal difficulties that it creates for the Union. Crucial internal reform within the Union are proving to be the stumbling blocks for the CFSP since the end of the war in Kosovo. Some of the writers ask how the Union is going to make the leap from being a Community of security to that of an political actor in the realm of security and admit that this transition will be made by way of a gradualist policy. Some of the observations are quite severe but are tinged with a cautious optimism.
(CB)
*** ARABELLE BERNECKER: Internationales Konfliktmanagement am Beispiel des Krieges um Bosnien, 1992-1995. Peter Lang (see above). "Europäische Hochschulschriften" series, No. 425. 2001, 129 pp. ISBN 3-631-34737-5.
The Yugoslavian conflict constituted, with its explosive events and different players, a complicated war. As Arabelle Bernecke stresses, it proved a major challenge for the international community, which found no way out until much later. In this context, the author highlights how surprising it was when the basic rules of preventative diplomacy and crisis management broke down. On the basis of different hypotheses, Ms Bernecke explains how the process progressively broke down and recommends that in the future, the international community takes the theoretical conclusions of conflict prevention much more seriously, in order that when the time comes, they can put them into practice.
Divided into two parts, this study consists of the different theories on conflict and provides a balance sheet of the current situation of research into the subject. The second part analyses the end of the Yugoslavian conflict, as well as the different strategies attempted by the international community, as well as the effectiveness of the UN embargo and intervention.
(CB)
*** EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985, Luxembourg) has published the following document:
*** InfoRegio. DG Regional Policy (Fax: (32-2) 2966003 - E-mail: regio-info@cec.eu.int - Internet: http: //inforegio.cec.eu.int). January 2002, No. 94.
Following on from the second report on the economic, social and cohesion policy, the Commission will soon be presenting a progress report on the socio-economic development of the regions in Member States and candidate countries. This report - in which this newsletter succinctly reveals certain elements - analyses the statistical data compiled and draws up a balance sheet of the debates in progress over the last year on future cohesion policy.
*** EIB Information. European Investment Bank (100 bld Konrad Adenauer, L-2950 Luxembourg. Tel: (352) 4379-1 - Fax: 437704- E-mail: info@bei.org -Internet: http: //http://www.bei.org ). 2001-3, No. 109, 19 pp.
The first page of this European Investment Bank publication states that the participants of the EIB Forum consider that it is time that the Euro-Mediterranean partnership enters a new era. Other subjects tackled: the future of the EIB lending policy to candidate countries, the EIB reinforces its strategic identification capability and operational support in order to have a hands-on grasp of the economic situation, the activities of the European Investment Fund venture capital activities in candidate countries etc.
*** One Europe or several ? ESRC Programme Sussex European Institute (University of Sussex. Falmer, Brighton BN1 9SH. Tel: (44-1273) 678560 - Fax: 678571 - E-mail: j.rollo@sussex.ac.uk - Internet: http: //http://www.one-europe.ac.uk ). Winter 2001-2002, No. 6, 8 pp.
The dynamic of change in Europe remains a concern of the European Institute at the University of Sussex, which in its most recent newsletter, provides a forum on "changing European policy", as well as articles on social exclusion, social protection, current affairs, proposals on the future role of the Union, transformation policy and the electoral process in post-Communist Europe, regional identity and the European citizenship policy, globalisation, European integration and the European social model.
*** Revue du marché commun et de l'Union européenne. Editions Techniques et Economiques (3 rue Soufflot, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 55426130 - Fax: 55426139 - E-mail: editecom@starnet.fr - Internet: http://www.editecom.com ). February 2002, No. 455, 138 pp.
To summarise: interview with Commissioner for Enlargement, Günter Verheugen, on the perspectives of the Declaration of Laeken: Directions for use, Europe through the Danish Looking Glass, Food Safety in the European Union: a Policy in Gestation, Safety is the Main Ingredient in our Food, Chronicle of Competition - Jurisprudence in 2000, Relations between the European Court of Auditors and the High level Control Institutions in Member States, How Should the Subsidiarity Principle be Applied?, The Territoriality of Benefits Subject to VAT, The Court of Justice Twice Quashes the French Doctrine.
*** EuropeInfos. Mensuel de la Comece et de l'Ocipe (42 rue Stevin, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2350510 - Fax: 2303334 - E-mail: europeinfos@comece.org - debbichi.ocipe@tiscalinet.be). February 2002. 12 pp. Subscription: 25 euros.
Policy and Ethics - Or how to react to the fact that nobody opposed to embryo research was invited to the Commission conference on the subject etc. Also in brief: The Convention, the Union in 2002 and south-east Europe; When does Human Life Begin?; The Laborious Process of Reform in Romania, Child Protection, Church and State in the Future etc.
Reviews in brief
*** News from Cyprus. December 2001 - January 2002, Brussels. This issue points out how prospects for accession gave a new boost to solving the Cyprus problem, where the last wall of shame, dividing Nicosia and Cyprus into two since 1974, could disappear under the pressure and dynamism of the island's Union accession process … *** Benelux Newsletter. 2002/1. Luxembourg. To summarise - an interview with Jan De Bock, Secretary General of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the next Belgian Permanent Representative to the EU.