*** PIERRE MOSCOVICI: L'Europe, une puissance dans la mondialisation. Editions du Seuil (Paris. Internet: http://www.seuil.com ). 2001, 238 pp, 14.95 euros. ISBN 2-02-051912-7.
Published a few months ago, this book is highly topical in that Pierre Moscovici is now France's and the French prime minister's representative on the Convention on the Future of Europe, and intends to keep the position no matter what the outcome is of the upcoming presidential elections. The title of this book might be deceptive - it is not a theoretical essay but a kind of log of the author's experience as the French European affairs minister (a position he has held for five years) along with his thoughts on the events he has been involved in. These events provided him with a "European faith" that he describes as permanent and which has changed him from a "natural, sometimes naive and sometimes ill-informed European sometimes driven by his prejudices" to a "conscious European convinced that Europe is the only big idea for the decade to come". This is reassuring stuff, coming from a Convention Member.
His experience has led Pierre Moscovici to draw up his ideas for reforming the European Union along the lines of safeguarding the "Community Method", a European tax, an integrated military body, a Super-European Commissioner with responsibility for "external economic relations in the broad sense"... At the same time, he clearly comes down on one side of the fence in terms of sensitive European political issues. An example of this is with regard to Turkey, where he writes that it is highly likely, and can even be realistically predicted, that Ankara will end up choosing the status of privileged partner on the fringes of the European Union, in its own interests even, thereby preserving its political autonomy and its vocation as a regional power. But he adds that if Ankara insists and if Turkey actually meets the political conditions, the EU could not refuse to let it join "for bad motives" (religious or otherwise).
Telling the tale of his years as a politician with responsibility for European affairs has given Pierre Moscovici the opportunity to give his opinion on most of the fundamental issues facing the Union today - opening up to Central and East European countries, democratisation, the European model of society (which he says cannot be one of the unadulterated free market) and institutional reform. Along, as we noted above, with defence of the Community Method "which has made it possible to carry out everything that's been achieved in half a century of the European project", adding that this will have to be remembered for the future. At the same time, he tells the story of five years of European policy in France from the point of view of a key player. Which explains the interest of the book.
Ferdinando Riccardi
*** FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO (selected writings chosen by Mauricio A. Font): Charting a New Course. The Politics of Globalization and Social Transformation. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. (4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706, United States. - Internet: http: //http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com ). 2001, 334 pp. ISBN 0-7425-0893-5.
Introducing this impressive collection of academic essays, political speeches and sociological musings of the Brazilian President as the intellectual memoirs of a leading politician and an unusual philosopher would be something of an underestimate. The writings selected using such enlightened criteria by Mauricio Font enable readers to trace the outline of the political and academic career of a Latin American Sociology Professor who was forced into exile in Mexico by the military regime in the 1960s, and would become the head of a democratic country, the fifth largest nation on the planet, thirty or so years later. In 26 articles written between 1962 and 1998, Cardoso considers Brazilian society, dependence and authoritarian regimes in Latin America, the role of social science in the political arena, reform of the state, democracy and development, finally considering the challenges of globalisation.
For Cardoso, the vision of a "viable utopia" is forced on a realistic political leader. He attacks social and international exclusion and calls for a new philosophical renaissance to create a new world in the twenty-first century. He says the state has to adapt to the necessary changes and, as happened during the Renaissance, politics has to be reinvented, but in the opposite direction from Machiavelli's model. The book is supplemented by an in-depth introduction by Mauricio Font and an exhaustive bibliography. It can be recommended to researchers and politicians interested in globalisation and its political challenges, the battle of ideas around the concept of updated social democracy and contemporary Brazilian history and the ideas of Brazil's President.
(PB)
*** MICHAEL TH. GREVEN, LOUIS W. PAULY (Ed.): Democracy beyond the State? The European Dilemma and the Emerging Global Order. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. (see above). "Governance in Europe" series. 2000, 191 pp. ISBN 0-8476-9901-3.
This book is the fruit of a very interesting transatlantic academic dialogue between political science professors from Germany and Canada, including two well-known German political commentators, Claus Offe and Michael Zürn. They explore democracy and globalisation, the democratisation of the European Union, the democratic welfare state in an integrating Europe, democratic governance beyond the nation state, post-national European democracy, the democratic balance sheet of NAFTA and relations between he US and their North-American neighbours and finally the democratic foundations of a global economy in the light of experiments in Europe. The book is the report of a debate in 1998 at the International Studies Centre at the University of Toronto.
The contributors take as their starting point the fact that the economic globalisation process eliminates solidarity between existing communities without replacing it with new strong links between political power and social responsibility - the researchers see this as the essence of the European Union's democratic deficit and also NAFTA which has an inadequate political structure. Various ideas that could lead to post-national and therefore also European democracy are explored - democratising geographical representations, introducing European referenda, increasing the representation of political associations and NGOs, etc. In the conclusions it is argued that globalisation cannot be allowed to continue on some kind of automatic pilot. On the contrary, European public opinion is calling for a standard-setting and convincing defence of the integration project. A very interesting and illuminating book for people wanting to take part in the academic and political debates on European governance, the role of the nation state in the future and the future of modern democracy.
(PB)
*** RONALD H. CHILCOTE (Ed.): The Political Economy of Imperialism. Critical Appraisals. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. (see above). 2000, 261 pp. ISBN 0-7425-1010-7.
Globalisation is analysed in this collection of essays by a group of political scientists, economists and sociologists, most of whom are academics at British and US universities, and who indulge in putting forward an almost out-of-date, out of synch, analysis based on the idea of imperialism and a critique of capitalism. This gives rise to Marxist (neo-Marxist) analysis, based on dependence theory. The book is an illustration that one thought had disappeared, and gives a different view of globalisation, more orthodox (neo-orthodox) than alternative. This leads to un-surprising viewpoints that will not satisfy people searching for new innovative solutions to the problems of the twenty-first century.
(PB)
*** Dokumente. Zeitschrift für den deutsch-französischen Dialog. W. Bertelsmann Verlag (4 Auf dem Esch, 33619 Bielefeld. Tel: (49-0521) 9110111 - Fax: 9110179 - E-mail: service@wbv.de - Internet: http://www.wbv.de ). March 2002, No 1, 100 pp, 3.57 euros.
Exploring various aspects of the relationship between France and Germany, this issue of the Dokumente review discusses the pain-free changeover to the euro and a presidential election campaign that has left voters rather indifferent (at least up until the evening of the first round). In her article, Ulrike Guérot hopes that the next government will breathe new life into France's European policy. In the Forum section there is an interesting series of articles on Islam in France, while in the Society and Economy section Alfred Frisch explores the internationalisation of French electrical energy with the privatisation of EDF.
(CB)
*** Revue politique et parlementaire (21 rue de la Baume, F-75008 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 53837045 - Fax: 53830170). 2002, No. 1017-1018, 239 pp, 19 euros. Subscription: 61 (France) or 74 (elsewhere) euros.
"France 2002: mutations ou ruptures ?" France in 2002 - changes or a parting of ways? The title of this dossier (which we can unfortunately now see as being rather premonitory, to say the least) that takes up the entire issue of the Revue politique et parlementaire perfectly echoes current events. Some people see France as a "blocked, state dominated, internal" society that has no future if it doesn't break with its exceptions, while others see France as inheriting a "model with a universal vocation" that remains an open society of resistance, aware of globalisation, and a country with a future reinforced by genuine changes. Who is to be believed? After the first round of the presidential elections, maybe both at the same time. Through these selected articles and the topics they explore (society, politics, economics, demography, etc) readers will certainly discover analyses backing up both these views. The dossier is more like an impressionist picture of the French identity than a balance sheet. The Editorial Committee describes it as displaying fault lines and constraints that are becoming more and more apparent these days. But as the same editors explain, the picture would be incomplete, totally unrealistic even, if it failed to take account of Europe, since France is now part of a bigger grouping whose influence is such a deciding factor that it is never absent from a painter's palette. This sends us back to current events once more, and reminds us that France does not have the monopoly of being able to cause democratic nausea at times. From this point of view, when will the Revue politique et parlementaire produce a dossier on Europe between changes and a parting of ways?
(MT)
*** ANDREW VALLS (Ed.): Ethics in International Affairs. Theories and Cases. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. (see above). 2000, 241 pp. ISBN 0-8476-9157-8.
In this collection of essays, the theory and philosophy of the importance of ethics and morality in international relations is married with concrete case studies from contemporary history - Israel and the Palestinians, Vietnam, the Gulf War, IRA in Northern Ireland, civil wars in Africa, the break-up of Yugoslavia and the liability of multinationals are all covered in this highly interesting and useful collection of essays in that it incorporates two analytical perspectives in a clear and balanced book. The authors are political scientists and philosophers, most of whom are lecturers at English, US and Canadian universities. They cover ethics from five angles - how ethics applies to international relations, the theory of the just war, terrorism and political violence, humanitarian intervention and global economic justice. Although the gulf between ethical standards and political reality is clearly outlined, the authors do not resign themselves to pessimistic indifference or power politics. The book makes an interesting read in the current political climate.
(PB)
*** Politique étrangère. Institut français des relations internationales (Masson, 120 bld Saint -Germain, F-75272 Paris Cedex 6. Tel: (33-1) 40466220 - Fax: 40466219). October-December 2001, No 4, 18.29 euros. ISBN 2-294-00625-9.
This issue of the quarterly edited by Thierry de Montbrial sees Dominique David, head of security studies at IFRI, draw the first strategic lessons of the 11 September attacks, the expression of a world torn between an acceleration of globalisation and a deterioration in provincial confrontations. In his view, this makes it necessary to reassess the military and non-military strategy components and defence policies that have ignored for too long the fact that developed societies generate their own vulnerabilities. Jacques Beltran and Guillaume Parmentier examine the United States, subject to the test of vulnerability, and consider with obvious relevance, whether the multinationalism displayed by the Bush Administration will remain a constant feature of US foreign policy or whether unilateralism will return once the requirements of a coalition response to terrorism have ceased to be felt. The two researchers believe, in any case, that transatlantic relations could be affected by a greater devolution of responsibilities to Europe in terms of security on the Old Continent, and also by the role played by Russia in this crisis. Prof. Rémy Leveau (Institut d'études politiques de Paris and John Hopkins University in Bologna) also looks at this subject, envisaging major fallout from the attacks for the Arab world, while François Godement argues that the US intervention in Afghanistan largely shapes regional balance in the Middle East, central Asia and south Asia. This issue's central dossier is made up of seven articles outlining the contents of the new strategic debate around anti-missile defences.
(MT)
*** EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985, Luxembourg) has published the following documents:
*** Cordis Focus. DG Enterprise (Fax: (352-4301) 32084 - E-mail: innovation@cec.eu.int - Internet: http://www.cordis.lu/news ). April 2002, No 194, 27pp. Free subscription.
This issue of Cordis Focus (available in French, German, Italian, Spanish and English) explains that the Commission is inviting people to send in information in order to decide on the content of the 6th Framework Programme for Research and Development by means of a call for interest which should help it draw up the list of research issues to be covered. Other areas covered in the review are the fact that the Union's Scientific Committee is expected to confirm that the muscles of animals contaminated by BSE are safe, the EU-Chile cooperation agreement, and the fact that the European Environment Agency wants more detailed research to be carried out into genetically modified plants and the surge in requests for global patents.
*** Cordis Focus. RTD Results Supplement. DG Enterprise (see above). March 2002, No 33, 44 pp.
This supplement describes new technology that is now ready for being applied in practice or marketed - a promising biotech technique for diabetics, an enzyme that can extract pollutants from soil, a European genetical therapy database, a technique for extracting organic products, a "use" for BSE-infected animals, picking energy plants, producing ecological energy using carbone and polyglottism for medical data.
*** Life after LIFE. DG Environment (Unit. Env. D.1). 2002. 131pp. ISBN 92-894-0948-7.
The authors of this book, published eight years after the launch of the first LIFE project, draw conclusions from the programme and assess whether the projects funded to date have had a positive impact on the sites they cover. Anton Gazenbeek and Kerstin Sundseth do not make a complete assessment, but rather try to provide an "honest answer" to the question of whether it is worthwhile funding this type of project. Given that the funding and implementation criteria for such projects are constantly changing, they attempt to shed light on good and bad practices.
*** Europe Infos. Monthly publication from COMECE and OCIPE (42 rue Stevin, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2350510 - Fax: 2303334 - E-mail: europeinfos@cemoce.org). April 2002, No 37. Subscription: 25 euros.
This editorial of this issue of the publication of the Catholic European Study and Information Centre and the Commission of Episcopates of the European Union outlines the role of religion in the EU and stresses that the religious and political history of European countries are inextricably linked, whether in unity or in discord and war. Other issues covered include the Convention's work, the transatlantic parnership, a balance sheet of the EU's social policy and the cross-border moving image (the Commission is preparing to launch the revised Television without Frontiers directive)…
Reviews in brief
*** Francophonie Info. March 2002, First issue. The first issue of the Belgian section of the International Union of French-language Media is extremely rich and aims to promote the French language no less. Issues covered include Léopold Sedar Senghor the poet and Simenon in the Liège region… *** Courrier de Moldavie. December-January 2002, Chisinãu. "No to Russianisation" is the headline of this French-language Moldavian publication. Other issues covered include an essay on the great Romanian language poet Mihai Eminescu, Moldavia up a blind alley, modern slaves in the heart of Europe, Moldavia as seen by the outside world, a postcard from Belgium and an interview with the Brussels Burgermaster… *** La Flandre. March-April-May 2002. Brussels. This review draws attention to various events in Bruges this year that shouldn't be missed. Bruges is Europe's cultural capital this year and is hosting a van Eyck exhibition, an exhibition of Flemish painting, musica antiqua and the "myth of Europe". The new Concertdebouw is also described, a chef d'œuvre of Flemish architecture. Economic and financial mail. March 2002, Brussels. This Belgian banking newsletter looks at company bonds and indexed bonds.