*** HARTMUT MARHOLD (texts gathered and commented upon by): Le nouveau débat sur l'Europe. Presses d'Europe (International European Training Centre, 10 av. des Fleurs, F-06000 Nice. Internet: http: //http://www.cife.org ). Collection "Nouvelles réalités du présent", N° 1. 2002, 496 pages, 16 Euro. ISBN: 2-85505-174-6.
Who has never heard talk, or browsed, the text of Wolfgang Schäuble and Karl Lammers who in practice opened, in May 1999, the major debate on the future Europe? Or of the conference by Jacques Delors before the Aspen Institute, in November of the same year? Or the speech by Joschka Fischer in Strasbourg, with the response by Jacques Vedrine? Or the successive stances of Jacques Chirac, Guy Verhofstadt, Gerhard Schroder and Romano Prodi?
Though, at the same time, who is certain of having these texts? To have them at hand, if the time presents itself, for reading or quoting them? Reader, peer, brother, be honest: you do not have them anymore than I do. Now Hartmut Marhold, Director of the International European Training Centre (Nice), fills this void. The main texts are quoted, in addition to others, gathered in a single volume of some 500 pages, published with the Commission's support. A general introduction (Stakes and controversies in the political debate over the future of Europe) title for the whole work, and each text is proceeded with an specific introduction, which indicates the meaning and circumstances.
The last text is by Valery Giscard d'Estaing, a speech made in October 2001. Its value is evident, given that the author presently chairs the Convention, which is preparing the Europe of the future. There are other also texts one would like to have at hand, for example the speech made in Birmingham by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. This will be for the second volume. Let us be contented for the time being with what Hartmut Marhold is offering, which is already a great deal.
Ferdinando Riccardi
*** ROY H. GINSBERG: The European Union in international politics. Baptism by fire. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers (4720 Boston Way, Lanham. Maryland 20706. Tel: (1-800) 4626420 - Internet: http: //http://www.romanlittlefield.com ). Collection "New International Relations of Europe". 2001, 305 pages. ISBN: 0-7425-0023-3.
As an introduction, the author, Professor at Skidmore College, raises a questions in his first chapter that presently haunt the institutions, questions which presents themselves as a the core of his analysis: Will Europe be an economic giant and political dwarf?. Tackling the first part of the question, Roy H. Ginsberg must push himself to answer the question positively: Yes, the European Union is a superpower as it clearly affects the policies and economic interests of the entire world. Throughout his work, the author thus tries to bring an answer to the second element of the question: the impact of the Union on international politics. The second chapter outlines a conceptual model of foreign policy. A model that is determined due to two decisions, that which deals with internal (re)organisation, unavoidable prior requirement for the second decision, that which will allow for the existence of a coherent and effective foreign policy. The third chapter assess the impact of common foreign policy in the world, by focusing on the measures and instruments that are involved. The three chapters that follow exemplify the analysis previously made through three international events: the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East peace process and relations between the European Union and the United States. The last chapter outlines the numerous reasons that justify the need to undertake a debate around the Union's foreign policy. Among these, the author points out that after the crisis in Kosovo and Bosnia, the desire to see the Union act on the international arena have never been as strong as ever in the history of the European building process.
In addition to a deep and complete analysis of the current situation, determinants and antecedents that weigh on the EU's foreign policy, Roy Ginsberg introduces a forward-looking dimension that skilfully enlightens the present context and underlines the key questions that traverse this debate. The whole work forms a simply indispensable publication.
(AD)
*** MARK A. POLLACK , GREGORY C. SHAFFER (Edited by): Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers (see details above). Collection "Governance in Europe". 2001, 350 pages. ISBN: 0-7425-0932
Formed of multiple contributions, this work examines "transatlantic governance in a both historical and theoretical perspective". The first part takes the form of a question: intergovernmental relations: a two level game? To answer this, John Peterson looks at the relations that where those of the United States and Europe after the Uruguay Round. Gregory C. Schaffer casts light on the collaborations between the public and private sectors through the trade disputes opposing Europe and the United States. While the second part is more dedicated to the actors, the third studies the nascent interactions between them. Youri Davuyst tackles the competitive transatlantic relations. Mark A Pollack outlines, as for him, the challenge represented by the conciliation of different regulatory systems by taking concrete examples those of genetically modified organisms and sanitary regulations in terms of consumption in the framework of transatlantic trade partnerships. The second part of the book takes as hypothesis the creation of a transatlantic civil society through trans-national relations, concentrating of the state of the dialogue between the two halves. For example, Maria Green Cowles deploys a forward-looking angle by revealing the conditions necessary for the drafting of a new transatlantic dialogue. The two coordinators sign the conclusion, which aim to be a summary of all the contributions.
(AD)
*** STANLEY HOFFMANN: World disorders. Troubled Peace in the Post-Cold War Era. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers (see details above). 2000, 285 pages. ISBN: 0-8476-8575-6
This updated work forms the collection of numerous essays that Prof. Stanley Hoffmann (Harvard University) dedicated to international affairs, and more specifically the relationships of strength that have formed during the period that followed the end of the Cold War. The author worked to regroup them within the various parts. The first of them is entitled "Theoreticians and theories". It first reviews the contributions from persons such as Hedley Bull, Kant or even Rawls in the field of international relations. The author then compares the approach of the realist and idealist movement as in this area. He finishes with a study of the crisis of international liberalism. The second part of the work is characterised with a heterogeneity, which the title tries hard to hide: "From the end of the Cold War to the search for a new world order". There is notably a questioning of the ethics of military interventions, the value and history of the United Nations and of… Mother Theresa. In the last part, entitled "Ethnicity, nationalism and world order", Stanley Hoffmann offers analysis of all shades: the links maintained by nationalism and the world order with the relations between the concept of nation and nationalism in the United States passing by the ethic conflicts in the Balkans. In his conclusion, he creates a framework that will guide the principals of a liberal ethic in international relations.
The variety of subjects broached by Stanley Hoffmann provide his work with an original nature, but the scattering of subjects, which results from the anarchic superposition of the essays sometimes causes prejudice to the coherence and depth of the book.
(AD)
*** Südosteuropa Mitteilungen. Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft (49 Widenlayerstrasse, D-80538 Munich. Tel: (49-089) 212154-0 - Fax: 2289469 - E-mail: suedosteuropa-gesellschaft@t-online.de - Internet: http: //http://www.suedosteuropa-gesellschaft.com ). 2001, N° 3, 87 pages.
The quarterly review of the Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft publishes, in this issue, two articles dedicated to the role of Slovenia in Europe. The position of Macedonia in the conflict with Albania as well as the way in which the media has treated the latter, forms the object of two other articles. Finally, the review focuses on Albanian exports and the situation of the Kurds, internal refugees in Turkey.
(CB)
*** Südosteuropa Mitteilungen. Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft (see details above). 2001, N° 4, 76 pages.
In its last issue of last year, this review dedicates two articles to the impact of the attacks on 11 September. Other issues covered; the prospects of Turkish accession to the EU, Slovenian media ten years after independence, the war in the Balkans in the 19th and 20th centuries.
(CB)
*** PIERANGELO CATALANO, ABDELKADER SID AHMED (Edited by): La dette contre le droit: une perspective méditerranéenne. Isprom (32 piazza d'Italia, I-07100 Sassari. Te: (39-079) 237364 - Fax: 200083) and Publisud (15 rue des Cinq-Diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - Email: publisud@compuserve.fr). Collection "Systèmes juridiques de la Méditerranée - Etudes et documents", N° 2. 2001, 408 pages. ISBN: 2-86600-909-6.
This work stems from a conviction (solidly laid out in the pages that form it): the concept of "external debt" disguises the principals of Roman law and Muslim law, thus the general principals of law in general! It also stems from a law through which the Italian government has been invited, on 25 July 2000, to ask for the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the coherence between international rules that govern the international debt of the Developing countries and the framework of general principals of law and human rights and peoples. All the contributions tend to convince one that the problem must be jointly tackled by the debtor countries, and studies the ways in which the lending and borrowing countries may find a joint solution, for lack of which the latter would be condemned to not having access to development.
(MT)
*** Le Tiers-Monde a-t-il besoin de volontaires? Colophon Editions (25 rue Gratès, B-1170 Brussels. Fax: (32-2) 6758327 - Email: colophon@online.be - Internet: http://www.colophon.be ). Collection "Essais". 1999, 98 pages. ISBN: 2-930254-01-7.
Here again, cooperation for development is only conceived by the sending of partners on the ground. Today, this method poses a question. It has partisans and detractors, some remain shared. For some NGOs, a European will always remain a European in the eyes of those who welcome him and he will remain biased, even if his intentions are good. This collective work (we notably find remarks from the Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel), produced by a collective of NGOs with the support of the Belgian authorities, it works towards discussing the issue. A useful book, which addresses itself specifically to the young who want to expatriate themselves in order to help others.
(MT)
*** Guide pratique de la Mauritanie 2001-2002. Mauritania Consulting & Communication (BP 1590, Nouakchott. Tel: (222) 5291362 - Fax: 5291422 - Emai: legpm@hotmail.com). 2001, 106 pages, 10 Euros.
Created by Jamil Abada, a Belgian journalist well known in the press halls of the European institutions, this first practical guide to Mauritania offers a very detailed overview of the structures of the State of Mauritania, the embassies and international organisations based in Mouakchott. To note, in passing, the absence of the European Commission delegation, who remained deaf to requests for information made to it. The publication also contains useful economic, trade and practical information for operators working in Mauritania, or moving there.
(MT)
*** DJILALI SARI: La crise algérienne économique et sociale: diagnostic et perspectives. Eléments de stratégie. Publisud (see details above). Collection "Le développement dans les faits". 2001, 140 pages. ISBN: 2-86600-907-X.
Lecturer at the University of Algiers since 1966 and geographer by training, Djilali Sari works towards deciphering the ceaseless crisis that wrenches and murders Algeria, overcoming the political and religious camps, but while integrating in his reflection the social scope and particularly focusing attention on the demographic trouble that arose during the last three decades. Which inclusion and what future for the masses of the working population, in particular for the new generations, in the immediate and in the years to come, while unemployment presently flutters around, in Algeria, 30% of the working population? This is the core question, which this work tries to answer. A question, which under the angle of immigration also concerns the countries of the European Union…
(MT)
*** SYLVIE CROSSMAN, JEAN-PIERRE BAROU: Enquête sur les savoirs indigènes. Editions Calmann-Lévy (Paris). 2001, 262 pages, 18.60 Euros. ISBN: 2-7021-3152-2.
Ancestral wisdoms are the knowledge… From the slops of the Himalayas to the confines of Australia passing by the high plateaus of Arizona, Sylvie Crossman (former correspondent for the newspaper Le Monde in Los Angeles and Sydney) and Jean-Pierre Barou (co-founder of the French daily Liberation and member of the editorial committee of the Seuil publishing house) have, like "modern day explorers", approached more closely the masters of indigenous knowledge and gathered their secrets. While the West wonders, the first nation offer answers. For the authors, "we are at the doors of a new Copernican revolution"...
(MT)
*** The EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Office for the official publications of the European Communities, L-2985, Luxembourg) published the following documents:
*** Environment for Europeans. DG Environnement (Fax: (32-2) 2969560 - Email: envinfo@cec.eu.int - Internet: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/environment/news/efe/index.htm). April 2002, N° 10, 15 pages.
Due to its nature, the environment mocks borders. This is why it is necessary to manage it and protect it in the same spirit, by favouring cooperation between the actors involved beyond borders, from the regional to world level. This is the core theme (international cooperation, assessment of project sustainability, etc.) tackled by this issue.
*** Annual Report 2001. European Central Bank (29 Kaiserstrasse, D-60311Frankfurt am Main. Tel: (49-69) 13440 - Fax: 1346000 - Internet: http: //http://www.ecb.int ). 2002, 238pages.
Last year was marked by the transition to Euro notes and coins. An important step for the monetary integration of Europe had been taken in the softest way imaginable. This is what was asserted by Wim Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank, when introducing this report, which reviews the monetary policy lead in relation to economic developments as well as the various operations of the Bank.
*** Liaisons sociales Europe. Groupe Liaisons (1 av. Edouard-Belin, F-92500 Rueil-Malmaison. Tel: (33-825) 825371 - Fax: (33-1) 41299668 - Internet: http://www.ls-europe.com ). May 2002, N° 54, 12 pages, 25 Euros.
In this issue, European law is examined under different angles: the definition of sexual harassment - the Union is on the verge of modernising one of the founding Directives of equal treatment between men and women - and set working days confronted to the social Europe. Other subjects broached: free movement between Switzerland and the Union, the "vibrations" Directive, inter-professional negotiations on teleworking.
*** La Convenzione europea. Un governo democratico per l'Europa. Consiglio regionale Piemonte - Consulta regionale europea (15 via Alfieri, I-10121 Torino. Tel: (39-11) 5757528/351 - Email: consulta.europea@consiglioregionale.piemonte.it - Internet: http: //http://www.consiglioregionale. piemonte.it). March 2002, 48 pages.
"The time has come for Europe to have its Constitution. And this should take place with the participation of all citizens"… During the launch of the Convention on the future of Europe, thus stated the Consulta europea of the Piedmont regional council, which considered it suitable to present this body and its members. This brochure also explains how the Piedmont regional council was able to act so that the Convention proves to be a success and how it intends to inform the citizens over the problems of European integration in order to encourage support in favour of a European federal constitution.
*** Article 88-4 de la Constitution. Délégation pour l'Union européenne de l'Assemblée nationale (Kiosque de l'Assemblée nationale, 4 rue Aristide Briand, F-75007 Paris. Internet: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr ). Collection "Les documents législatifs de l'Assemblée nationale", N° 3682. 2002, 3381 pages, 7.50 Euros. ISBN: 2-11-115769-4.
This issue presents and analysis the 72 proposed Community acts that where submitted by the French government to this parliamentary delegation under Article 88-4 of the Constitution. These texts touch upon agriculture, justice and home affairs, fishing, CFSP, budgetary and tax issues, social issues, research and transport. In each case, two cards are present, one with the Commission proposal, the other with the position adopted by the delegation.
Reviews in short
*** Enfants du monde. April-May-June 2002. Brussels. This publication by the Belgian section of UNICEF presents, in this issues, the actions lead in order to eradicate polio, the return to school in Afghanistan and a dossier on the special session of the United Nations in favour of children … *** Carrefour de l'économie. N° 3A, 2002, Brussels. This publication by the Belgian Ministry for Economic Affairs looks into the modification of the structures for economic decisions to the consequences of enlargement.