*** DOMINIQUE BARJOT, CHRISTOPHE REVEILLARD (Editors): L'américanisation de l'Europe occidentale au XXe siècle. Mythe et réalités. Presses de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne (18 rue de la Sorbonne, F-75230 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40462720 - fax: 40463308 - Internet: http: //http://www.paris4.sorbonne.fr/html/pups/pups.htm ). "Centre Roland Mousnier" series. 2002, 272 pp, 24 euros. ISBN 2-84050-241-0.
"Are we still all Americans?" With regard to opinion the polls, which the media currently babbles on about, the response would tend towards the "no, not at all!". Yet providing an answer to this question cannot be limited to a furtive glance and has to at the very least, be chronologically located on what some optimists call "European public opinion ", which is broadly influenced by this time of war. Only history and distance will be able to help us. This book is an example. Americanisation is a "complex and wide reaching phenomenon that incorporates very diverse dimensions: scientific and technical, economic and financial, social, political and cultural". On the basis of a symposium organised by the Université Parus-Sorbonne in July 2001, the writers start from the principle that the study of scientific and technological Americanisation directly opens the door to an understanding of cultural Americanisation. They both demonstrate the general movements of this phenomenon and specific turning points, while examining certain significant episodes that have occurred over the last thirty years.
Overall, since 1870, Americanisation has increased. It has, however, experienced a "clear change in scale " following the Second World War. The revolution experienced in maritime transport at the end of the 19th century catapulted the USA into the position of number one industrial power. A few years later, the divisions and the ruptures of a Europe which still did not know its own name, proved fatal to the old continent. Already pushed forward by a flourishing economy, the USA from now on occupies an undeniably leading role. It's the moment where the tomb of European supremacy tightly closes. Taken with the idea of isolationism, the Americans are “not that interested by Europe”. On one side, the leaders demonstrate hostility to legislation based on an understanding between European peoples. On the other side, the American production techniques assert themselves in European industry, as well as US industrial groups, such as General Motors in the United Kingdom. Cars are built on the assembly lines, the workers subject to the stopwatch. Fordism and Taylorism reign supreme. The depression of the 1930s engenders unprecedented consequences within the world economy but does not limit the interest of Europeans in the American experience. The Second World War “introduces a new deal”. The US economy is relaunched. Half of the world's industrial production is stamped with a “Made in the US”. As indicated in the preface, the period that follows (1945-2000) has a certain resistible catching up to do.
The authors also examine the “myths and realities” of Americanisation. It appears clear that the USA were in favour of a European entity after the Second World War “but they saw it in their own way, in compliance with their interests, with their own intellectual references, relying on European admirers of the American political and economic system but also often overestimating the representation of these intermediaries to public opinion in different countries”. This book helps us to understand that by describing the Americanisation of Europe, we are led to a definition of more than just a monolithic and unilateral phenomenon. It reality, it is a dialectical movement between two continents evolving at the same time in a similar but contradictory way. In the preface of the eminent Professor André Kaspi, we learn that “it took almost a century for this country (the USA) to demonstrate a genuine national identity. It would be tempting to draw a parallel between European construction, but on the Old Continent, are we able to find a moral unanimity of the kind that protects the United States and federates its citizens?
Alain Dremière
*** THIERRY DE MONTBRIAL, PHILIPPE MOREAU DEFARGES (Editors): Les grandes tendances du monde 2003. Institut français des relations internationales (27, rue de la procession. F-75740 Paris) Tel: (00-33) (0)1 40616000 - (Internet: http://www.ifri.org ). 2002, 375 pp. ISBN: 2-10-006369-3
"In Ramses 2003 the style is clear and concise in its tackling of the international situation , which has helped contribute to the reputation of the annual Ifri reports". This sentence opens up the book itself and is in fact a fair assessment. Ifri offers us a panorama of the international scene throughout 2002, "post 11 September" as it became clear that the consequences of the attack would be felt throughout the four corners of the globe. The collapse of the twin tours confirms "the entry into a new epoch in at least three areas: terrorism, and the emergence of global and metapolitical terrorism", embodied by Ben Laden and Al-Quaida; that of the grey zones and then that of regions suffering from a lack of State structures, offering organised crime secure refuge and from where they can stretch out through the planet; finally, dirty money and its laundering. These are some of the numerous subjects tackled in the first part of book, which casts light on this new era. We are provided with three poles of questioning: "Post 11 September", "Governance and globalisation", "USA, Russia, China". Each of these poles is explored by way of more precise subjects, subject to a detailed analysis. The second part of the book entitled "orientations", analyses a large number of key words categorised in alphabetical order. In it, we find a concise analysis of several global geographical zones and numerous subjects that have been in the news. Linking a pedagogical approach with excellence and aestheticism, this "annual world report on the economic system and its strategies " should be in pride of place on the bookshelves of those who are both informed and inquisitive.
(AD)
*** LENTIN MBOUGUENG: La Tunisie en Afrique. Une nouvelle approche de la solidarité nationale. Editions Médiane (10 rue Cardinale Lemoine, 75005 Paris.) 2002, 232 pp, 19 euros. ISBN 2-915161-00-3.
Tunisia provides a bridgehead between Europe, Africa and the Arab world, as well as a location rich in trade. For a long time, it has been involved in the African development process and according to Valentin Mbougueng, the country has become the “driving force behind South-South cooperation”. Mbougueng also describes the Tunisian President as “Ben Ali, the African”, the man who has given hope and confidence to African vigour. Since arriving at the head of the African Unity Organisation in June 1994, political, economic and cultural relations have enormously developed. But above all, it is the desire, welcomed by the UN in 2000, to create a world solidarity fund for fighting against poverty and the most excluded and deprived regions of the world, mainly in Africa, which characterises the President on the international scene. The author looks at the cooperation instruments in the field of action by way of the Africanist nature of Tunisia and the Tunisian Agency for Technical cooperation. A picture of a country engaged in external affairs is also depicted, as well as the domestic situation of a country that undoubtedly offers another side to it. Although he draws heavily on bilateral cooperation, he also focuses on the importance of triangular and multiparty relations for adorning the African coat or arms. Why does Mbougueng consider Tunisia as a pivot? Because the emergence sought by Africa, “is undoubtely found in the tryptych that has guaranteed Tunisia's journey from an underdeveloped country, which it was in the 1960s to the currently emerging State that it is today - the soon to be developed State of effort, performance and solidarity. This book takes Tunisia as a building block for an Africa of solidarity, on the road of economic recognition and regional cooperation. Certainly, we do not have to agree with all the views expressed, notably those on the Tunisian President but the book is an interesting and useful read. Valentin Mbougueng is a journalist and essayist from the Cameroon. He is currently collaborating on the international African monthly magazine “La nouvel Afrique Asie”.
(MLJ)
*** KIM HEE EEL: L'Asie et l'Europe accélérateurs des échanges mondiaux. L'Harmattan (5-7, rue de l'Ecole-Polytechnique. F-75005 Paris) Tel: (33-1) 40467911 - fax: 43258203 - (Internet: http://www.editions-harmattan.fr ). 2002, 210 p., 18,30 euros. ISBN 2-7475-2460-4.
In an introduction stuffed with philosophical ideas, author Kim Hee Eel, PHd in political and economic science at the universities of Paris I and Paris VIII, provides the tone of the book, that that deals with the problem of the Asian economy from a variety of perspectives. History, culture, tradition, ideology, everything that has contributed to the development of the Asian economy up to the present day. This analysis enables us to distinguish all the subtleties in this major economic sphere, as well as all the challenges that exist within it. The author also explores the concepts of the modern state and globalisation from an Asian point of view. Drawing from real life examples, Kim consistently places Asia in an international context, thus explaining the relations that this immense market shares with its Western partners.
(LN)
*** PIERANGELO CATALANO, ABDELKADER SID AHMED (Editors): La dette contre le droit: une perspective méditerranéenne. Systèmes juridiques de la méditerranée. Etudes et documents 2. Editions Publisud (15, rue des Cinq diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel.: (33-1) 45807850 Fax.: 45 89 94 15- Mail publisud@compuserve.fr) 2001, 408 pp. ISBN 2-86600-909-6.
In the context of European construction, this book aims to alert public opinion and those in charge at all levels, of the risk of building a new wall in the south of Europe. Far from reading like a novel, it is more like a compilation of a number of articles that draw from different sources. The first part deals with debt in Latin America, a continent where money has been wasted in unproductive spending and nepotistic manoeuvres and despite interest rates rises, the USA is obliged to cut its enormous budget deficit caused by military spending. For indebted nations, the strategies imposed on them by loan agencies are a source of unemployment, recession and dramatic reductions in the quality of life, which is also disastrous for the loans agencies themselves. If this issue is considered in a perspective of international law, the rise in interest rates is nothing short of usury. It remains to be determined whether it is illegal, an opinion that has been sought at the International Court of Justice. The private debt of developing countries goes back to the contracts concluded on the Euro-loans market. Banks imprudently granted loans that were too large, and these countries borrowed massively when rates appeared to be positive. A remission of the debt is said to be necessary under the supervision of an impartial body. The second part of the book focuses on Arab countries. the debt crisis of Maghreb countries is widely considered as something of the past by the banks. This gain is less due to the sorting out of the economic situation in these countries than to the fact that the banks have disengaged from the area. Although the debt is no longer a threat to the international banking system, the economic development of developing countries remains seriously affected by the debt crisis.
After examining the problem of the debt in each country, by accurately retracing the history, development there, the book finishes with around twenty annexes looking at the official texts in extenso. This is a detailed, comprehensive and well documented book that should be to the satisfaction of experts on the subject.
(JNI)
*** Les relations inter-universitaires entre l'Europe et l'Amérique latine. Centre d'études et de promotion des relations entre les pays de la C.E. et de l'Amérique Latine (avenue Paul Héger, Bât. NB- 4.160, B-1000 Brussels. Tel.: (32-2) 6503103 - Mail: cercal@ulb.ac.be) Collection: "Cahiers du CERCAL", no 32, 2003, 87 p.
Latin America and Europe have to increase their inter-university relations. It is with this aim that the most recent edition of CERCAL has been devised. The book presents the reflections and responses form the last international symposium that took place at the Free university of Brussels last December. Higher education and scientific research are the tools that will in time lead to an active and fruitful partnership for both areas. It is pointed out that links between university institutions are running out of steam. Nevertheless the seventeen contributors present the conditions and the instruments necessary and sought after for relaunching this partnership and making it flourish. Cooperation programmes such as Alfa and Alssan are also included. Some of the initiatives include a current study carried out to elaborate a data base for setting up a list of training and research programmes in Latin America and Europe. In this issue we also find a list of the necessary criteria for positive scientific collaboration.
(OWYK)
*** Latin American Dialogue/ European in the context of the Madrid Summit. Centre for the Study and Promotion of relations between counties of the European Commission and Latin America (See address attached): "Cahiers du CERCAL" series, No. 31, 2002, 78p p.
Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union do in part share a number of common values, due to their shared common roots. The first summit of Heads of Government from these important poles, took place in June 1999 in Rio, inaugurating a strengthened partnership, which thus far has been going strong. The declaration that the summit produced sets up "a strategic and bi-regional partnership in the framework of three principles ". The first is based on strengthened political dialogue. The second focuses on the need for solid economic and financial relations. The third is linked to the promotion of key sectors that should be given priority in the cooperation: education and scientific and technological development. Since Rio, this part of a shared contemporaneous history has gone from strength to strength. This edition not only proposes to examine the progress of recent years but also seeks to tackle specific themes such as, "Cupertino between the Union and Chile", "Latin American immigrants", and "the degree of social debt ".
(AD)
*** The EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985, Luxembourg. Internet: http: //publications.eu.int) has published the following documents:
*** Le Courrier. DG Development (Fax: (32-2) 2994858 - Internet: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/development/publicat/courier/index_fr.htm). January-February 2003, No. 196, 82 p..
Published as always in English and French, this issue of the “development cooperation magazine” between ACP and Union countries begins with an interview with Carlos Magarinos, UN director for industrial development. The publications then deals with subjects such as rapprochement between the Union and Cuban the fight at an international level against female mutilation, the cancellation of the fifth Joint Parliamentary Assembly. A dossier called “Industrialisation” is split into twelve articles for which the different titles include, “De-industrialisation and development of the manufacturing sector: for a revised concept of developing industry”, “Should Raw materials be processed in developing countries?” The industiralisation of the ACP: the role of the financial institutions, diasporas and the EIB”, Does European Aid to the ACP increase Investment?”. The final article focuses on Senegal and proves very comprehensive.
*** Let me tell you a secret about the environment. DG Environment. 2003, 20 p..
Edited in all the official languages of the EU, this attractive brochure is addressed to our short trousered fellow Europeans and follows the steps of Tom and Lila, a friendly vixen and who familiarise us with the problems and safeguarding our environment with a poetic approach.
*** Réalités industrielles. Editions ESKA (12 rue du Quatre-Septembre, F-75002 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 42865573 - fax: 42604535 - E-mail: eska@eska.fr - Internet: http: //http://www.eska.fr ). December 2002, 70 p., 22,11 euros. ISBN 2-7472-0470-7.
This publication forms part of the “Annales des mines” and allows those involved in the standardisation, as well as sector specialists working in the single market, a chance to speak out. The information society, electronic signatures, water distribution, electricity and mechanics (the pioneers of standardisation), transport, cars, railways, precious metal titration are the areas examined. The stakes at play, as well as safety and protection of the product or service user are explored, including the issues of interoperability and compatibility, difficulties combining necessary competition and the indispensable confidence required between producers, commercial intermediaries and customers.
.
*** Mettre fin aux retards de la France en Europe. Mouvement des Entreprises de France (Internet: http//http://www.medef.fr ). Mars 2003, 28 p..
This publication presents the third annual MEDEF (French employers association) report and was addressed to the European Spring Summit that has just been held. It is based around the following proposals, completion of the opening up of the markets, financial access facilitation, tax breaks and public deficits, stimulation of the innovation process, improving the labour market, modernising social protection, adapting education and training, simplifying the excess of regulation and reconciling sustainable development and competitiveness.
In brief
*** Paneuropa. Paneuropa-Union Deutschland (Tel.: 49-089) 554683 - fax: 594768). February 2003, No 2. "Tectonic displacements" provoked by the Iraqi crisis from a point of view of relations between Berlin and Washington, are widely discussed. *** AEGEE Gazette. AEGEE-Europe (Tel: (32-2) 2452300 - fax: 2456260 - Internet: http: //http://www.aegee.org ). 2003, No. 1. European Students' Forum, relauches its quarterly newsletter, which looks at an array of subjects of interest, especially to youngsters. *** Rapport 2002. National Bank of Belgium in 2002 (Tel: (32-2) 2212111 - fax: 2213100 - Internet: http://www.nbb.be ). This volume provides an account of the activities and annual accounts of the National Bank of Belgium 2002.
*** Flanders. Ministry of Flanders (E-mail: pr@flanders.be - Internet: http://www.flanders.be ). To summarise: contemporary ceramics in Flanders, Flanders in the world of cars, local authority democracy in Romania, Duvel beer in forty countries etc.