*** FRANCESCO CASTRO, PIERANGELO CATALANO (Eds.): La condition des "autres" dans les systèmes juridiques de la Méditerranée. Editions Isprom ( 32 piazza d'Italia, I-07100 Sassari. Tel: (39-079) 237364 - Fax: 200083 - E-mail: lavleo@tiscalinet.it) et Publisud (15 rue des Cinq-Diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tél: (33-1) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - E-mail: edipublisud@wanadoo.fr). "Systèmes juridiques de la Méditerranée - Etudes et documents" series, No. 1. 2002004, 299 pp, 41.71 euros. ISBN 2-86600-893-6.
The International Tribunal in The Hague has unanimously issued a ruling on the legality of the security wall erected by Israel (unanimous apart from an American judge), which makes this book particularly piquant. In the view of Pierangelo Catalano, lecturer at La Sapienza University in Rome and Director of the Istituto di Studi e Programmi per il Mediterraneo which aims to help make Mediterranean communities aware of their position in the world, "debate between lawyers of the Roman and Muslim legal systems should lead to the rebuilding of a universal Mediterranean legal identity, of which Hebrew law is also a component". Such ideas cannot fail to stand out in the current political and geopolitical framework.
Prepared in cooperation with the Istituto per l'Oriente, this is the first in a series of books by eminent academics from across the Mediterranean region. It raises the 'issue' of the 'other' in each of the legal and religious systems around the Mediterranean as the preconditions for a true inter-cultural exchange. The issue is addressed in French or Italian in the light of Hebrew law (foreigners in ancient Israel, the position of non-Jews in Maimonides' ideas, the problem of 'converts' in the fifteenth century…) and then in the light of Roman law and canon law.
In the introductory essay, entitled "Mediterranean identity and the convergence of legal systems", Pierangelo Catalano leaves the reader with no doubts as to the approach taken by the authors. He said that the historical force and universal function of the Mediterranean, which borders on three Old World continents and hence the cultures of Africa, Asia and Europe, has been determined by the very same differences which have always prevailed. Hence his statement that the specific natures from which these differences derive have to be strengthened to achieve a superior universal end. His ideas fly in the face of what tends to be the dominant idea these days, noting that the future of the Mediterranean universal civilisation will go through a strong, permanent Arab-Muslim cultural resistance. This author believes that Roman and Muslim law have both developed legal and religious concepts for their communities (populus Romanus and ummah) which extend beyond narrow visions of social organisation based on genetics or ethnicity, hence their universal aspect, which is all the more needed following the horrendous experiences of the specific legal identity imposed by European nationalisms and also, these days, by globalisation. He urges Mediterranean lawyers to become aware in their comparative work that European legal ethnocentricity is suicidal. Firstly because the Roman legal system, wrongly described as 'Western', was formed in the Orient in the schools of Beirut and Constantinople. Secondly because by separating out or isolating law from morality and religion, this ethnocentricity reduces law to no more than a fact. Pierangelo Catalano hammers home that the trend which developed after the First World War already among a series of Anglo-American lawyers who assert the superiority and penetrative force of Anglo-Saxon law because of its legal and ultra-individualist characteristics, has to meet a response and resistance from Mediterranean lawyers.
Michel Theys
*** GUSTAV LINDSTROM, BURKARD SCHMITT (Eds.): One year on: Lessons from Iraq. Institute for Security Studies (43 av. du Président Wilson, F-75775 Paris cedex 16. Tel: (33-1) 56891930 - Fax: (33-1) 56891931 - E-mail: institute@iss-eu.org - Internet: http://www.iss-eu.org ). "Chaillot Papers", No. 68. 2004, 200 pp, 10 euros.
A year is certainly not long enough to be able to clearly assess all the fallout from the Iraq War. To draw a parallel, who would dare some three years after the fall of the Taliban to attempt to draw up a firm and full balance sheet of the situation in Afghanistan? But it was not necessary to wait any longer than a year after the start of the US offensive to feel that the military campaign had had deep repercussions on the international chessboard. The EU's Institute of Security Studies has asked twenty-one authors, both from the US and Europe, to express their views on the consequences of the war on Iraq in five fields - the war on terror, the greater Middle-East area, the role of the European Union as an actor on the world stage, the international system and transatlantic relations (for more information about transatlantic relations, see the Institute's publication: Shift or Rift. Assessing US-EU relations after Iraq). The book is divided into two parts, the first outlining European writers' opinions, and the second writers from the US. This division in the structure of the book does not automatically lead to a division in the authors' views since their often converge on a whole series of issues. (FRo)
*** KRISTINA GERTEISER: Die Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik der Europäischen Union. Rechtliche Analyse der gegenwärtigen Struktur und der Optionen zur weiteren Entwicklung. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen, Switzerland. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - E-mail: publicity@peterlang.com - Internet: http: //http://www.peterlang.de ). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 3430. 2002, 280 pp. ISBN 3-631-39166-8.
In this book, a young German lawyer examines the way the European Common Security and Defence Policy was established and is applied under the Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice Treaties. The gradual development of the security and defence policy, concludes Kristina Gerteiser, is the guarantee of peace and stability in the European continent and also an indicator of progress in European integration. This research was carried out as a doctorate at Regensburg University. It provides a good basic introduction to the emergence and legal ramifications of the Common Security and Defence Policy, and its links with the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the WEU, NATO and international law. (PB)
*** APOSTOLOS KATSIKARIS: Griechische Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik im Kontext der europäischen Integration. Impulse und Prozesse einer Neuorientierung. Peter Lang (see above). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 468. 2003, 144 pp. ISBN 3-631-50531-0.
In this brief monograph on Greece's foreign policy, Apostolos Katsikaris, a graduate in political science from Cologne University, examines how European integration and the development of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy have influenced relations between Athens and Ankara. The author outlines change and continuity in the Greek foreign policy, explaining how prudent moves in the direction of closer links between the two countries was made possible following 1999. A clear book outlining Greek and European ideas about an often neglected or under-estimated conflict in Europe. (PB)
*** ILSE M. POGATSCHNIGG: Die Tschechische Republik und die Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik der EU. Peter Lang (see above). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 3694. 2003, 115 pp. ISBN 3-631-51065-9.
The legal ramifications and technicalities of the gradual incorporation of the Czech Republic into the CFSP in the 1990s and during the different phases of enlargement of the EU are outlined in this compact book by young lawyer Ilse Pogatschnigg, postgraduate of Dresden and Prague Universities. The book focuses on the adoption of the Community acquis in the field of the CFSP and the Czech Republic's participation in the European Union's international political and diplomatic activity. (PB)
*** The EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985 Luxembourg. Internet: http: //publications.eu.int) has published the following document:
*** Innovation & Transfert Technologique. DG Enterprise, Information and Communications Unit (EUFO 2295, L-2920 Luxembourg. Fax: (352-4301) 32084 - Internet: http://www.cordis.lu/itt/itt-fr/home.html ). May 2004, No. 3/04, 28 pp.
This review publishes the conclusions of the most recent summit of European enterprises, noting the widening gap between the Lisbon Objectives and reality in the field, which the enterprises questioned see as being undermined by the political, administrative and legal set-up, preventing European companies from expanding their R&D activities, along with innovation more generally. This issue's special dossier looks at women entrepreneurs, who made up no more than 20 to 30% of all entrepreneurs at the end of the 1990s. The review explains some of the obstacles they face, like greater difficulty in finding sources of finance, also outlining specific support measures for women entrepreneurs. Other articles look at issues like the loosening of aid rules for research carried out by SMEs and the EU poll of innovation, the 'Innobarometer'.
*** Rivista di studi politici internazionali. Rivista di studi politici internazionali (40 Lungarno del Tempio, I-50121 Florence. Tel: (39-55) 666384). July - September 2004, No. 283, 174 pp, Annual subscription: 62 euros.
This issue open with an article on the European Union's foreign policy, starting with a quotation from Hans Morgenthau, explaining that international policy, like any other policy, is a power struggle. Whatever the ultimate objective of international policy might be, power is always its immediate objective. In the current period, following enlargement of the European Union, the review is not lacking in subject matter. It considers, for example, the European Commission's policy document on the European good neighbour policy, the role of Christianity in the European project, and the implications of enlargement on international juridical cooperation.
*** Südosteuropa Mitteilungen . Geschäftsstelle der Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft (49 Widenmayerstrasse. D-80538 Munich. Tel: (49-89) 21254-0 - Fax: 2289469 - E-mail: suedosteuropa-gesellschaft@t-online.de - Internet: http://www.suedosteuropa-gesellschaft.com ). 2004, Nos. 2-3, 192 pp. 10 euros. Annual subscription: 50 euros.
This issue's Focus covers one of the least known and poorest countries of Europe, Moldova. It outlines the ideas of the experts and high level representatives of international organisations who took part in the conference "European Perspective for the Republic of Moldova" organised by the Southeast Europe Association in connection with the German foreign ministry and the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. Other articles consider the situation of Balkan states with regard to the economic criteria for EU accession, focussing on the situation in Romania and Bulgaria, which are preparing for accession scheduled for 2007, and the Cypriot crisis.
*** Dokumente. Gesellschaft für übernationale Zusammenarbeit e.V. (86 Dottendorfer Straße, D-53129 Bonn. Tel. (Edit.): (49-2) 289239805 - Fax (Edit.): 28690385 - Internet: http://www.guez-dokumente.org - E-mail: guez.dokumente@gmx.net). June 2004, No. 3, 108 pp, 3.90 euros. Annual subscription: 19.90 euros.
The central topic of this issue is the French and German presence in Eastern Europe, particularly in new Member States, in political and cultural foundations. There are articles outlining the work carried out by these foundations (like the Konrad Adenauer Foundation which works for example to strengthen EU identity in East European countries and aims to improve dialogue between Poland and Germany, in which it is echoed by the French presence in the Fondation France-Pologne). A series of other articles look at a Polish view of Europe (reportedly supported by both 'old' and 'new' Member States, and convergence and divergence between the industrial policy and foreign policy of France and Germany, and minorities in France.
*** Paneuropa Intern. Paneuropa-Union Deutschland e.V. (17 Dachauer Straße, D-80335 Munich. Tel: (49-89) 554683 - Fax: 594768). June 2004, No. 5, 4 pp, Annual subscription: 95 euros.
Paneuropa Intern looks at issues like the recent European elections, giving a brief outline of the elections since the first direct suffrage European elections of 10 June 1979. It describes the rising power of the European Parliament and the role of the political parties in the last elections. Other articles consider European Cultural Capitals, Montenegro, and German criticisms of Moscow.