*** RAFAA BEN ACHOUR , SLIM LAGHMANI (Eds.): Le droit international à la croisée des chemins. Force du droit et droit de la force. Editions A. Pedone (13 rue Soufflot, Paris). "Rencontres internationales de la faculté des sciences juridiques, politiques et sociales de Tunis" series. 2004, 444 pp, €36. ISBN 2-233-00455-8.
With the last Iraq war, has the rule of force won the final battle? Or does the force of law still have the chance of a last-ditch attempt to win out? These vital questions form the heart of the very high level conference organised last April, the proceedings of which are faithfully set out in this book. The international law specialists who attended the conference provided highly nuanced answers to the questions, although all were clearly members of the school of thought which had to put up with and endure the unilateral action carried out in Iraq by the coalition forces led by George Bush's United States.
Initially, Prof. Rafâa Ben Achour (University of Tunis) starts off by pointing out that these questions are very new in terms of history since it was only with the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations that the United Nations model (refusing to accept the legitimacy of the use of force and replacing the law of force by the force of law0 was substituted for the Westphalian model (characterised by force as the main source of legitimacy). On paper, at least. Because the UN Charter has never been able to prevent some countries from using force when it suited them. Nevertheless, the new crisis in international law caused by the Iraq affair is emblematic since it manifests itself, from both the legal and the operational viewpoint, by the crumbling of the force of law and the affirmation of the law of force, through the input of two schools of thought standing in fundamental contradiction to each other. The school of thought of the United States and its allies, mainly the United Kingdom, which recommends force and therefore urges regression of the founding principles of the order of the United Nations, namely universality, sovereignty, equality and reciprocity, and a return of colonialism, top gun policy and a mission to bring civilisation. The cause made by Prof. Ben Achour takes no prisoners: "A mega-power and a few satellites operate in the world in line with an imperial logic as if they were in a legal desert or, at least, in line with law thought up and imposed by empire, an internal law for external use, which is in reality nothing but a denial of international law, of multilateralism and of the legitimacy and centrality of the UN". Basically Washington and its allies proclaim themselves as the dispensers of justice and hence free themselves of any scruples. Facing them, the supporters of the force of international law, who form the majority, submit. How can this situation be remedied, this split where the majority are not the strongest? The authors make attempts to consider ideas of how this might be achieved, studying the United Nations system (including a very down-to-earth contribution by Jean-Pierre Cot on reform of the Security Council), then the principle of not using force (in the light of, for example, the US doctrine of preventative defence), international justice and trans-national powers regarding the environment. These detailed academic explanations employ different lines of attack but all confirm that they share the credo of Rafâa Ben Achour: "we still believe that the force of law is always superior to the rule of force, whatever its scale and whatever the justifications for the use of force. Empires are ephemeral, but law outlives them".
In this search for a potential escape route, the European Union could potentially be of use. For this reason, four contributions look at the EU. In the most illuminating of them, Jean-Denis Mouton, Professor of public law at University Nancy 2 in France and Director of the Centre européen universitaire, wonders whether the EU is an original model of combining force with law. In it, he starts by putting into context the Manichean opposition argued by Robert Kagan between the US and the EU model, between the Americans who come from Mars and the Europeans who come from Venus. He then demonstrates that the European project is living at a time where the decision has yet to be taken for the Kantian model. Through ideas developed by Kant in his Philosophical Sketch for Perpetual Peace, Prof. Mouton argues that the European project can be seen as arising from a neo-Kantian vision, and the draft Constitution can be interpreted as a rather tentative attempt at this point to realise a Universal Union of States (Staatenverein) as recommended by the German philosopher, as the foundation of genuine cosmopolitan law. In this still rather hesitant movement, the EU, he argues, would develop a different vision of power from the vision deployed by the US megapower. The EU's vision would be of a tranquil power, in the words of Tzvetan Todorov, without the ambition to manage the affairs of the world, but rather the affairs of Europe in the world. Far removed from the postmodern paradise described by Kagan, is this idea of power actually achievable? The Iraqi affair would tend to demonstrate it is not, he argues, but some measures in the draft Constitution - like strengthened cooperation, structured cooperation, and the mutual defence clause - could allow the Member States wishing to do so to demonstrate that the Kantian model is compatible with joint use of force. In the opinion of Jean-Denis Mouton, it is only on this condition that the renewed concept of the relations between force and the force of law as set out in the European project could have any chance of counterbalancing the vision of the Bush administration and its advisors, in other words of producing mimetism outside the EU. Prof. Mouton concludes that regional bodies, of which the EU is a precursor, would be an important step in the formation of cosmopolitan law, since by nature they tend to defend multilateralism, as a cross between the power of the states that constitute them and a tranquil force in formation. Michel Theys
*** ROSTANE MEHDI (Ed.): Les Nations Unies face aux armes de destruction massive. Editions A. Pedone (see above). 2004, 180 p, €25. ISBN 2-233-00459-0.
The recent Iraq crisis and war are recent deceptive outward signs of a perilous situation whose causes the world is finding difficult to discern, identify - or accept - and, more worryingly still, to treat the symptoms. It has most importantly helped shed light on the dangers of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, WMD. Iraq was wrongly accused by some parties of being one of the most dangerous WMD agents. The uncertainties surrounding intervention justified initially solely by the concern to combat what turned out to be an over-estimated threat, stress the extent to which knowledge about the reality of the weapons situation in states attempting to acquire WMD remains speculative. Hence above all else, the Iraq crisis has shed light on the failings of the international system to counter the proliferation of WMD. In December 2003, the participants of the "Douzièmes Rencontres internationales d'Aix-en-Provence" conferences attempted to study this literally explosive situation, and the proceedings are published in this book. In the introduction, Paul Dahan, sub-director for chemical and biological disarmament and non-proliferation of traditional weapons at the French Foreign Ministry, makes an assessment of the disarmament situation in the past, present and future. Looking at the failings of the world's system to prevent proliferation of WMD and the challenges to international law, the first section of the book includes an article by Grégory Boutherin attempting to answer the question of whether US policy is a factor relaunching the arms race, while Rémy Prouvèze looks at the link between technology transfer and WMD, writing about a veritable squaring of the circle. The second part of the book looks at the role of the United Nations in strengthening efforts to combat the proliferation of WMD. Colonel Philippe Boone weighs up the effectiveness of the conventional methods, while Thérèse Delpech assesses the effectiveness of ad hoc arms verification missions in the light of the Iraq crisis, Blaise Tchikaya studies recent lessons from the International Court of Justice concerning WMD, and Prof. Hervé Ascensio looks at Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations as put to the test by proliferation. The final contributions look at the nature of international security in the 'world of uncertainties' in which we live.
(MT)
*** FRANCOIS RIGAUX: Guerres et interventions dans le sud-est européen. Editions A. Pedone (see above). 2004, 317 pp, €29. ISBN 2-233-00458-2.
This book, with its rarely found level of erudition, is both a sincere cry from the heart and a pamphlet. A cry from the heart because its author confesses from the start that his work as a judge at the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina from 1996 to 2001 "helped him discover and love the peoples of the former Yugoslavia". A pamphlet in the sense that this emeritus professor at the 'Université catholique de Louvain' (Belgium) is known for plain speaking when he believes a battle is right to be fought. Of the opinion that the fruits of economic activity and the benefits of citizens' security have always remained the privilege of a fraction of humanity, François Rigaux sees the fate reserved by both ancient and contemporary history for South-Eastern Europe as a stark and revealing confirmation that "universal society, or what is known as the community of nations, is subject to an oligarchic system in both the meanings given by Aristotle, namely the domination of the poor by the rich, and power exercised by the minority over the majority". In his opinion, the protectorate regime imposed on Bosnia Herzegovina and, more recently, on Kosovo (and Macedonia) is rather out of harmony with the highly fashionable right to self-determination, but it 'follows right on from the institutions through which the big European powers have helped gradually dismember the Ottoman Empire and disperse the Austro-Hungarian Empire'. The author is at pains to unravel the ill destiny allotted to this part of Europe over the centuries and the misfortunes that have resulted from it, combining in his writing impetuosity of critical spirit and a wholly scientific discipline.
After a general introductory chapter ('From the doctrine of a just war to prohibiting the use of force'), François Rigaux starts by reviewing the geography and history of the peninsula and its perception by foreign observers, "voyagers, the erudite and forgers of systems", from the time of the Crusades to the Romantic era, impassioned with the 'Orient'. The third chapter looks at the perennial nature of Empire, expressing the desire of the rulers of Constantinople, including the Ottoman Sultan, 'to be the heirs of the Roman Empire', and hence giving rise to much envy. He then retraces the multiple genealogies of the liberation of the peoples of the peninsula before casting a meticulous eye over the question of the 'Orient and the question of the Straits'. This naturally leads him to study the legal institutions established by the great powers to draft a peaceful settlement of these two issues, the most notable of the institutions being the 'European concertation', an executive set up by a handful of governments with no representatives of the small states and peoples, even those the most directly interested in the questions to be discussed, he explains. The last chapter looks at the most sensitive issue, namely inter-ethnic violence, where the author attempts to put the Balkan situation back into a global context and hence 'spare the peoples of the region the accusation of barbarism sometimes levelled against them'… (MT)
*** JUDY BATT (Ed.): The Western Balkans: moving on. Institut d'études de sécurité (43 av. du président Wilson, F-75775 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 56891930 - Fax: 56891931 - e-mail: institute@iss-eu.org - Internet: http://www.institute @iss-eu.org). "Les cahiers de Chaillot" series, No. 70. 2004, 135 pp, €10.
In this Cahier de Chaillot, some of the best experts on South-Eastern Europe draw up a very faithful and therefore complex description of the prospects of joining the European Union that have opened up for each of the countries in the Western Balkans. Positive perspectives if one looks at the distance travelled to date, but nothing very definite. The message put across by the authors is that nothing at this point guarantees that the Europeanisation of the Western Balkans will necessarily end in a new success story. Studied by Romana Vlahutin, Croatia is in this connection an 'exception'. The essays on Serbia "after four years of transition" (Ivan Vejvoda), "Europeanisation by decree" that might be the fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the region's economic problems and prospects (Franz-Lothar Altmann), the question of nationalism (Jacques Rupnik) and, above all, the instability in the region with the threat of the unsettled question of Kosovo's final status (Misha Glenny) call for all parties to exercise the greatest prudence. But all join Stefan Lehne and, in the conclusion, Judy Batt, to argue that much, if not all in the region's development, hangs on the pertinence of the strategy the European Union will implement to seek long term solutions. Failing which… (MT)
*** ERIC VANCLEYNENBREUGEL, ERIC VALENNE: Escapades dans les 10 nouvelles capitales de l'Europe. 180° éditions (16 place Van Meenen, B-1060 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5126787 - e-mail: tmcbrussels@skynet.be). "Escapades" series. 2004, 198 pp, 20 euros. ISBN 2-930427-00-0.
On 1 May 2005, the European Union grew by ten new Member States. The event led two leading tourism journalists to look at the capitals of the new Member States, not all of which are as well known as Prague (far from it). The outcome was this lavishly illustrated guidebook on two levels. The first looks at history, guiding the reader/visitor along an original itinerary to discover the inevitable sites (architectural treasures, museums etc) and history of each of the capitals. The second, more subjective reading provides tips, hints and secrets, like good places the authors managed to worm out - charming hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, bars, boutiques and the like. Useful and nice. (MT)
*** Revue du marché commun et de l'Union européenne. Les Editions Techniques et Economiques (3 rue Soufflot, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 55426131 - Fax: (33-1) 55426139 - E-mail: editecom@starnet.fr - Internet: http//http://www.editecom.com ). December 2004, No. 483, 66 pp.
The review notes how José Manuel Barroso's initial decision to refuse to subject his College of Commissioners to the vote (approval) of the European Parliament was an event shedding light on the emerging European democracy. European democracy has not yet seen the light of day, explains the next article (entitled 'The Barroso Commission and European Consensus'). Another article studies the exercise of adapting to a new institutional framework constituted by signing and ratifying the Constitutional Treaty, involving a complex process of cancelling the legislation it replaces. The review also looks at the impact of the second round of bilateral agreements between the EU and Switzerland. The agreements have caused a great to do in Switzerland. The review also looks back over thirty years of milk quotas, originally a temporary measure cutting across the former policy to expand dairy production.
*** Notabene. Observatoire social européen (13 rue Paul Émile Janson, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5371971 - Fax: 5392808 - E-mail: info@ose.be - Internet: http//http://www.ose.be ). December 2004, No 136-137, 24 pp. Annual subscription: 20 euros.
This issue celebrates twenty years of the Monitoring Centre's existence, reviewing a series of issues at the heart of the debate over Social Europe in the past two decades, a period rich in political events with enlargements, the single currency entering people's daily lives, and virtually all internal borders lifted, while Social Europe is no longer restricted to health and safety and non-discrimination directives, but also has an impact on pensions, healthcare and social inclusion. Notabene has decided not to deal with the subjects in question in the form of a static balance sheet but to trace out how they are likely to change in the future. The subjects looked at include the future of the trade union movement, the Constitutional Treaty, the Lisbon Strategy and pension reform.
*** Echosud. Commission Universitaire pour le Développement (72-74 rue de Namur, B-1000 Brussels - E-mail: saifi.cud@skynet.be - Internet: http://www.ciuf.cfwb.be ). December 2004, No. 5, 16pp.
The Brussels-based 'Commission Universitaire pour le Développement' works with universities in the South to help consolidate excellence and spread expertise, in the aim of helping the respective countries to take their development in hand. The review gives briefings on cooperation measures around the world, such as re-connecting the University of Lubumbashi with the outside world after its long isolation, cooperation with the agricultural university of Hanoi to achieve better integrated rural development, and study grants and student exchange programmes.
*** Afkar / ideas. Estudios de Politica Exterior SA (49 6°pl. Núnez de Balboa, E-28001 Madrid. Tel: (34-91) 4312711 - Fax: 4354027 - E-mail: suscripciones@politicaexterior.com - Internet: http://www.politicaexterior.com ). Autumn 2004, No. 4, 122 pp, Annual subscription: 26 euros.
This magazine (published in Spanish, Catalan and French) aims to be a platform fro debate and exchanges of ideas between players and observers of relations between Europe and the Maghreb (Northern Africa). Javier Solana looks at the Barcelona Process and the foreign affairs issues that influence it, like the conflict in the Middle East and the Iraq situation. This issue's special dossier looks at political progress over the Western Sahara question. Other articles look at the question of Turkey joining the EU and the involvement of immigrants in European political life. The publication also gives statistical information and compares and contrasts the countries around the Mediterranean.
*** AmCham Business Journal. American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium (50 Box 5 avenue des arts, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5136770 - Fax: 5133590 - E-mail: joneldridge@skynet.be - Internet: http://www.amcham.be ). 4th quarter 2004, No. 552, 36 pp, 6.20 euros.
The AmCham Business Journal certainly has columns of interest above all to members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Brussels, like calendars, reports on conferences and internal news, but it also is a mine of useful information about economic, political and society trends in Belgium and Europe as a whole. This issue, for example, looks at changes in transport in Europe, considering trends like the shifting of road traffic to the rivers and railways, Belgium's transport strategy, the preparations by the city of Brussels to cope with the increasing number of entrants, rising levels of protection for passenger rights and transatlantic tensions.