*** CHRISTOPH PAN, BEATE SIBYLLE PFEIL (Editors): Zur Entstehung des modernen Minderheitenschutzes in Europa. Springer (P.O. Box 89, 4-6 Sachsenplatz, 1201 Vienna. Fax: (43-1) 3302426 - Internet: http://www.springer.at ). "Handbuch der europäischen Volksgruppen" series, No. 3. 2006, 561 pp.. ISBN 3-211-33889-6.
The publication of successive versions of a manual on minority national rights in Europe ( Handbuch der europäischen Volksgruppen) demonstrated to the coordinators the interest provoked by this issue in Europe, which led them to develop the instruments needed to facilitate an understanding of the problems raised. This is the goal of this historic book focusing on the development of contemporary protection of ethnic and linguistic minorities in Europe. On the initiative of Südtiroler Volksgruppen-Institut in Bozen (Bolzano), in Italy, and in cooperation with the Südtiroler Bildunbgszentrum - Forum zur Kultur- und Spracherhaltung in Innsbruck, a research group in Austria, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain, under the scientific supervision of Professor Peter Pernthalther, has brought together the sixteen contributions making up this book. The need for such a book was illustrated and confirmed with the declaration made by the summit of Heads of State and governments from the Council of Europe in Warsaw in the spring of 2005, which announced: “the changing history of Europe has shown that protection of national minorities is essential for maintaining peace, stability and democracy. A society which considers itself pluralist has to make the flourishing and support for national minorities possible, which represents a richness for our societies”.
The historical studies proposed mainly focus on the 19th and 20th centuries because the question of minorities actually historically appeared in the period when democratic forms of power gradually replaced the absolutism of the post-Napoleonic epoch and which toppled over the autocracy imposed by the dictatorships of the 20th century. In this way the notions of tribes, nationalities, ethnic and cultural groups, national, ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities gradually penetrated the vocabulary of political discourse. The different writers explain that around 100 million out of the 800 million people living in Europe are not of the nationality of the state in which they live but belong instead to non-majority groups. There are almost 300 groups of varying size for whom the national language of the state in which they live is not their first language. In most cases these groups do not have any legal recognition protecting them.
This historic panorama illustrates how this recognition of minorities has progressively been attaining legal recognition since the first quasi constitutional measures developed under the Austro-Hungarian empire and its recognition of nationalities, up until the Charter of Fund amental Rights of the European Union, which stipulates “belonging to a national minority” in its Article on non-discrimination. It is not possible to summarise all the very rich and well argued chapters in this review. Each of them provides an insight into the different historical or political situations studied, in light of the specific and considerable diversity existing in Europe in this domain. The goal of each chapter is a shared one: to protect minorities, so that they can all live and express their own identity and culture and speak their own langue. This book can be recommended and should be translated into many different languages because it could help to raise more awareness of the future challenges in a multicultural Europe.
Gabriel Fragnière
*** CHRISTOPH PAN, BEATE SIBYLLE PFEIL: Minderheitenrechte in Europa. Uberarbeitete und aktualisierte Auflage. Springer (see address attached). "Handbuch der europäischen Volksgruppen" series, No. 2. 2006, 722 pp.. ISBN 3-211-35307-0.
This book is the result of work undertaken by the authors over a number of years with the goal of establishing a manual as comprehensive as possible, covering the situation regarding minority national rights in Europe. Following the first version in 2000, and a further edition in 2002, the study has gradually expanded under the supervision of the Südtiroler Volksgruppen-Institut de Bozen (Bolzano) in Italy, in collaboration with researchers in thirty six European countries. It provides us with as comprehensive a description as possible of the situation in all these countries. It provides comparative graphs, evaluations and analyses on specific cases. The issue of protecting national rights has considerably evolved since the events of 1989-1990 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and the setting up of the Council of Europe's 1995 Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities, which entered into force in 1990. The conditions for accession established in the Copenhagen criteria for European Union enlargement should not be left out either. This book therefore proposes an instrument for highlighting the specific situations in thirty six chapters, each of them based on the same assessment criteria, taking into account the reports that Framework Countries regularly have to send to the Council of Europe. Written in German and Italian, the concluding chapter raises a certain number of problems that have not entirely been covered by the Framework Convention and which even result from the rights that have been introduced in the historically dynamic context of the governing this issue. The alternating majority-minority roles in newly independent countries, such as the Baltic countries or Moldavia, where the formerly dominant Russian minorities have become minorities, can be highlighted in this respect, as well as the problem of introducing minority rights into the constitution to prevent rights becoming dependent on the voting power of the majority in question. The difficult integration of the Rom can also be underscored in a number of European countries, due to the very problem of the un-territorial nature of this minority. France and Turkey did not sign the Framework Convention because their internal legal set-up does not recognise the existence of minorities. The book as a whole represents a massive book which is not always easy to read. It is , however, extremely well documented, contains an excellent glossary and bibliography and is an essential tool for all researchers into these issues.
(GFr)
*** FERGUS CARR, ANDREW MASSEY (Editors): Public Policy and the New European Agendas. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd (Glensanda House, Montpellier Parade, Cheltenham, Glos GL50 1UA, UK. Tel.: (44-1242) 226934 - fax: 262111 - E-mail: info@e-elgar.co.uk - Internet: http://www.e-elgar.com ). "New Horizons in Public Policy" series. 2006, 450p p. £95. ISBN 1-84376-813-5.
This book fuses on the European Union's new policies but particularly so on Europe's role on the international scene, enlargement policy and its impact on other policies. The authors demonstrate that, "enlargement does not just expand the single market but places new demands upon public policy for a constituency now eclipsed, as 15 members have become 25”. The book begins with two general chapters. The first establishes the theoretical framework for states' public policies, which are at the same time members of the European Union, other international organisations and subject to the pressure of globalisation. The other chapter places Europe in the international system and concludes that although Europe is indeed an economic giant, it is certainly not the “political dwarf” as seen by some. There are then three chapters on enlargement, seen in the perspective of new and older members of the EU. Three further chapters follow on the Union's international relations, particularly with the US and Russia. These two themes are completed with a third part that includes contributions (resulting in part from the previous publication of the writers of “ Public Policy in the New Europe: Governance in Theory and Practice”) on other European policies and themes, such as immigration, border management, agriculture, environment and the ageing population.
(FRo)
*** GERHARD LOIBL (Editors): Austrian Review of International and European Law. BRILL. (2 Plantijnstraat, P.O Box 9000, NL-2300 PA Leiden. Tel: (31-71) 5353500 - fax: 5317532 - Internet: http://www.brill.nl ). "Austrian Review of International and European Law" series, No. 9. 2006, 499 pp. € 175 ISBN 90-04-15401-9.
The first part of this annual publication contains, "analytical articles on both theoretical and practical questions and covers all the different areas of international and Community law". The book opens with a contribution analysing the Beneš decree and Czech restitution laws - on the possessions of the Sudenten Germans - from a point of view of European and human rights. Other essays look at philosophical thought and the legal expert, Kelsen, as well as the difficulties involved at an organisational level for the international community. The book also includes a section on current affairs themes and Austrian legal, diplomatic and parliamentary practices in the international legal arena. The book provides around a hundred pages of updates and bibliographical notes too.
(FRo)
*** GUSTAV LINDSTROM (editors): Enforcing non-proliferation. The European Union and the 2006 BTWC Review Conference. Institute for Security Studies (43 av. du Président Wilson, F-75775 Paris cedex 16. Tel: (33-1) 56891930 - fax: (33-1) 56891931 - E-mail: info@iss.europa.eu - Internet: http://www.iss.europa.eu ). "Chaillot Paper" series, No. 93. 2006, 133 pp., €10. ISBN 92-9198-099-4.
Pressures currently exercised on Iran and North Korea over their nuclear projects appear to have put the fight against the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, into second place. However, these two latter kinds of weapons remain serious threats and, as the Director of the Institute of Security Studies Nicole Gnesotto explains, "the European Union does not divide the fight against proliferation into noble or secondary dossiers ". This Cahier de Chaillot was written in perspective of the sixth BTWC Review Conference of November December 2006, a conference that brought together the signatory parties of the Biological Toxic Weapons Convention (BTWC) in an effort to maintain and strengthen the ban on these weapons. The publication aims to help develop a re-think on international community efforts against the production and use of biological weapons, as part of the BTWC framework and its development, as well as the Union's attempts to fight against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Through the contribution made by experts in this area, the book seeks to examine international efforts, including the different legal tools in the fight against biological weapons, particularly the BTWC, and illustrates how "review conferences have been a laboratory for experimentation in methods to build trust, generate transparency, and, ultimately, offer security to State parties”. The book, however, also shows the limitations to this tool. One of the sections - which have been devised to be read separately - provides a quite detailed insight into how science and technology opens doors to new threats and makes the distinction between their beneficial or destructive uses more problematic.
(FRo)
*** OLAOLUWA OLUSANYA: Identifying the Aggressor under International Law. A Principles Approach. Peter Lang (32 Hochfeldstrasse, Postfach 746, CH-3000 Bern 9. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2006, 211 p. €38.60. ISBN 3-03910-741-0.
The international order involves being able to identify, in the event of attack, the aggressor state and the country which is the victim of the attack. This is sometimes more difficult than would appear at first glance. Over the decades, international law has provided an acceptable framework for this identification, but developments on the international political scene, as well as the balance of forces and technology (weapons of mass destruction, possibilities of launching "cyber-attacks") have helped make this distinction more difficult. Suddenly, the global collective security system as a whole has become significantly more fragile, leading to a environment more favourable to unilateral action. Olaoluwa Olusanya, the author of this book, has chosen to use elements of criminal law to identify aggressors, but warns that states are not individuals and making parallels between the two should not be over emphasised. Initially he looks at the factors responsible for this weakening in the collective security system: the collapse of the USSR, failings at the Security Council, nuclear proliferation and the delegated use of force. He then examines current tools (but which have all been around for decades) for identifying aggressors and which are shown to be no longer inadequate. He then proposes ways of improving identification of aggressors based on the principle of necessity, without forgetting other ways, such as reform of the UN Security Council.
(FRo)
*** Guide de la cooperation décentralisée. Echanges et partenariats internationaux des collectivités territoriales. La Documentation française (29-31 quai Voltaire, F-75344 Paris Cedex 07. Tel: (33-1) 40157000 - fax: 40157230 - Internet: http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr ). 2006, 178 pp. €12. ISBN 2-11-005762-9.
This publication provides essential institutional, legal, technical and financial references that apply to the notion of “decentralised cooperation”, according to the French concept, namely, cooperation organised between French and foreign territorial communities. It contains an index of useful addresses and signs, as well as an indicative bibliography completing this work tool.
(PBo)
*** Economia Exterior. Estudios de Politica Exterior SA (49 Núñez de Balboa, E-28001 Madrid. Tel: (34-91) 4312711 - fax: 4354027 - E-mail: suscripciones@politicaexterior.com - Internet: htpp//http://www.politicaexterior.com ). 2006/2007, No. 39, 152 p. €13.50. Subscription: €74.
"Why are the Spanish so uninterested in India?” is a question posed by this review, which for the main part, focuses on the emerging protagonist in the new world order.
(FRo)