*** HERVE DE CARMOY: L'Euramérique. Presses Universitaires de France (6 av. Reille,
F-75014 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 58103100 - Internet: http://www.puf.com ). "Quadrige" series. 2007, 181 pp, €14. ISBN 978-2-13-056486-7.

This is an interesting, surprising and intriguing essay. Intriguing because its author reaches parts that other authors cannot reach. Most people only know follow Hervé de Carmoy's career through records in mainly the business and financial press. In theory at least, the fact that one was once the boss of several big banks does not entitle one to be featured in newspapers reserved for political philosophers - or even geopolitical philosophers as it happens. The essay is surprising because his career might have been expected to give him pride of place among triumphant globalisers alongside the many who close their eyes to anything negative about globalisation. But Hervé de Carmoy takes a different tack, casting a lucid, accusatory eye over the path of this ship careering out of control, bobbing about on the waves without a captain at the helm capable of directing its course at a time when vast breakers are threatening the survival of the whole of humanity. And interesting because, not content to issue a diagnosis that is largely unchallengeable given his expertise, Hervé de Carmoy looks back over the paths that came before the first faltering steps in the vision of a European Community.

As far as the author is concerned, the planet's problem is that it is inhabited by seven billion human beings who are governed by representation systems dating back to a bygone age. In this context, globalisation is triumphing. He writes that a single, immaterial, un-locatable body today governs with deciding force over both the strategies of the powerful and the individual actions of the least significant. He adds that an empirical reality which has neither form nor moral personality governs the way human beings function today. The empire of this eminently empirical force is the 'last empire' and the first to cover the entire earth. Should one protest at the birth of this emperor-less empire? No, because it holds the promise of efficiency and collective fertilisation. Yes, because globalisation, based on competition that engenders rivals 'no longer corresponds to the higher interests of the stage that is arriving, the stage of globalism', in other words, the growing awareness that we have collectively embarked on a fragile space vessel which is the only thing that guarantees life. Globalism is being glimpsed by the world's poor, the migrants, the ill, displaced or massacred communities, condemned species, devastated and polluted areas, but the train is continuing to forge ahead out of control: "the whirling world of the masters of the world, clothed in successful globalisation, has no difficulty ignoring them and continues its reckless course with gay abandon". Worse, it allows a handful of 'conquistadors', living off passive income generated from oil, to get off scot free from complying with the necessary solidarity without which globalism will inexorably decline into what will become deadly dynamite.

Against this backdrop, what should be done? The author points out that the problem is that the forces which are gradually leading the world to an ever greater extent escape from the power of nation states and this calls for a genuine revolution in mindsets: "From an international community formed of supposedly independent states, only agreeing to get along when they believe it will be advantageous to do so, it would be in our full interest to move to the opposite idea We should favour a common cause resting on the vital interests of individuals and the human species". The author is clearly inviting countries to use their power and the upper hand they exercise over their citizens in such a way as to manage the world from the viewpoint of the general interest rather than solely in favour of their national community, viewed as independent. It is precisely here that the "conversion" undergone in Europe sixty years ago can be a source of inspiration, although, as the author points out, "we will have to act quickly if we want to use it as a model because faced with the tribulations of global competition, we see this magic coat unravelling under pressure here and there from

national demagogy"…

The counter example (the one not to be followed) is that of the United States under George Bush. It is, however, in the conjunction of the universalist aims of the US and Europe, in the values they share despite their differences of approach and in their 'common identity that emerged from the Enlightenment,' that the author detects the possibility of escaping from the existential crisis suffered by the world, escaping in an upward direction. The man who is now the European vice-president of the Trilateral Commission urges Americans to get over their 'wounded narcissism crisis,' and for Europeans to get over their 'melancholic denial,' so they can give life together to EurAmerica, in other words a new model alliance based on trade, knowledge, democratic management, leisure, solidarity and the search for meaning. In a highly concrete manner, he suggests that they set up an Action Committee (with a nod to Jean Monnet's last fight) for energy and the environment, which would be the structural and structuring equivalents, he writes, of coal and steel in the past. Is this a utopian idea? Most certainly, especially as the author steers well clear of addressing the question of the institutions that would have to be created. All the same, as Europeans know from experience, utopias are not necessarily doomed to failure. So why not accept Hervé de Carmoy's invitation to give the matter some thought?

Michel Theys

*** JEAN-PAUL MARTHOZ: La liberté, sinon rien. Mes Amériques de Bastogne à Bagdad. Editions Grip (70 rue de la Consolation, B-1030 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2418420 - Fax: 2451933 - E-mail: admi@grip.org - Internet: http://www.grip.org ) and Enjeux internationaux & locaux (10 rue du Patronage, B-1476 Houtain-le-Val. E-mail: enjeux-internationaux.org - Internet: http://www.enjeux-internationaux.org ). "Les livres du GRIP" series, No. 292-2945. 2008, 413 pp. ISBN 2-87291-024-7.

In this highly personal book, talented Belgian journalist Jean-Paul Marthoz paints a broad picture of the United States and how it relates to the rest of the world, from the Battle of Bastogne in the Second World War, which is one of the most illustrious moments in the history of the United States, in his view, to the Battle of Baghdad which, he writes, was based on manipulation and lies and has only served to strengthen the evil it was supposed to combat, namely terrorism, and has killed democracy. Throughout the pages of the book, the author shows that the United States cannot be reduced to the Bush period, but has always had 'liberals' who have fought for freedom, social justice, international cooperation and the state taking an active role. People and ideas which, where they have power, make it possible to strike an equal partnership with the other side of the Atlantic, it being Europe's responsibility to ensure it is up to scratch. (MT)

*** ZAKI LAÏDI: The Normative Empire. The Unintended Consequences of European Power. Garnet Network of Excellence (56 rue Jacob, F-75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 58717000 - Fax: 58717091 - Internet: http://www.garnet-eu.org ). "Garnet Policy Brief", No. 6. 2008, 8 pp.

Does Europe dominate the world? This question, whimsical at first sight, was posed by the Wall Street Journal in October 2007, slamming Europe's plan to force its rules on the rest of the world, taking advantage of the dynamism of its domestic market. In this brief study, Zaki Laïdi, researcher at the Centre d'Etudes européennes de Sciences Po and lecturer at the College of Europe, looks at whether this statement holds water. Three questions are asked - Why does Europe favour the use of rules to wield its influence? Why has Europe's influence on rules become global? And what are the main export areas for European rules? At the end of the article, the author sets out three possible scenarios for the EU's political future. He distances himself from the idea of the EU becoming more powerful to the detriment of its Member States, preferring a combination of the EU as a power to influence the rest of the world (as has been seen with the battle to have environmental issues taken on board, for example) and the EU is a power destined to remain fragmented. An instructive and interesting read. (TBa)

*** STEPHAN GRILLER (Ed.): At the Crossroads: The World Trading System and the Doha Round. Springer-Verlag (P. O. Box 89, 4-6 Sachsenplatz, 1201 Vienna. Tel: (43-1) 3302415-0 - Fax: 3302426 - Internet: http://www.springer.com ). "European Community Studies Association of Austria Publication Series", No. 8. 2008, 409 pp, €87-95. ISBN 978-3-211-22403-8.

Agence Europe's readers are perfectly well informed about the persistent problems encountered in the Doha Round. This book expands upon a conference held in Austria after the collapse of the World Trade Organisation's summit in Cancun in the late summer of 2003. Most essays explain the state of the negotiations in 2004, but they are not obsolete because only limited progress has been made since then. What were the real reasons for the breakdown of the negotiations in Cancun? Where did this leave the WTO? Is there still a slim chance of achieving the ambitious targets of the Doha Development Agenda? These questions are the backbone of this collection of essays laying bare the differences of opinion between the traditional big trading partners, so-called emerging economies, and developing countries. Against the backdrop of the WTO talks, lawyers and economists discuss specific issues connected with, for example, the lack of coordination between the different WTO agreements or the fact that some disputes are settled on the basis of measures outside the legal system governing the WTO due to the presence of conflicting rules within the organisation…. There are also essays on protectionism, import barriers and areas where WTO rules clash with EU rules. In the second part of the book, the broader and politically more highly charged question is addressed of whether the WTO really has the legitimacy it requires to wave the development flag in the world. In this connection, the authors also discuss the highly topical question of the role of farming in the world in the future, both for developing countries and from the European standpoint. The issue of intellectual property is addressed in the same spirit. (NDu)

*** STEPHAN KEUKELEIRE, JENNIFER MACNAUGHTAN: The Foreign Policy of the European Union. Palgrave Macmillan (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, UK. Tel: (44-1256) 329242 - Fax: 842084 - E-mail: mdl@macmillan.co.uk - Internet: http://www.palgrave.com ). "The European Union Series". 2008, 374 pp, £21-99. ISBN 978-1-4039-4722-2.

This book is a detailed study of the European Union's foreign policy from the starting point of recent events like the war in Iraq and the most recent rounds of EU enlargement. The authors start by identifying changes in the EU's self-assertion on the international stage at the turn of the twenty-first century, discerning the fault lines. They then describe history since the Second World War, which enables them to demonstrate the extent to which the discussions of today are a continuation of the discussions of yesterday. In the following chapters, they examine the decision-making process for foreign policy and the behaviour of the various players. In this connection, the different interests of the Member States are also brought to light, along with the way that these diverse national visions regularly feed into the lack of political will. The authors go on to look in more detail at the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and the European Security and Defence Policy, systematically reviewing their instruments, priority themes and the military activity undertaken by the EU. Stéphan Keukeleire and Jennifer MacNaughtan consider the impact outside the EU of the demands made by the EU through its action - like trade or aid deals - and its environmental, energy, health and anti-terror policies. After gauging the EU's action in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the authors analyse the EU's relations with Russia, China and the United States, supplementing this with a consideration of the EU's decision to back multilateralism. (NDu)

*** STEVEN BLOCKMANS: Tough Love. The European Union's Relations with the Western Balkans. T·M·C Asser Press (20-22 R.J. Schimmelpennincklaan, 2517 JN The Hague. Tel: (31-70) 3420300 - Fax: 3420359 - Internet: http://www.asser.nl ). 2007, 421 pp. ISBN 978-90-6704-258-1.

Looking at Western Balkans states (Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo), this book is a useful and very well-designed analytical tool, discussing these countries' dependence on the international community. The book starts with a description of the region and the challenges facing it, in which the author develops the argument - running throughout the book - that of all the international organisations active in the Western Balkans, it is the European Union that has most of the mechanisms and political capacities required to face the challenge the region will represent in the next few years. There is then a critical analysis of each of the big international organisations (the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe), with the author deploring what he describes as 'lack of political will', lack of synergy and lack of resources. Following this is the most specifically European part of the book with four chapters on the history of the EU's relations with the former Yugoslavia, the impact on the Common Foreign and Security Policy, application of the principle of cross-compliance and a raft of recommendations to boost the role of the European Union in the Western Balkans. In this last chapter, the author describes the benefits of the EU's action, highlighting the symbolic and strategic need for the EU to take a lead in the field. He takes a more politically committed approach, opening pointing out the challenges to be met - establishing autonomous communities, setting up democratic institutional structures that can guarantee the rule of law rather than the rule of the legislator, macro-economic stabilisation and liberalisation, measures adapted to suit local and regional conditions etc. The author argues that a joined-up approach to reconstruction and reconciliation is the key to stabilising the region. "Tough Love" is clearly a crucial piece of work, clearly identifying the region's problems and potential solutions. (TBa)