*** LAURA C. FERREIRA-PEREIRA: Inside the Fence but Outside the Walls. The Military Non-Allied States in the Security Architecture of Post-Cold War Europe. Peter Lang (32 Hochfeldstrasse, Postfach 746, CH-3000 Berne 9. Tel.: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2007, 343 pp, €67-60. ISBN 978-3-03910-940-1.
This is an impressive book for several reasons. Firstly, it is the first book to explain in a scientific and exhaustive manner the way that non-aligned European countries from the former Cold War were able to get involved in the European project, including its foreign and security policy dimensions sketched out in the Maastricht Treaty and constantly reinforced since then until acceptance of an EU security and defence policy. Also because of the sheer quality of research carried out by its author, who is now assistant professor of politics and international history at Minho University in Portugal (she is a graduate of both Minho University and the University of Kent at Canterbury). Laura Ferreira-Pereira met a hundred-odd Austrian, Finnish and Swedish figureheads from government, parliamentary, diplomatic, military, scientific and media circles. She contacted the Permanent Representatives to the European Union and NATO in Brussels and representatives of the European institutions. Along with these direct sources, she also studied a raft of documentary sources, genuinely beavering away to produce an authoritative reference work.
For non-specialist readers, the first great advantage of this book is the way it helps them re-own a section of the geopolitical history of the continent of Europe and, more especially, gain detailed understanding of the idea of the 'neutrality' of Europe's various practical materialisations down the decades. Neutrality may be static from the legal viewpoint but it is dynamic in political and military terms, explains Laura Ferreira-Pereira at the outset, adding that it can cover both the military dimension (a country's refusal to engage in war and therefore get involved in any alliance aiming to ensure collective defence) and the political dimension, as granted to Austria and Finland following the advent of blocs due to Russia's self-proclamation of surveillance rights. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain, Austria, Finland and Sweden requested and were granted the right to join the European Union (which they joined in 2005) and this was because Ireland had prepared the terrain for them well in advance. Austria, Finland and Sweden decided to restrict their neutrality to full military neutrality, refusing to get involved in wars or join military alliances. The author notes that they moved from a historical logic of exclusion to a historical logic of inclusion without abandoning their military neutrality. The EU does not have any collective defence mechanism (to the chagrin of some parties). The three countries in question have not yet joined NATO although they have agreed to work with NATO under the Partnership for Peace. Likewise, they have observer status at the Western European Union.
How have Austria, Finland and Sweden been able to contribute to the emergence of the common foreign and security policy, in other words agreeing to enter a common 'fencing ground' without compromising their desire to remain outside its walls? Why were these countries so keen to get involved in drawing up security arrangements on the EU scale while still claiming to be militarily neutral? How was the EU able to respond to their demands in this connection? These and many other questions are answered in a detailed, enlightening manner. To the last question, one of the author's colleagues at Cambridge (who wrote the preface) explains that the EU has been able to be flexible, demonstrating that it could reconcile diverse concerns where there is a desire for unity. Should this be seen as a model to be followed? Yes, as long as everyone has the same understanding of 'desire for unity'.
Pierre Bouvier
*** PETER SCHMIDT (Ed.): A Hybrid Relationship. Transatlantic Security Cooperation beyond NATO. Editions Peter Lang (see above). "Internationale Sicherheit" series, No. 7. 2008, 336 pp, €51-60. ISBN 978-3-631-57236-8.
Following on from seminars in Berlin (at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) and Washington (at the Center for Strategic and International Studies) backed by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, this book studies transatlantic security cooperation. It starts by asserting (and demonstrating throughout the book) that this is a hybrid relationship, explains Prof. Peter Schmidt of Mannheim University in Germany in the introduction. This is due to causes on either side of the Atlantic. In Europe, there is the lack of a strong, single negotiator able to master all parameters of security, while the United States alternates between support for a strong European entity and a tendency to focus on relations between the United States and individual countries, particularly in NATO. But Prof. Schmidt explains that NATO is no longer capable of serving as the indispensable strategic interlocutor. Readers will find evidence for this in the book's analysis of various initiatives which partly or wholly escape from NATO's control, the "Berlin-plus" arrangements with the EU for Bosnia and the support for the African Union's mission in Darfur and the Quartet mission in the Middle East (the Quartet being made up of the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the EU), via the "EU-3" diplomacy between Iran and the United States (the EU3 being Germany, the UK and France). Against this backdrop, the author argues that there is not at present any master plan being followed by politicians to give transatlantic relations a new, stable structure, but there are options for continuing to live together that may well emerge from pragmatic approaches.
(MT)
*** Vu d'Europe. Europe's World (Bibliothèque Solvay, Parc Léopold, 137 rue Belliard, B-1040 Brussesl. Tel: (32-2) 7387592 - Fax: 7391592 - email: subscriptions@europesworld.org - Internet: http://www.europesworld.org ). 2008, No. 9, 218 pp, €12. Annual subscription: €30.
Launched three years ago in English as "Europe's World" by Giles Merritt with the backing of the 'Amis de l'Europe' association chaired by Viscount Etiennes Davignon, the publication of the review in French was largely due to the action of the Robert Schuman Foundation. It is essential reading for people interested in how the world is changing and, more specifically, how the EU is changing. This latest issue includes a sub-section on security and defence, with NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and General Henri Bentégeat (chair of the EU's Military Committee) examining the weaknesses of European defence in terms of capabilities and commitments. Another new sub-section looks at sustainable development. In the international section, Prof. David P. Calleo, director of European studies at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University in Washington, explains why the EU and the United states do not share the same geopolitical issues, while Simon Serfaty (holder of the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair of global security and geopolitics at the International and Strategic Studies Centre in Washington DC) calls for Europeans to take initiatives to define a new EU-Atlantic security strategy. Other articles look at the financial and economic crisis, sovereign wealth funds and Russia, particularly Gazprom. In the European section, Jean-Pierre Jouyet describes the French Presidency's prospects, the Franco-German driver of Europe to be got up and running again, relations between the EU and the Mediterranean, and the Balkans, while Belgium's former prime minister sets out his vision of a new Europe.
(MT)
*** ERIC REMACLE, VALERIE ROSOUX, LEON SAUR (Eds.): L'Afrique des Grands Lacs. Des conflits à la paix? Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, 1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Géopolitique et résolution des conflits" series, No. 6. 2007, 289 pp, €36-90. ISBN 978-90-5201-351-0.
Rwanda has been engraved on universal memory through the 1994 genocide. The Congo has the dubious privilege of being the theatre of the first war on the African continent. Burundi has suffered a ten year long civil war that cost the lives of several hundreds of thousands of people. How was this situation reached? What is going on today? What solutions should be looked at to solve the tensions and conflicts in the Great Lakes Region of Africa? These are the questions answered by French-speaking Belgian and African researchers in this book, which follows on from a conference organised by the international conflicts and crisis research centre at the 'Université Catholique de Louvain' in Belgium, the political science research centre of the 'Facultés Saint-Louis de Bruxelles' university and the 'Pôle Bernheim d'études sur la paix et la citoyenneté de l'Université libre de Bruxelles'. The first part of the book sets out the main characteristics of the political build-up to this unprecedented crisis in each of the three above-mentioned countries. The second section looks at the main challenges that have to be taken up and the third part of the book considers the role of players like international NGOs, universities and the European Union, the latter being considered in the light of its conflict-solving action (Tanguy de Wilde d'Estmael), cooperation in the service of peace in the region (Félix Nkundabagenzi) and the special case of the Congo, described as a laboratory for European military and policy action (Eric Remacle and Marta Martinelli).
(PBo)
*** FRANCESCO GARIBALDO, PHILIPPE MORVANNOU, JOCHEN THOLEN (Eds.): Is China a Risk or an Opportunity for Europe? An Assessment of the Automobile, Steel, and Shipbuilding Sectors. Peter Lang (see above). "Labour, Education & Society" series, No. 11. 2008, 123 pp, €27-70. ISBN 978-3-631-57474-4.
Now an unavoidable player on the international economic stage, China is frightening in some respects. Rightly or wrongly? Taking the examples of the car, metallurgy and ship-building industries (where China has become the world reference), the authors of this book provide a joint understanding of the China's economic future and its impact on Europe. The book leaves no room for doubt in this connection, arguing that a new international division of labour is happening under our very eyes and is playing a role in weakening European industries into the long-term. High hopes are therefore not on the horizon - Europe is facing unfair competition, the Lisbon Strategy has not yet proved itself and the authors deplore lack of coherence in the EU's industrial policy. They go on to give themselves a twin aim - describing and assessing the importance of elements allowing Chinese industry to be globally competitive; and considering how to make Chinese metal industries compatible with international sustainable development and social liability roles. A very comprehensive book, putting forward interesting options.
(TBa)
*** PHILIPPE MOREAU DEFARGES: La Géopolitique pour les nuls. Editions First (2 ter rue des Chantiers, F-75005 Paris. Tel. (33-1) 45496000 - Fax: 45496001 - Email: firstinfo@efirst.com - Internet: http://www.efirst.com ). 2008, 112 pp, €10. ISBN 2-7246-0980-8.
Philippe Moreau Defarges has turned the user-friendly style of writing into a fine art in this 'geopolitics for dummies' book in French. Regular readers of the European Library series will be well aware that this prolific author cultivates clarity. He explains his motives at the start of the book, thanking authors and lecturers who helped him discover the clarity imperative and understand that explaining complicated manners in a simple and understandable manner is one of the most noble and fascinating arts that exists for egg-heads. The author is a plenipotentiary who lectures at the Sciences-Po section of Paris University and is a leading light in research at the 'Institut Français des Relations Internationales'. This makes him a highly unusual example of an alumnus of the prestigious French 'Grandes Ecoles' universities, who always uses his skills and knowledge to explain issues for the general public. From this viewpoint, his new book is a model of the 'for dummies' series, with its bright, lively, layout and boxes explaining issues colloquially and pithily, encouraged the author to excel. The book is divided into six sections, including the annexes. The first examines the foundations of geopolitics, describing when it arose on the scene and what it covers, etc. The second part look at the heart of geopolitics, namely war and peace, before reviewing the big regions of the world: Europe (a peace laboratory), the Middle East (the planet's tinderbox), Asia (an arena of colossi), Africa (a continent adrift) and 'once upon a time in America', examining issues emerging from each of them. The fourth part of the book considers Planet Earth as a single entity with the author studying globalisation. The book ends with a traditional ten-point section and includes a glossary and a summary of demographic, geographical and economic data for each country. Brilliant!
(MT)
*** Politica Exterior. Estudios de Politica Exterior SA (49 Núñez de Balboa, E-28001 Madrid. Tel: (34-91) 4312628 - Fax: 5777252 - email: suscripciones@politicaexterior.com - Internet: http: //http://www.politicaexterior.com ). 2008, No. 123, 191 pp, €12-50. Annual subscription: €106.
This Spanish review always contains a rich exchange of views and this issue includes an article on NATO and European defence. Other issues covered include how to deal with China, space security fifty years after the launch of Sputnik and relations with various countries in Latin America.
(PBo)