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CIAO DATE: 06/05
IAI Library Notes
By Maritza Cricorian
European Union: Identity and international role
Birthmarks of Europe: the origins of the European Community reconsidered / Edelgard Mahant. - Ashgate : Aldershot, c2004. - ISBN 0-7546-1487-5
This book examines the ideas and values which were the foundation of the European construction, in other words the Treaty of Rome (1957), and which still seem to influence the shaping of its institutions. In particular, it looks at the mix of idealism and interests that inspired the political elites of France and Germany. After an historical introduction to the birth of the EEC (Chap. 2), the following chapters analyse: the positions of the French and Germans elites during the negotiations 1955-57 and their influence on the respective national governments (Chapters 3, 4, and 5); the ideas and geopolitical factors that influenced the contents of the Treaty and their persistence in some key areas of Europe's subsequent development (social policy, agriculture, relations with developing countries). The final chapter draws conclusions, underlining the need for new and innovative ideas and norms to feed Europe's growth.
EU trade strategies : between regionalism and globalism / edited by Vinod K. Aggarwal and Edward A. Fogarty. - Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, c2004. - xiv, 249 p. - ISBN 1-4039-3258-1 (pbk)
A study focused on the recent trend toward inter-regionalism, taken to mean the economic integration of two regions, and in particular, the inter-regionalism of the EU. It evaluates whether the conditions exist for the institutionalisation of stable and rule-bound international trade relations in an attempt to assess whether inter-regionalism may one day flank or even replace multilateralism in the governance of the international political economy. Each author - and there are six in addition to the main editor Aggarwal - concentrates on one case of bilateral relations between the EU and one of its regional counterparts: South America (Merco-sur), Eastern Asia (ASEM), the southern shores of the Mediterranean (EMP), Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP), Eastern Europe, North America. The aim is twofold: to explain Europe's motivations with regard to international trade policy in general and inter-regionalism in particular and to verify whether the experience of trade agreements with the EU has driven the counterparts to join together economically and politically to adopt forms of regional governance similar to those of the Union. Analysis and comparison of the data gathered leads the editors to the conclusion that there is no single logic, no single set of variables underlying international trade policies and relations and, in the end, inter-regionalism. But they also feel that inter-regionalism, which arose as a secondary approach to trade relations when multilateralism was successful, is going to last and could grow even more if the multilateral trade system were to fail.
L'Europa potenza civile / Mario Telò. - Bari : Laterza, c2004. - XIV, 261 p. - (Libri del tempo ; 358). - ISBN 88420-7258-3
The result of a multi-annual research study on the international role of the European Union, this book looks into Europe's construction of an international identity in relation to three constitutive factors: the force of expansion and the attractiveness of regional integration (Chap. 2); the distinctive features and competitiveness of the European social and economic model (Chap. 3) and the combination of sovereignty and supranationalism of its politico-institutional structure (Chapters 4-5). After an initial chapter dedicated to analysis of the conceptual tools, the essay concentrates in a long-term perspective on the more autonomous profile that the EU has taken with respect to the United States. Various alternative scenarios are worked out.
The first chapter basically starts out from two research hypotheses: one, that despite historical and economic ties, the gap between the two shores of the Atlantic has become irreversible; and another, more attractive, one that common interests and initiatives make possible not only reconciliation, but even a new - more balanced - partnership, that would allow Europe to grow as a civil power. The second chapter surveys comparative studies on regionalism in an attempt to analyse certain questions such as the compatability of neoregionalism and democracy, the co-existence of regionalism and globalisation, similarities and differences between regional integration processes, the conceptualisation of regional and global governance. The third chapter is dedicated to the European social model, in the conviction - shared with Jürgen Habermas - that the fate of Europe's socio-economic model is linked to the challenge of its democratic deficit. The fourth discusses the historical dimension of Europe's political growth, with special attention to the interaction between the economic and political aspects of the EU's external relations. The fifth and final chapter delves into the nature and the implications of this sui generis political entity known as the European Union.
European Union foreign and security policy : towards a neighbourhood strategy / edited by Roland Dannreuther. - London : Routledge, 2004. - xiv, 226 p. - ISBN 0-415-32298-7 (pbk)
The assumption behind this multi-author work is that the end of the Cold War and the enlargement of the European Union constitute a geopolitical challenge for the Union and an opportunity for defining its common foreign and security policy more clearly. Examined by the authors are the EU's policies towards it neighbours (excluding Iraq and the Gulf) in order to test this unique body's ability to become a coherent actor with a strategic vision. The regions examined - after a chapter summarising the policies adopted to date - are Central-Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Balkans, northern Europe, Russia and the former Soviet states of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, the Caucasus and Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, particularly the peace process. A separate chapter is devoted to energy security in the Union, considered a key sector in the EU's economy and an opportunity for developing private investments in the eastern and southern peripheral regions. There is also a chapter on transatlantic prospects and one containing conclusions. The approach is empirical, policy-relevant and to some degree inductive, "bottom-up", rather than theoretical. Starting from analysis of the results of Europe's policies towards its neighbours, the authors try to assess whether the procedural and institutional mechanisms have favoured or hindered them and, above all, whether the various dimensions of its foreign policy constitute a coherent whole.
Paneuropa : geografia e storia di un'idea / a cura di Gianfranco Lizza ; Sergio Balanzino [et al.]. - Torino : UTET, c2004. - x, 230 p. - ISBN 88-7750-894-9 Inspired by Paneuropa, written by historian Richard N. de Coudenhove-Kalergi in 1927, this book is intended as a contribution to the debate on a number of topical community issues. These range from the European identity, dialogue between Europe and the United States, cases of hostility towards the Union on the part of some Central-Eastern European countries and EU-NATO relations, to European defence policy. The book seeks out old traces of the idea of Europe, but does not fail to touch on new issues of internal security and the fight against crime and terrorism, integration of the transport system, the end of monopolies and the liberalisation of the European electricity market.
The politics of European security / edited by Jess Pligaard. - Copenhagen : Danish Institute for International Studies, c2004. - 198 p. - ISBN 87-7605-015-7
This anthology - as the editor defines it - deals with questions that are central to the development of the European security and defence policy (ESDP) and the challenges that threaten it. Addressed mainly at people working in the field, the book's nine chapters attempt to shed light on the problems currently faced and the efforts being made to solve them. After an introductory first chapter, the following ones deal respectively with: the different analytical approaches to the study of ESDP (Chap. 2); the efforts to develop a European strategic security and its peculiar character, as well as the efforts to promote the EU as a strategic actor (Chap. 3); the debate in the Convention and the proposals for changing the Treaties (Chap. 4); cooperation in the field of intelligence gathering and analysis and the difficulties and limits involved (Chap. 5); the challenges met in giving ESDP a military dimension and the measures adopted to optimise military spending (Chap. 6); Poland's position and the political and military consequences for ESDP and for the entire Union of the eastern enlargement (Chap. 7); the point of view of and the various approaches to the United States (Chap. 8); the difficult balance between internal security and ESDP and the European response to the terrorist threat (Chap. 9). The tenth and final chapter takes up the preceding subjects in a theoretical light in order to trace the dynamics of ESDP. The authors are convinced that only through cooperation can Europe reach the operational effectiveness that can make it an incisive international actor in the security field.
Who are the Europeans now? / Edward Moxon-Browne. - Aldershot : Ashgate, c2004. - viii, 202 p. - ISBN 1-84014-429-7
Identity and frontiers: this is the subject of this collective work that brings together the contributions of 11 authors of different nationalities and with different specialisations. The first chapter offers an anthropological reading of the role of European borders. The second uses a sociological approach to study the national/European identity of European citizens, affirming the need not to be limited to the Treaty's provisions in encouraging a sense of community, but to try in every way to instill a feeling of "Europeanness". The third chapter concentrates on the Danish case and its opt-out of the Maastricht Treaty as concerns European citizenship, which is explain-ed by the Danes' deep attachment to their country and their aversion to a kind of integration policy. The case study concludes with the assertion that the EU needs a demos (not an ethnos) and that while it cannot impose a collective identity, it has to involve the citizens in a debate on the future of Europe. The fourth chapter also insists on the question of legitimacy, invoking a greater equilibrium in the distribution of power and greater participation by the citizens through referenda or similar instruments. The Union's regional policy, including its human and relational aspects, is the subject of the fifth chapter, which gives particular attention to the Irish experience and the formulation of a new European strategy in the sector, rationalising the available instruments and measures. The sixth chapter is original in that it deals with the problems related to the countries' "pecuniary" identity and the process of European monetary integration. It concludes that the single currency cannot construct a European identity but it can become its symbol. The seventh chapter tackles the sensitive issue of Muslims in Europe, auguring a dialogue with its Western counterpart to bring them closer together. The focus of the eighth and ninth chapters is Ireland and, precisely, nationalism and unionism in Northern Ireland in the nineties and police cooperation. A few considerations by the editor on European identity in relation to the EU's eastern enlargement close the book.
China
China's role in Asia and the world economy : fostering stability and growth / edited by Jan Joost Teunissen. - The Hague : FONDAD, 2003. - xvi, 98 p. - ISBN 90-74208-22-3
Another contribution by Fondad, in the framework of the Global Financial Governance Initiative (GFGI), which stems from a conference organised in Seoul on 27-28 March 2003. Starting out from the consideration that China is now a key country on the world economic scene, the book's four sections deal with the problems facing Chinese policymakers today. The first section looks at the Chinese agenda for economic reforms, in particular, reform of the state sector, implementation of a social security system, reform of the financial system, rural reform, the role of government in the economy, macro-economic management and stability and the deflationary challenge. The second section examines China's role in regional monetary and financial cooperation and global finance, analysing the current structure of the Chiang Mai Initiative, the questions linked to setting up a mechanism for monitoring and control, the obstacles to financial cooperation and integration in Eastern Asia, sketching out possible scenarios and discussing some structural and institutional factors that determine China's current and future role in the global flow of capital. The third section of the book, on the functioning of the global financial system, investigates the costs and benefits of the financial integration of the Asian economies, Asia's contribution to regional political cooperation, the continent's objectives, the characteristics and implications for Asia of the "neo-financial dualism hypothesis", the role of the financial sector and the need to increment its functionality; and the role of major banks and "non-performing loans". The fourth and last section tries to outline the principal future challenges for China in the financial sector - among them, non-performing loans, the creation of an independent monetary policy, a stable currency exchange and a bond market, and the liberalisation of interest rates and capital accounts - and reflects on China's role in the region and in the global economy.
Integrating China into the global economy/ Nicholas R. Lardy. - Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, c2002. - xii, 244 p. - ISBN 0-8157-5136-2
In only a few years' time, China is destined to become one of the largest traders in the world and the main producer of manufactured goods. In this still topical essay, the author examines the motivations underlying China's opening up to the rules of international trade and its programme for economic reforms, its entry into the World Trade Organisation and permanent protectionisms, the economic impact of this access on the world, the other Asian countries and the United States, and finally the role that China will likely play in the new round of trade talks after Doha. In conclusion, the author underlines the need for the advanced industrialised countries to keep their markets open so as not to jeopardise the opening of the Chinese market to new and more imports.