Columbia International Affairs Online

CIAO DATE: 2/08

Journal of International Relations and Development

Volume 7, Number 1, April 2004

Editorial

• Editorial Note

Article

• Do norms matter? The principle of solidarity and the EU's eastern enlargement

  Elena Jileva

  This article explores whether and how the norm of 'solidarity' has been demonstrated in the enlargement policy of the European Union (EU) towards the ten former communist countries from Central and Eastern Europe aspiring for EU membership. According to constructivist approaches, which dominate the literature on eastern enlargement, the EU's decision to enlarge was norm-driven and is therefore better understood within a constructivist rather than a rationalist framework. However, this article argues that, while the norm of solidarity has provided some of the initial impetus for the start of the EU's eastern enlargement process, it has had a more limited impact on defining the EU's enlargement policy as regards concrete policy issues. This article aims to contribute to the current debate between rationalist and constructivist theories in European integration by arguing that there is a difference in the degree of influence of normative factors on EU policies when considering long-term -- as opposed to -- short-term interests. It demonstrates there are limits to the role of norms in the EU's eastern enlargement policy when the focus of analysis shifts from the EU's decision to enlarge to the level of substantive policy issues, where EU actors' short-term interests prevail.

• Contribution of macro-regions to the construction of peace: a framework for analysis

  Rodrigo Tavares

  Regionalism, a long-standing and established phenomenon in international relations, has gone over the last two decades through a process of reformulation, visible in the keenness demonstrated by political decision makers in implementing and participating in macroregional constructions and in the academic interest in conceptualizing the phenomenon through a broader and less orthodox agenda. The objective of this article is to investigate the link between the nascent regional architecture of the world and peace building. To answer the question 'does regionalization contribute to peace?' we introduce a multidimensional and heterogenous framework based upon five interrelated levels of integration, defined in terms of 'regioness'. In the text we will highlight the agents of peace instruments and the characteristics of peace involved at each level of 'regionness'.

• Liberal empire

  Linda S Bishai

  This article traces the recent discussion of the United States (US) as a developing empire. Noting that both the pro and con sides of the argument assume that the US acts with benign intentions, it argues that the Liberal Empire has more coercive features than are generally acknowledged. The liberal virtues of toleration and pluralism are becoming imperial gestures that employ repressive tactics to achieve a consensus. The irony of this development is that the liberal empire must control and contain difference in order to preserve the forms of difference deemed acceptable. Difference may only be encountered amidst known conditions -- conditions of recognized universal truth. However, post 11 September, 2001, the American liberal model has been deeply challenged as not being universal. Contrary to the expected model of moderation and the struggle for acceptance, the American liberal response to terrorism has been a reversion to a singular understanding of identity and truth. Terrorism has been essentialized, its context reduced to the American experience, and any attempt to historicize it has been categorically denounced as irrational. The Liberal Empire, unlike historic empires, assumes the morality and truth of its mission. It thus manifests itself in intolerant and narrow-minded ways.

• Enlarging the internal market: the role of decentralization and institutionalization in the case of pharmaceuticals

  Heiko Prange

  Using pharmaceutical regulation as a case study, this article examines how the European Commission is attempting to keep candidate-countries' demands for derogations from the acquis communautaire to a minimum without deviating from the principle that future members have to accept all EU rules concerning the internal market. I argue that the dual strategy of institutionalizing and decentralizing the process of regulatory adaptation is leading to a 'smoother' enlargement process compared to the 'old' enlargement model of pure bilateral negotiations between the Commission and the candidate. By establishing this new mode of enlargement, in which an independent agency (in this case the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products ¾ the EMEA) is the core actor and the Pan-European Regulatory Forum provides the main arena of negotiation, the European Commission has shown flexibility with regard to the method by which it prepares candidates for implementing the acquis. A strategy of 'mutual understanding', 'learning' and 'network building' is likely to facilitate the more efficient adoption of EU regulations in a complex and highly standardized sector such as pharmaceuticals. Given that we expect future enlargements to be even more sophisticated, any solutions supporting efficiency and conflict resolution in the pre-accession phase are worth considering.

Book Review

• Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in East-Central Europe

  Corneliu Bjola

  Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 2001, 244pp.
  ISBN: 0719060575 Geoffrey Pridham and Attilaágh (eds)

• The Other War: Global Poverty and the Millennium Challenge Account

  Tanya Narozhna

  Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 2003, vii + 255pp.
  ISBN: 0-8157-1114-X
  Lael Brainard, Carol Graham, Nigel Purvis, Steven Radelet, Gayle Smith

• Thinking Enlarged: The Accession Countries and the Future of the European Union

  Tereza Slepicková

  Europa Union Verlag, Bonn, 2002, 162pp.
  ISBN: 3-7713-0610-8
  Martin Brusis and Janis A. Emmanouilidis (eds)

• Extending European Cooperation: the European Union and the 'New' International Trade Agenda

  Ana-Maria Boromisa

  Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 2002, 206pp.
  ISBN: 0 71907272 1.
  Alasdair R. Young