Africa

The African human rights system : its law, practice and institutions / Vincent O. Orlu Nmehielle. - The Hague : Martinus Nijhoff, c2001. - xxx, 443 p. - (International studies in human rights ; 69). - ISBN 90-411-1731-8
The result of a PhD thesis, this study presents the African system of human rights, with particular attention to and an assessment of the effectiveness of the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The book is divided into seven chapters. The first introduces the background questions, mainly in a historical perspective, from the precolonial period to the end of colonialism, along with references to other non-African regional systems. The second chapter describes the normative tools provided for by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, analysing them in broad categories of rights (civil, political, economic, etc.) and referring to the applicative procedures of the African Commission. Chapter three looks into the institutional structure of the African system for human rights protection; four the African Commission’s procedures for state reporting and communication; and five the debate on reform of the African system of human rights. This is followed by an examination of the institution of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, the provisions of the Protocol establishing it, and relations with the African Commission. The seventh and final chapter is dedicated to the impact of NGOs on the African system of human rights and the future of human rights in Africa. The appendix contains a useful collection of the main reference documents.

African interventionist states / edited by Oliver Furley and Roy May. - Aldershot : Ashgate, c2001. - xx, 286 p. - ISBN 1-84014-989-2
This interesting essay is centred on the assertive role of some African states towards other African states, with particular reference to the use of military force. Studied are the motivations and kinds of intervention, ranging from border defence to retaliation, from support for peacekeeping/enforcing operations to the search for new economic resources. Even participation in UN missions often conceals motivations that differ from the official ones: a chance to exercise the army in the field, to keep troops away from the temptation of a military coup, to gain prestige, to sustain one of the factions in the fight, to assert regional hegemony, etc. In general, it is shown how this new trend, particularly strong after the most recent failures of the United Nations in Africa, marks the fall of the international principle of non-interference and is part of the evolution of African continental law. In fact, the link between the individual and the state seems to have weakened while new forms of territoriality - kinds of “military realms” - are emerging.
The essay is composed of thirteen chapters, divided into three parts: the first describes the legal framework and the military capacity of the African states; the second centres on “interventionist” states (Tanzania, Angola, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sudan, South Africa and Rwanda); the third is dedicated to three “victim” states (Congo, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau). The last chapter examines the emerging role of mercenaries and private security companies.

African yearbook of international law = Annuaire africain de droit international : Volume 8, 2000 / published under the auspices of the African Association of International Law = publié sous les auspices de l’Association Africaine de Droit International / Edited by = Dirigé par Abdulqawi A. Yusuf. - The Hague : Kluwer Law International, c2001. - ISBN 90-411-1659-1
Part of a consolidated series, this book has three sections: the subject of the first and largest is “Refugees and displaced persons in Africa”; the second is made up of more general articles and the third of notes and commentaries. The work is completed by a documentary appendix. Almost half of the first section is one single article. Presented at the joint OAU-UNHCR summit in Conakry in March 2000, it reviews thirty years of application of the OAU Refugee Convention, showing how the problem of “uprooted people” has worsened and become more complicated. Worthy of mention is an original contribution, the fifth in the section, which illustrates the condition of those who seek asylum in Europe, especially the United Kingdom.
The general articles deal with the following subjects, in this order: the universal competence of the states in contemporary international law, the provisions relative to international conventions in the constitutions of Francophone African states, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African contribution to the establishment of an international criminal court, the fight against AIDS through actions based on the proper implementation of the 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
The notes and comments include a chronicle of the activity of the International Court of Justice in 1999 and a brief survey of the positions and initiatives taken by the United Nations with respect to internal and international conflicts in Africa in the October 1999-December 2000 period.

Ending autocracy, enabling democracy : the tribulations of southern Africa, 1960-2000 / Robert I. Rotberg. - Cambridge, Mass. : World Peace Foundation ; Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, c2002. - x, 546 p. - ISBN 0-8157-7583-0
A collection of articles and editorials on southern Africa published by the author between 1960 and 2000, mainly in US, but also in African and British newspapers and periodicals. The articles are all presented in their original version, except for some factual updates were required, and are preceded by an introduction providing the context. They do not cover all aspects of African questions, in particular, they do not deal with social issues, but do offer an explanation and a first hand comment on the most salient events; the author’s greatest preoccupation being how to find a way to establish justice, peace and well-being in the sub-region. The countries taken into consideration are: Angola, Botswana, Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe; to a lesser degree Lesotho, and nothing on Swaziland.
The texts, which substantially offer an historical reconstruction of the evolution of southern Africa from independence through periods of failure to a new era of success, are divided into three sections: the first section (Chapters 2-7) describes the decolonialisation struggle and autonomy; the second (Chapters 8-14) goes over the battle against apartheid and is thus dedicated mainly to South Africa - particular attention is given to US policy towards the region in this period; the third section (Chapter 15) offers the conclusions on the future of the continent and recalls the steps that still have to be taken to achieve good governance, economic growth and a reduction of conflicts.

The politics of economic regionalism : Sierra Leone in ECOWAS / David J. Francis. - Aldershot : Ashgate, c2001. - viii, 257 p. - (The international political economy of new regionalism). - ISBN 0-7546-1519-7
The aim of this book is to analyse the nature and the dynamics of the policy of economic regionalism in Western Africa and, in particular, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), through analysis of one of the countries participating in the regional project: Sierra Leone. Thus, it tries to assess, on the one hand, regionalism in Sierra Leone and, on the other hand, the impact of regionalism/ECOWAS on the member states. Eight chapters illustrate the evolution: the first provides the conceptual and historical framework for the development of regionalism/ECOWAS in Africa; the second illustrates the expansion of economic regionalism in the security field (birth of ECOMOG); the third chapter relates the new African regionalism to globalisation; the fourth chapter undertakes a political-economic analysis of the economic policy of Sierra Leone within ECOWAS; the fifth speculates on the influence of regionalism on the civil war in Sierra Leone; the sixth chapter demonstrates the ties between civil war, the political economy of diamonds and transborder regionalisation; the seventh focuses on the political implications of regionalism for Sierra Leone, the eighth and final chapter on economic implications.

A strategic vision for Africa : the Kampala movement / Francis M. Deng, I. William Zartman. - Washington D.C. : Brookings Institutuion Press, c2002. - xviii, 198 p. - ISBN 0-8157-0265-5
This book attests to a grassroots movement in Africa that has grown to promote a new strategic vision of the continent, represented by the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA).
After an initial introductory chapter, the book goes on to review (Chap. 2) the African situation in four macro-regions: West Africa, the Horn of Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa. The third chapter compares experiences in other parts of the world and draws lessons for Africa. The fourth chapter retraces the development of the Kampala Movement. The fifth analyses the normative bases of the CSSDCA and the movement’s recent revival. Finally, the conclusions draw a balance between past experience and prospects for the future.

International trade

Free trade under fire/ Douglas A. Irwin. - Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2002. - xiv, 257 p. - ISBN 0-691-08843-8
An impassioned defence of free trade one might call this book, written to respond to the major questions concerning free trade, and analysing them from the economic, political and legal point of view, with particular reference to the United States. The six chapters can ideally be broken down into three sub-sections dealing with the benefits of international trade, the structure of US trade policy, the role and functions of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The first chapter presents the context and the motivations for the growth of world trade and current public opinion on globalisation. The second chapter examines the economic logic underlying free trade, namely increased productivity of existing resources. Chapter three centres on one of the arguments against free trade, that is, that it does not preserve jobs in industries that compete against imports, considering the issue of government support for workers displaced by imports. The fourth chapter provides the legal framework for antidumping regulations and investigates the possibility of temporarily safeguarding national industries against imports to allow them to adjust to competition. The fifth chapter provides a historical view of the United States’ transition to free trade in the postwar years and analyses the multilateral system and preferential agreements such as NAFTA. The sixth and last chapter goes over recent controversies over the WTO, examining its rules, its dispute resolution mechanism and precedents and finally analysing the arguments for including labour standards in future negotiations.

Governing global trade : international institutions in conflict and convergence / Theodore H. Cohn. - Aldershot : Ashgate, c2002. - xii, 329 p. - (The G8 and global governance series). - ISBN 0-7546-1593-6
International trade, its governance and in particular the role of the three main multilateral institutions, particularly as concerns decision-making, are the focus of this book. The author’s thesis is that the structure of the global trade regime is like a pyramid and that this pyramid is not static. At the top of the pyramid are three developed country-led institutions: the Group of Seven/Eight (G7/8), the Quadrilateral Group (Quad) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as well as the United States and the European Union. At the base of the pyramid, instead, are the developing-country oriented institutions, which the author feels are less influential on decision-making and to which he dedicates less attention - as he does to private groups - although acknowledging that they play a significant role.
Apart from the first introductory chapter, the following chapters give a chronological account of the role and the changes in these institutions from the postwar years to date.
The author wonders about the nature, the effects and the evolution of greater influence of the institutions examined on global trade and analyses the challenges posed to the pyramid by the developing countries and civil society groups. He concludes that, while on the one side G7/8, Quad and OECD carry out an essential function in the governance of global trade, on the other, they must open up to the pressure being exerted by the developing countries.

International trade and political conflict : commerce, coalitions, and mobility / Michael J. Hiscox. - Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2002. - xiv, 209 p. - ISBN 0-691-0855-1 (pbk)
This essay is focused on inter-industry factor mobility, that is, "the ease with which owners of factors of production (land, labour and capital) can move between industries in the domestic economy", mobility being the variable of social divisions into classes (e.g. manpower vs capitalists) or into industries (e.g. the steel industry vs the aeronautical industry). In the first case, in fact, there is high inter-industrial mobility, in the second, low. The study was carried out by means of six case studies (US, UK, France, Sweden, Canada and Australia) analysed throughout the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, starting in 1820, with particular attention to the effects of these cleavages on the behaviour of political parties and “peak associations”, as well as the voting in Congress on trade regulations between 1824 and 1994.
The book is divided into three parts plus conclusions. The first part, in addition to the introduction, includes two chapters: one on measuring industrial mobility and salary and income variations as revealed in the six case studies considered; the second on measuring the cleavages in trade policy. The second part of the book provides the historical nucleus, with six chapters dedicated to the case studies examined chronologically and one chapter, the tenth, providing a trans-national comparision. The third part is a study centred on quantitative tests of the models for cleavage and coalition in the US Congress. The last chapter, the thirteenth, describes the implications of the results of the research for the study of trade and economic policy in general and suggests possible directions for future research.

Linking trade, environment, and social cohesion : NAFTA experiences, global challenges / edited by John J. Kirton, Viriginia W. Maclaren. - Aldershot : Ashgate, c2002. - xxvi, 379 p. - (Global environmental governance). - ISBN 0-7546-1934-6
Most of this book is based on a conference held in Toronto in November 2000 in the framework of the Canadian project “EnviReform”. Two additional chapters are provided by John Kirton. The focus is on the balance and the synergy between trade liberalisation, environmental improvement and social cohesion or, more specifically, the promotion of the last two by means of the first, with particular reference to the experience of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Five are the objectives: assessing the interaction between globalisation and regional experience within NAFTA; identifying the successes of NAFTA in integrating trade, the environment and social issues, seen in a global context; evaluating whether NAFTA institutions have promoted civilian participation while promoting environmental and social values; assessing NAFTA’s capacity to evaluate its impact on the environment and society; determining possible means to improve the NAFTA model aimed at achieving sustainable development and dealing with the questions posed by trade liberalisation. These five objectives roughly correspond to the five sections, plus the conclusions, into which the book is divided. Actually, no separate set of conclusions is provided; the final chapter synthesises some of the authors’ points of convergence and in particular the need for institutions that operate with a certain transparency and with the significant participation of civil society. The evaluation of the NAFTA experience is substantially positive.

Trade and human rights : the ethical dimension in the U.S.-China relations / Susan C. Morris. - Aldershot : Ashgate, c2002. - xiv, 203 p. - ISBN 0-7546-1837-4
This book analyses the link between economic interdependence and the moral responsibility of states by means of a case study of the United States and China in 1994, when the Clinton administration decided to uncouple China’s Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status from respect of human rights. Thus, it provides an analysis not only of the motivations that led to the decision, but also of US foreign policy, US-China relations, the relations between the global market and ethical principles, the state of human rights in the world, economic instruments to be used to improve the human condition and, finally, national sovereignty and international law in the human rights sphere. After having contemplated applying the three traditional paradigms of realism, liberalism and radicalism, as well as political-bureaucratic and psychological approaches, the methodology opted for is an alternative, “environmental” approach, which takes into consideration factors that are external to US-China relations, setting the US decision in a more complex framework of global interdependence. The subject is put forth in six chapters, the first of which is the introduction. The second reviews existing literature, while the third gives the historical background in two parts - the first on the evolution of US-China trade policy, the second on the relation between trade and human rights in US foreign policy. The fourth chapter analyses the explanatory hypotheses using a traditional approach. The fifth presents an alternative hypothesis. The sixth and last sets out the conclusions of the study and policy options for the future of US trade policy and for the advancement of human rights throughout the world.

Migration

The Europeanisation of refugee policies : between human rights and internal security / Sandra Lavenex. - Aldeshot : Ashgate, c2001. - x, 235 p. - ISBN 0-7546-1803-X
Based on a PhD thesis, this study carried out between 1995 and 1999 analyses the dynamics underlying the Europeanisation of refugee policies and sheds light on the normative and institutional circumstances under which this Europeanisation took place, in particular, the balance between national sovereignty and community competencies and between the protection of human rights and internal security.
The book is divided into four chapters: the first introduces the subject and the theoretical context (the selected approach combines constructivism and institutionalism); the second is an empirical study of refugee policies from after the Second World War up to the eighties, with particular emphasis on the international regime and the national policies of France and Germany, their underlying principles and successive developments; the third chapter is dedicated to the emergence of a European cooperation policy on asylum and immigration in the mid-eighties - the methods, contents, instruments and progress achieved; the fourth goes back to the cases of France and Germany to analyse the consequences of European cooperation in the fields of asylum and immigration on national policies, on the processes of reform of asylum laws, on their correspondence to the European acquis, and on their continuity or break with the national tradition - all of this highlighting the impact of national structures (federalism, republicanism) on the process of Europeanisation and the limits of the current system of cooperation in the field of asylum. The conclusions go over the main issues of the various chapters and the opportunities and challenges for a future joint European system of asylum.

Irregular migration : the dilemmas of transnational mobility / Bill Jordan, Franck Düvell. - Cheltenham, UK : Edward Elgar, c2002. - viii, 284 p. - ISBN 1-84376-027-4
The subjects deal with in this study are irregular migration, control of migration and the effects of migration. Carried out between 1996 and 2001, it intends to offer a theoretical context for analysis of the phenomena of transnational migration and the political aspects at stake in Europe. The book is made up of three parts. The first provides a general framework for analysis of irregular migration and the relative systems of control. In particular, it deals with economic aspects, the European context - political background, management systems and interaction with labour supply and welfare policies - and the functioning of the labour market in relation to unemployment, poverty and exclusion. The second part is dedicated to the case of Great Britain. Based mainly on a study of the Brazilian, Polish and Turkish communities carried out by means of interviews with migrants, it analyses motivations for migration (professional, economic, political), the consequences on the hosting society and the immigrants themselves, the strategies for survival and the response of the organisations that support them and that rarely deal with labour issues. The third part of the book analyses the institutions of the hosting countries, the systems for control, the response of certain public services (health, education, etc.) and the developments of foreign workers’ employment under work permits. Finally, the tenth and last chapter is focused on global justice, arguing that better and more lasting solutions can be achieved only by establishing a balance between freedom of movement and economic and social incentives to remain in one’s country of origin.

Germany and the Middle East : interests and options / Volker Perthes (ed.). - Berlin: Henrich Böll Stiftung ; Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2002. - 223 p. - ISBN 3-927760-42-0
This is the English version, rewritten and updated, of the German original which came out in 2001, produced by a work group composed of German politicians, diplomats and academics set up by the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
The book tries to outline German interests in the Middle East and the possible options for German foreign policy in the area. It has no claim to “correctness” and aims above all at revitalising the domestic debate and that with Germany’s international partners on Germany’s role in the region and the contribution that it can provide to dialogue between the parties.
Each of the eleven chapters, of which four are written by the volume’s editor, is dedicated to a different aspect of the subject: guidelines for Germany’s Middle East policy; the German and European contributions to the peace process; complementarity between European and US policies; German-Israeli relations; the Barcelona process and the Mediterranean Partnership; relations with the Gulf states and the Arab world in general; north Africa and the Middle East in German security policy; German arms exports; German economic interests and economic cooperation with the Arab world; human rights and democracy as objectives of German foreign policy in the MENA countries. The appendix contains the text of the Declaration of the European Council regarding the Middle East Process in Berlin, 24-25 March 1999 (Berlin Declaration).

Ireland, neutrality and European security integration / Roisin Doherty. - Aldershot : Ashgate, c2002. - xii, 283 p. - ISBN 0-7546-1812-9
Based on a PhD study, this book is meant to fill a gap: the scarcity of recent essays on Ireland’s neutrality. In fact, the main reason for the book was to study the involvement of neutral countries in the new world order and the effects of this involvement on their neutrality. More specifically, it focuses on the compatibility from the Irish point of view between neutrality and participation in European security structures - above all CFSP - in the nineties. This leads to an evaluation of the country’s level of commitment to developing a European defence as of 1992 and the dynamics that have led the neutral countries to ever deeper integration. The methodological approach relies on various theories - neofunctionalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, neo-liberalism - and a multiplicity of sources, including over 60 interviews conducted between February and June 1998 with officials in Dublin and Brussels.
The work is divided into three sections: the first gives an overview of the significance of neutrality, a study of Ireland’s neutrality and the Irish approach to “integrated” security from 1939 (1989 ???) to 1992, the theoretial context, and the dynamics of CFSP; the second section deals with the development of European security, from the Treaty of Maastricht to the Treaty of Amsterdam, with particular reference to external factors, such as the war on Kosovo; the third section follows the effects in Ireland of the efforts described in the previous chapters and, in particular, the debate on participation in PfP and involvement in the WEU. It concludes that Ireland will have to work out a response to greater European integration in the security field.

La polis europea : l’Unione Europea oltre l’euro / a cura di Sonia Lucarelli. - Trieste : Asterios Editore, c2003. - 379 p. - ISBN 88-86969-78-3
The result of a post-graduate course at the University of Florence (September 2000-January 2001) with subsequent grafts, this book offers a multidisciplinary approach to the “peculiar but not unique” nature of the European Union, analysing it from various angles. Divided into three parts, the first contains six essays on the basic nature of the EU. The first advances some hypotheses on the form the Union could take at the end of the current evolution (federal state, confederation, consortium, condominium). This is followed by a reconsideration of the concept of “civilian power”, enhanced with references to the nature of the Union as an international actor. The next two chapters deal with the current paradigms of the integration process and with the European political identity. The Charter of Fundamental Rights and its impact on the subject of a European constitution follows, while the sixth and last chapter of the first part reviews the historical studies of the process of European integration.
The second section of the book is devoted to the EU’s institutional architecture and some of its policies. The four chapters deal respectively with institutional functions in the framework of the integration process, the evolution of the division of competencies between the EU and member states from a legal point of view, the three economic integrations currently underway (currency, single market, technologies) and the objectives set by the Lisbon summit (March 2000) and, finally, the development of European policy in the telecommunications sector.
-The third section looks at the Union’s external relations and, particularly, foreign and defence policy, examining the EU’s transition from a civilian power to an international actor endowed with a military capability. An historical reconstruction of the evolution of the EU’s foreign policy from CED to CFSP and management of the war in Yugoslavia as a case study of the effectiveness of European foreign policy are also dealt with in this last section.