Editorial Note

Essays
The Challenges of the European Neighbourhood Policy

Beyond Enlargement. The European Neighbourhood Policy and its Tools
Rosa Balfour and Alessandro Rotta
The ENP is not as innovative as it first appeared. It introduces important innovations in the policy process through country-by-country differentiation and the joint negotiation of policy objectives with the neighbouring countries, and in the instruments, with its emphasis on cross-border cooperation and the streamlining of EU assistance. However, the political breadth of the ENP suffered en route from the Commission to the Council: the incentives were reduced thus weakening the “carrots” on offer and the EU’s leverage to promote political and economic reform in the neighbourhood. This raises a number of doubts on the EU’s ability to create an effective foreign policy without offering accession.

Does the ENP Respond to the EU's Post-Enlargement Challenges?
Nathalie Tocci
Finding new ways to engage the southern and eastern neighbourhoods has become one of the major challenges facing the Union today. In principle the nascent ENP represents an ambitious attempt to meet this challenge, by finding alternative ways of inclusion to separate the concept of the “EU” from that of “Europe” at large. Despite the initiative’s potential value, there appear to be several shortcomings in the way in which the policy is being formulated in practice. More systematic thinking about the incentives, costs, benefits and the potential dangers of political discretion would be desirable at this early stage and would allow the ENP to maximise its potential as one of the next major elements in the EU’s foreign policy agenda.

The Security Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy
Dov Lynch
The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is an attempt by the EU to develop a genuine foreign policy for the external action of the Union.Throughout the 1990s, enlargement played the major role of EU foreign policy. With enlargement in 2004, it is vital that the Union develop a new approach to states on its borders, with which it has significant interests, without offering the prospect of accession (although this is not ruled out in the future). This article examines the security aspects of the European Neighbourhood Policy to the east at two levels: states included in the first wave of Action Plans, such as Moldova, and states in the neighbourhood that are not (yet) part of ENP, such as Russia, Belarus, and the South Caucasus. The security challenges posed for the EU are different in each case. Finally, the article considers ideas for strengthening ENP at the security level.

A Riddle Inside an Enigma: Unwrapping the EU-Russia Strategic Partnership
Fabrizio Tassinari
EU-Russia relations are presently undergoing a worryingly low point, and “strategic” is a somewhat misleading way to define the current level of the partnership. The article assesses the eventful developments that characterised the past year and derives from them indications for the future of the EU-Russia bilateral relations. The analysis begins by reappraising the relations during 2004; it then assesses the soundness of the roadmap agreed by the parties, and the institutional means available to implement it. Lastly, it discusses reciprocity, common sense, and good neighbourliness as three major themes on which to structure a less elusive EU-Russia strategic partnership.

Europe Forum

The EU Foreign Minister: Beyond Double-Hatting
Giovanni Grevi, Daniela Manca and Gerrard Quille
The new position of EU Foreign Minister defined in the Constitutional Treaty is meant to enhance leadership and coherence in EU foreign policymaking as the European Union takes on more responsibility as a global actor. The foreign minister’s job description is complex and ambitious, including tasks of initiative, coordination, representation, implementation and crisis management. The double-hatted Minister is at the same time Vice-President of the Commission and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Council. This article looks at the genesis and evolution of the foreign minister’s mandate during the Convention and the Intergovernmental Conference and highlights some of the questions that need addressing, including how to provide the minister with adequate resources and ensure that he or she can perform a constructive role in the interplay with other European institutions, national governments and international partners.

A Three-Phase Plan for the European External Action Service
Andreas Maurer and Sarah Reichel
The European Union's Constitutional Treaty provides a new legal basis for settin up and developing a European External Action Service (EEAS) under the authority of the EU's future Minister for Foreign Affairs. Since late 2004, the EU institutions have begun to compete for political influence over the reorganisation of European foreign policy and the funds that will be distributed in this field. To prevent the nascent service from being torn apart by the power struggle in Brussels and to ensure that the “single European voice” in EU external affairs has a real chance of emerging, this article puts forward a coherent “three-phase plan” for the construction of the service, supported by all EU institutions and member states.

Opinions

The Report of the UN High-Level Panel and the Use of Force
Natalino Ronzitti
Reform of the United Nations has been debated by the international community for several years now. The most popular issue is enlargement of the Security Council, however, other topics are equally vital, such as the use of force and the maintenance of international peace and security. The Report of the High Level Panel appointed by the UN Secretary General to examine prospects for UN reform is a valuable attempt to indicate coherent and feasible solutions. In commenting the Report, the article focuses on problems related to the use of force by states, peacekeeping and peace-enforcement. It critically reviews the solutions set out by the Panel, including the question of anticipatory self-defence and the use of force to meet latent threats from rogue states, terrorists and the proliferation of WMD.

Material Forces and the Force of Ideas: Interview with Robert Gilpin
Simone Raudino and Eunice Rendon
Professor Gilpin’s books on International Political Economy (IPE) have represented landmark studies for a whole generation of International Relations scholars. The idea that material forces and power-driven behaviour underpin and frame international politics is ever present in Gilpin’s theories, which are firmly embedded in a positivist epistemology. In this interview, Simone Raudino and Eunice Rendon discuss with Professor Gilpin whether contemporary events - such as the war on Iraq or the signing of the European Constitution - can be read through more reflectivist approaches to reality by lending importance to the role of psychology, intersubjective understandings and shared ideas in the international arena.

Old Challenges for New Leaderships. The Palestinian Elections in Perspective
Margret Johannsen
The local, presidential, legislative and internal party elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are changing the internal balance of power of the Palestinian political system. They are producing a leadership on whose democratic legitimacy rests their ability to become credible negotiating partners for Israel. This has given rise to hope that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process can be reanimated. However, the popular mandate to act against a renewal of the armed opposition will only translate into progress on the peace front if there is a corresponding resolve and capability on the Israeli side to deliver.

Putting an End to the West’s Double Standard in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Pascal Boniface
Responding to Mark Heller's rejoinder "The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and the Clash within Civilisations" (no. 3, 2004), Pascal Boniface argues that the Israeli position is no longer sustainable from a moral point of view. While Palestinians have their share of the responsibility for the current dire situation, he feels that the main responsibility lies on the Israeli side and urges Europe to stop using a double standard to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Book Reviews and Notes

Changing Political Elites in the Arab World
Massimiliano Trentin

IAI Library Notes
Maritza Cricorian