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French strategic priorities have been marked since the Second World War by the need to maintain continuity in national identity while adapting to changing world conditions. This process has been successful because the French Government was able to achieve a « minimal » political consensus and prevent fondamental contradiction in goals from developing. It is now extending its priorities so as to achieve a new harmonization between national defence and the development of a European defence, while maintaining a role in the structuration of world security. However, the cost of defence is gradually demonstrating that a further adaptation is required, through the consolidation of European defence. Yet, while accepting some supranational transfers of competence, this adaptation is now raising the question of the capacity for the « minimal » consensus to be maintained while balancing national sovereignty against efficiency.

This article analyzes the increase in the number of asylum claims submitted either in-country or at the border of Western democracies and the resulting 2015–2016 “migrant crisis.” Although the proliferation of outbreaks of violence near Europe has played a central role, three long-standing geographical trends must also be taken into account when considering this issue: the shrinking of geographical distance, the detention policy crisis and geographically asymmetrical rights. These trends mean that the reaction of closing borders can be interpreted as an attempt to keep refugees at a distance once again, against a background of globalization. The analysis finishes with a geohistorical approach to recent literature on the “migrant crisis,” focusing on the role of populist parties, the fear of terrorism, and the dysfunctionality of solidarity mechanisms.

Keywords: asile, crise, Europe

After an evaluation of the activities of the European Court of Human Rights, the author studies the effects of the accession of the Central and Eastern European countries which already contributes to a considerable increase in the number of cases. This leads him to refer to the positive aspects of Protocol 11, whose objective is to avoid a clogging of the procedures. But considering it insufficient, he proposes other solutions, in particular a complete reconstruction of the System by the adoption of a new Protocol. The second part of the text deals with the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union. After analysing its expediency, content and potential scope, the author recalls the difficulties encountered by the authors and warns us of the foreseeable dangers in light of the ones encountered by the Courts of Luxembourg and Strasbourg. He concludes on the accession that was postponed at the Nice Summit.

Since the 1970's, this coalition of pacifist movements has played a positive role in maintaining a pluralist progressive movement. It has stimulated discussion and action on such issues as disarmament, reconversion of military industries, the arms trade and conscientious objectors. At the same time, it has sought to link these issues to struggles for national liberation, North-South solidarity and the defense of democratic freedoms.The CNAPD has been active since 1977 in promoting campaigns on such issues as "Disarmament for Survival" and "Disarmament for Development". These issues have also been at the heart of their action over the last five years against the installation of new missiles in Western Europe.

AbstractThis article outlines the possibility of a "European option" as an alternative to strict continentalism leading to further integration with the U.S. It is argued that the benefits of such an European option are not immediately visible and by using narrow economic criteria with a short-run horizon, this option is not attractive. However by enlarging the evaluation criteria to include political and cultural considerations and by extending the time-horizon beyond the short into the long-run, the European connection appears very attractive indeed. Primarily the complementarity of Canada and Europe at the level of factors of production can be exploited and factor movements made to flow both ways. This coupled with the cultural and political dimensions make the European option both a feasible and desirable alternative to consider before throwing in the towel to continentalism.

Few issues have created more tensions and uneasiness in international affairs than the idea of a nuclear armed Germany. The militarist and expansionist tradition of Germany has induced in its neighbors an underlying fear of a possible revival of her past hehavior. The apparition of nuclear weapons in the international System after 1945, and the subsequent accession of Great Britain and France to the status of nuclear powers, has added a further dimension to the German problem. During the Cold War, the issue of German nuclear weapons was rarely discussed favorably, particularly in Europe. The case was different in the United States where Germany's role in the nuclear strategy of NATO was approached with a detachment seldom found in British or Trench political literature. The demise of the East-West confrontation and the unification of Germany have encouraged many American scholars, often associated with the neorealist school, to push for the end of Germany's singularisation in the nuclear field. For them, a nuclear armed Germany, if not inevitable, could well become a source of military stability in the region. Although most of them base their arguments on the merits of selective nuclear proliferation, they adopt similarly an olympian perspective towards Germany which is markedly different from what is found in European literature. Their position of course does not reflect Washington's official view on the proliferation of nuclear weapons. This paper tries to circumscribe their line of thought and argues that it closely parallels, to a certain degree, the broader American attitude towards Germany seen as an equal and reliable ally in the evolving European security context.