Volume 25, numéro 4, 1994

EN :

Without denying the importance of economies, the author underlines the necessity of analyzing the significance of Asia-Pacific as a political entity. The member States of the economics-oriented international organizations use the economic image of the region to gain political leverage at a regional or global level. This leads to an interrogation on the reality of « Asia-Pacific as a coherent political entity. The international relations in this area of the world also show an original pattern, insofar as the leadership of the « great powers » is questioned by « middle-sized » powers. The dialogue on collective security began recently and is a long way from achieving peace and stability in the region. It nevertheless shows the willingness of the Asia-Pacific States to overcome the difficulties of the post Cold War new world order

EN :

After three pro-embargo resolutions from the OAS and five from the Security Council, an American military intervention authorized by the United Nations has enabled the democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return to office. This article seeks to trace the escalation from embargo to military intervention with reference to the transnationalization of social, economic, and political relations in which Haïti, the United States, and the Dominican Republic are directly involved. Large-scale population movements - deemed to be "threats to peace", and the importance of a "humanitarian" form of discourse and, even more so, a form of discourse about the "suffering" of the "unfortunate people of Haïti who are bearing... the full weight of sanctions" (Boutros-Ghali) are components of such transnationalized relations. These relations have developed in a setting that the boat people issue has determined in several ways, a setting where one can make out, on the one hand, a joining of forces between, among other people, the Haïtian priest-president and the U.S. congressional black caucus and, on the other hand, a shaky coalition comprising notably the president of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican archbishop, the Conference of Haitian bishops, the Vatican, and certain sectors of the American administration. Pena Gomez - a black man believed to be of Haïtian origin - ran as candidate for the Dominican presidential election and his candidacy was favoured for quite some time in the opinion polls. He ultimately failed, however, to provide an alternative in terms of political culture. The election on May 16, 1994 in the Dominican Republic was marked by incidents of fraud. The "international community", preoccupied as it was with re-establishing peace in Haiti, reacted feebly.

EN :

A brief historical survey of the u.s. export controls on strategic goods indicate the importance of the Cold War in achieving these objectives as well as the importance of polycentrism across and within the institutions and agencies concerned. The proliferation of controls has brought about a large area of freedom for the implementation of foreign policy by the executive branch of the Government. After the end of the Cold War, one can surmise that the emphasis mil be felt at three different levels : a greater discretion by national actors in the implementation of export controls policy, a greater harmonization of multilateral efforts designed at promoting the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and greater cleavages between those who want to relax export controls for economic reasons and those who want to strengthen them for security reasons. On the whole, the multiplicity of legislative actions and organizations concerned can only reinforce the freedom of action of the executive branch of the Government.

EN :

The central assumption of this paper is that international regime theory constitutes an important heuristic tool which contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of European security as it emerges from the Cold War era. Comprising a set of principles, norms, decision-making procedures and a framework of permanent organizations, the new European architecture forms an authentic security regime based on a process of regional cooperation. The Yugoslav conflict, which constitutes the first test of this regime, illustrates the fact that, even if these institutions failed to end the conflict, they did influence the behaviour of the main European actors. Not only did they favor interstate cooperation but they also reined-in the inclination of states to opt for self-centered policies based on short-term interests. From this perspective, regional security organizations have helped significantly to limit the scope and potential spill-over risks of the conflict in addition to decreasing the tension between the major European actors.

EN :

Undoubtedly, one of the most critical crisis in the post-Cold War ex a, the Yugoslav conflict, due to its nationalist character, nurture the fear that a full scale Balkan War would result. In the very heart of Europe, it threated to spread, and then to slip away from the Occidental power's control. How to explain it, but specially how to prevent this diffusion ? The Domino Theory applied to the Yugoslav conflict proposes a model to answer these core questions. Based on a positive model of spatial diffusion, the analysis which follows investigates in depth the relationships between the « 1989 socialist break-up », the internal situation of Yugoslavia, and the spreading of the conflict. By so doing this analysis sheds light on the circomstantial causes and on the chaine of events which explain the origin of the conflict, as well as its expension. Starting with the postulate that the actions of state, within a given spatial and time framework, have a definite chance of influencing the actions of its neighboring states, we attribute an important mesure of responsibility to the collapse of USSR in the Yugoslav Conflict's release.

EN :

On September 13, 1993, the Jewish state signed a peace agreement with the PLO dealing with the Gaza Strip and Jericho. This historic agreement quickly raised hopes throughout the world because it brought an end to relations of hostility between two peoples coveting the same land. On the ground, however, due to the intransigence of the israeli government, the situation has rapidly deteriorated between Muslim fundamentalists and Jewish settlers. The Islamic fundamentalist movement is attempting to hinder implementation of the Oslo agreement by acts of violence. A year after the signing of the Oslo agreement, it is worthwhile to begin with an overview of Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist groups and the many challenges of the "Gaza-Jericho" agreement. Such a study, in opposition to a simplistic view, does not allow us to perceive the Islamic fundamentalist movement as being a single homogeneous entity with a ready-made ideology and well-defined courses of action. The largest Islamic movement, Hamas, is willing, for example, to the part in the future election in contrast to the discourse it has held up to the present time.

Hamas' opposition to the peace plan ultimately comes down to a struggle for control over the institutions of the future "Palestinian State". In the final analysis, the split between Fatah and Hamas, and between democrats and Islamic fundamentalists in Arab countries, reflects two populist variants arising from an authoritarian system.