The EU and the Peacebuilding Commission

What can the world hope for from the Peacebuilding Commission, given the record of the United Nations in this area? And what contribution can the European Union (EU) offer, given its own record in engaging with countries emerging from violent conflict? The essential task in peacebuilding is to restore a war-torn society's capacity to manage its own conflicts. The priority for the Peacebuilding Commission should be to develop international support and legitimacy for this task, avoiding muddying it with the foreign policy objectives of donor states. The EU has much to offer and much to gain from establishing this growing area of global governance on sound principles and internationally accepted lines. The paper argues that the EU can and should play a leading part in developing the Peacebuilding Commission. It reflects on principles that could be applied and practices that should be avoided.     

My Experiences of the Region during the Last Century - with Particular Reference to Sino-British Relations

The author describes his early diplomatic experiences as a Chinese language student during the Cultural Revolution, followed by his first posting to Peking. Hong Kong was then a major issue between China and Britain. He examines the tensions and difficulties of those years and the first signs of better days ahead. He details his involvement in the upgrading of diplomatic relations, and the first ministerial exchanges. His final overseas posting was to Hong Kong, first to head the Trade Commission, and then, importantly, to manage the final four years of detailed negotiations with China over the handover.     

The Drafting of ICJ Decisions: Some Personal Recollections and Observations

This paper is a study of the process of drafting of decisionsof the International Court of Justice from the standpoint ofthe Registry, showing on the basis of the author's personalrecollections how the Registry contributes to the process. Thequestion of the legal propriety of such contribution is examined,on the basis of a distinction between the task of decision,and that of expression of the decision. Some remarks are alsooffered on drafting techniques.     

A Decade of Europe? Some Reflections on an Aspiration

This article suggests that Europe faces four primary challenges today. The first relates to democracy, as all the anxieties about the ‘democratic deficit’ in Community are writ even larger in the Union. A second issue is that of liberal legalism. Lawyers have long presumed that the ‘new’ Europe has been integrated ‘through’ law. This article suggests that the role of law is of far less importance to the future of the Union. A third problem, perhaps the most pressing, relates to enlargement. Is the ‘new’ Europe fully prepared for the inevitable shock that will follow the much‐vaunted ‘big bang’? Finally, there is the overarching problem of a continuing lack of ethos, or public philosophy, underpinning public life in the ‘new’ Europe.     

In response to Paul Stange's “deconstruction as disempowerment: New orientalisms of Java”

Abstract

The gist of Stange's argument is that Javanists, including myself, have done a disservice to both scholarship and our Javanese informants by failing to pay as much attention as we should to the mystical stream in Javanese culture. Stange criticizes us for reading into statements about mysticism such issues as language ideology, status, and power, rather than taking those statements at their face value. According to Stange, it is not necessary to be a practicing mystic to appreciate Javanese mysticism and its pervasive role in Javanese culture—it suffices to acknowledge the importance of these topics and record mystical Javanese commentary with due respect for its sophistication and authority. Yet were we truly open to what others can reveal to us, Stange goes on to suggest, we would entertain the possibility that mysticism might teach us something important about ourselves and offers us an escape from postmodernist nihilism.