Bibliotheken Online

Peace beyond borders

How the EU brought peace to Europe and how exporting it would end conflicts around the world

Vijay Mehta. Jose Ramos-Horta

Buch

englisch

Mehta, Vijay (Verfasser/-in) DNB
Ramos-Horta, Jose (Forew.) DNB

New Internationalist

Oxford

2016

219 p.

978-1-78026-376-2

Includes bibliographical references and index

europe
peace policy
history
20th century
peacebuilding

Contents:
Preface and acknowledgements Foreword by Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Laureate Introduction - An idea whose time has come 1 Uniting for Peace 10 steps which made war unthinkable in Europe 2 Team Europe (European Union) A supranational body working together for peaceful co-existence 3 The United States of Africa (African Union) For a better future for the continent 4 Trouble with Giants (Asian Union) Emerging nations shaping a new world order 5 The Quiet Continent (South American Union) Regional integration for creating social, political and cultural alliances for rapid development of economic growth. An example of resistance to external interference 6 Lands of the Free (North American Union) Uprooting violence, militarism and plutocracy for changing to a more humane and benign world 7 Beyond Oceans (Australia and Oceania Union) Establishing islands of peace 8 What the Ottomans Knew Dealing with conflict between Islam and the West and exploring hindrances and solutions to EU-style unions in the Islamic world. Unity, solidarity, secularism and multiculturalism can overcome violence, hatred and extremism for promoting humanity, empathy, peace and nonviolence 9 Exorbitant Privilege Tackling gross mismanagement of world finances, inequality and lack of opportunity - hindrances to forming EU-style unions worldwide. New Leaders of the World - BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). The new economic powerhouses challenging the present system and shaping a new world order 10 The Anglo-Paradox (Preserving the UK Union and EU Membership) Federalism and devolution of powers is the way forward for the UK (Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland) Postscript: Better Together - 10 Steps to Global Peace: Making It Happen Bringing fundamental changes for peace and prosperity

Summary

How did the world's most warlike continent become its most peaceful one? Europe is usually in the news for the wrong reasons. Economic crises, terrorist attacks, votes to leave, and allegations that some countries are too powerful, all give the impression of a continent in a mess. Yet Europe has never been a safer or more prosperous place. Since 1945, the wars between neighbours that were once an annual event in Western Europe no longer seem possible. Mehta dismisses the usual explanation for this; that the United States acts as a sort of military referee, through NATO, preventing Spain from invading Gibraltar or the Walloons and Flemish fighting a civil war over Belgium. Rather, Mehta argues that the process of political integration through the European Union has eliminated the reasons for conflict, and that this same model can be exported to Africa, The Americas, Asia, Australasia, and the Middle East and North Africa region, providing a promising glimpse of world peace.
Review: "This book, by an astute non-European observer, uses this unprecedented, extraordinary experience as the centrepiece of a carefully crafted theory on the construction and maintenance of peace and prosperity on a global scale. It is my hope that many non-Europeans will use it as a source of inspiration as they attempt to carve out long-lasting peace in other parts of the world. It is my hope furthermore that the overarching message of Mehta's book will be heard by Europeans and that they too will use it as an opportunity to reflect on the long-list of unprecedented achievements of this Union they have built, from trust and peace among nations, economic truce and open borders to permanent dialogue and multiculturalism." - Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 1996, Former President of Timor-Liste. "Vijay Mehta's book Peace Beyond Borders is an important contribution to the urgent and ongoing debate on Europe's future. The book gives hope by acknowledging the Union's difficulties but suggesting new ways in which Europe can overcome these by adopting a new, demilitarized, strategic approach to expansion, internal migration and the refugee crisis. This book is a must-read for all those citizens wishing to find ways to end wars, demilitarize both Europe and our world, and build peace - a necessary base for prosperity for all the human family." - Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 1976, Founder, Peace People, Belfast, Northern Ireland. "As stated in your own remarks, 'there is a risk that Europe's great peace-promoting project will start to unravel.' Robert Schumann, one of the founders of the European Union, said that 'we must invent Europe'. In the last decades, because of a lack of leadership and an extreme neoliberal influence, the progress of a truly European Union has been strongly reduced. There is no political and economic union - only monetary - and no common foreign policy, including the role of NATO in security. This book can contribute to substantially decrease this risk and pave the way for a more equitable and peaceful world." - Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Former Director General UNESCO; President, Foundation, Culture of Peace, Madrid, Spain. "Mehta offers strong arguments that regional coherence and unification based on a minimum degree of solidarity are substantial factors to secure stability and, ultimately, peace. His appraisal of achievements through European integration cannot be dismissed lightly and should be a warning to those cultivating anti-European sentiments of national isolationism. The book deserves recognition for a fascinating study of Europe." - Henning Melber, Director emeritus of The Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Sweden. "Too often the case in Britain for our membership of the EU is made in the narrow economic terms of what's good for business and good for jobs. This excellent book is refreshingly different. It is about how the EU should be a force for peace and good in our troubled world." - Lord Roger Liddle, Special Advisor and Consultant on European Matters and author of The Europe Dilemma, UK. "I think the argument of your book is similar to a position I have argued for some years: namely, that the EU's greatest achievement is not economic co-operation and the regional machinery, but the establishment of a culture of peace within Europe, although not beyond Europe." - Richard Anderson Falk, Former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University, US. "I do wish that your book will be highly successful as I fully agree with the direction of your thoughts as laid out." - Prof. Dr Ju rgen Elvert, Jean-Monnet Chair of European History and AIAS-COFUND Fellow of Aarhus University, Denmark. "Vijay Mehta's wise, historically informed, presently encompassing, future-oriented, practical Peace Beyond Borders should be read by educators, leaders, the public and media commentators everywhere who favour human evolution toward a killing-free world. This pioneering book speaks for itself and will need no words from me or anyone when readers find it." - Glenn D Paige, Chair, Governing Council, Center for Global Nonkilling, Honolulu, Hawaii. "Vijay Mehta's book is a timely, important and stimulating volume. That the regional approach to international peace and prosperity has much to commend it has also, for a long time, been my view. Europe has indeed made great strides, and has been seen as an example for other continents and regions to follow, as skilfully depicted in the book. At the same time, there are great strains, as Vijay has mentioned." - Peter Van Den Dungen, Author and Emeritus Professor, School of Social and International Studies, University of Bradford, UK. "This book is an important contribution to how we should think and talk about the European Union today. The accurate claim that the Union brings peace to Europe has in recent years too often become a cliche, trivialized by repetition. Vijay Mehta powerfully reminds us that peace can never be taken for granted and demonstrates to us, logically and eloquently, the Union's continuing role in assuring peace for Europe. Anyone unsure how to vote in the forthcoming European referendum should read this book." - Brendan Donnelly, Director, Federal Trust and former MEP.;"At this time, when the European Union faces unprecedented economic and political challenges from the Eurozone, refugee crises and populist nationalism, Vijay Mehta's reminder and re-affirmation of the EU's foundation ideals and unequalled record as peace-builder between historic enemies is hugely relevant for current geopolitics. Rejecting conventional notions of an uneasy post-1945 peace based on Cold War nuclear balance, he instead identifies 10 positive 'Peace Promoting Factors' which stabilized the continent after the catastrophic 1914-45 era - with EU ideals and institutions as focus and builder of the new peaceful order. Mehta cogently argues that the EU can be an inspiration and model for regional peace-building structures around the world, very positively contributing to world peace. Rich in original angles on European affairs, Peace Beyond Borders is a ground-breaking analysis of the EU and its global role, deserving the widest readership among policymakers and the general public. With Britain's EU referendum looming and continent-wide debate on Europe's future raging, Mehta's refreshingly innovative and positive appraisal is very welcome and timely." - Rev. Brian Cooper, Co-ordinator and Uniting for Peace Churches and Interfaith Secretary, Edinburgh, UK.

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