Les Allemagnes et la division Est-Ouest : Une ambivalence politique

This article is about the role of international bureaucracies in the determination of the general policies of international organizations. In this paper it is argued that in general international organizations' Secretariats generally do wield, considerable power over the definition of the institutions' strategies, i.e. those activities, priorities and projects which taken together make up the program of the institution for a given period. Indeed, the international bureaucrats exercise tremendous control over the content of the program. This is so because international organizations have special functions in the world System. They must see to it that, certain states of affairs prevail in the world over the long run. It is, therefore, no surprise that the programs' content be more or less shielded from conjonctural fluctuations. The article then proceeds to test these hypotheses on a concrete case: the analysis of the processus through which Unesco's program goes before becoming the official policy of the organization

L’Allemagne devant le nouvel ordre international

Depuis l’unification inattendue de 1989-1990, l’Allemagne nouvelle a peine à s’ajuster et à répondre à la fois aux attentes et aux réserves exprimées par ses principaux partenaires internationaux. La principale puissance européenne devra désormais assumer un rôle plus éminent en Europe et dans le monde, mais lequel? Le nouvel ordre international implique pour ce pays qu’il quitte la discrétion à laquelle il nous avait habitué durant la guerre froide sans inquiéter pour autant ses voisins européens, y compris la Russie qui maintiendra des troupes en Allemagne jusqu’en août 1994. Dans cet article, nous analysons le débat allemand sur l’orientation de la politique étrangère en transition. Nous montrons que les changements d’attitudes et de perspective sont importants et qu’ils se sont manifestés pour la première fois durant la guerre du Golfe persique.Since the unexpected unification of 1989-1990, the new Germany has had difficulties adjusting and meeting both the expectations and the reservations of its major international partners. Germany, the main European power, will henceforth have to take on a much more important role in Europe and throughout the world. The question is: What will this new role entail? The new world order will force Germany to abandon the discretion we had become used to during the Cold War, without creating any undue concern among its European neighbours, including Russia who will maintain troops on German soil until August 1994. We have in this paper analyzed the German debate regarding the orientation of the changing foreign policy, noting that new attitudes and perspectives are significant and that they were first encountered during the Gulf War

Entre les superpuissances : introduction à la problématique géostratégique du Canada

Au moyen de cartes présentant une projection polaire, cette brève analyse expose les hauts et les bas de l'importance géostratégique relative du territoire canadien depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Que les grandes puissances s'affrontent principalement avec des bombardiers, des missiles balistiques, des missiles de croisière et/ou des sous-marins nucléaires, les intérêts canadiens sont directement concernés et par conséquent la position de défense du pays a dû s'y ajuster. Durant cette période, le facteur « technologie » a prédominé sur d'autres facteurs tels que « politique interne » ou « perception de la menace externe ».With the help of maps showing a polar projection, a brief analysis is given here of the ups and downs of the relative geostrategic importance of the Canadian territory since the Second World War. Whether the superpowers have confronted each other mainly with bombers, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and/or nuclear submarines, Canadian interests are directly concerned and the defence stand of the country has had to be adjusted accordingly. Over this period of time, the factor "technology" has dominated over the other factors like "internal policy" or the "perception of external threat"

L'Allemagne unie entre l'Ouest déclinant et l'Est désintégré

German unification is both a cause and an effect of the restructuring of alliances now taking place with the end of the long postwar era. An enlarged Germany finds itself in a new geostrategic position at the centre of a henceforth unified continent and its vocation is pan-European. The underpinnings of its external policy and its security have been modified. In this context, the German government has opted not only for keeping a renewed NATO but also for deepening and widening Europe's economic and political institutions. It does not want to disappoint either the Americans or its European Community partners and those wishing to join the EC. Nor does it want to disappoint the East Europeans, including those-of the former Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the traditional policy of seeking non-isolation, at times not without ambivalence, is destined to change and could become more assertive. Two items testify to this change in direction : the "debate over normalization', which has brought down taboos in Germany, and the leadership role that Bonn has openly taken, for the first time since 1945, on the issue of recognition without further delay of Slovenia and Croatia by the European Community as of January 15 1992