Ce livre sur l’èvolution du mouvement panmaghrebin analyse la naissance, la dynamique unitaire ainsi que les points de fragilitè de l’UMA (Union du Maghreb Arabe), dont l’objectif primaire est un ” dèveloppement solidaire “. Tout en retraçant le parcours de la construction de l’unitè maghrebine (1947-1989), l’auteur dèfinit le dispositif unitaire et ses instruments et tente d’èvaluer l’intègration èconomique rèalisèe par les cadres mondiaux (OMC), règionaux (Union Europèenne, Ligue Arabe) et bilatèraux. L’apprèciation de la dynamique maghrebine considère l’importance historique – y compris les difficultès de dègagement des rapports hègèmoniques coloniaux et postcoloniaux – de l’impact de la logique de l’Etat-nation, des tensions intermaghrebines, de l’importance des enjeux et de la gravitè des dèfis. Quoi que tous les partenaires restent convaincus que l’UMA constitue, à l’ère de la mondialisation, l’unique choix stratègique possible, les re-èquilibrages actuels mettent en avant des prioritès nationales en renvoyant à plus tard l’èdification de l’UMA, qui est actuellement en crise de confiance. Selon l’auteur, l’impatience des maghrèbins devant la rèalisation du processus unitaire devrait pour autant être redimensionnè: une pleine intègration règionale, ne pouvant pas être imposèe par l’extèrieur (par le dèveloppement des compètences de l’OMC ou par l’adhèsion aux partenariats règionaux), sera le rèsultat d’une composition graduelle des diffèrends idèaux et substantiels dans la règion.

Professeur-chercheur d’Histoire Contemporaine et de Relations Internationales ainsi que Vice-Prèsident de l’Association des Etudes Internationales de Tunisie, Monsieur Khalifa Charter se distingue en tant que Docteur Honoris Causa de l’Universitè de Montpellier (1996) et laurèat du Prix National des Lettres et Sciences Humaines en Tunisie (1997). Professeur visiteur à plusieurs centres culturels internationaux, tels que l’Institut des Etudes Arabes (Le Caire), le Centre de la Mèditerranèe contemporaine (Universitè de Nice) et l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Aixe-en-Provence), il est aussi membre du Comitè de rèdaction des revues “Maghreb Review” (Londres) et “La Mèditerranèe” (Nice). Parmi ses publications personnelles et collectives, on remarque respectivement “Dèpendance et mutations prècoloniales: la règence de Tunis de 1815 à 1857 “(Tunis, 1984) et “Security challenges in the mediterranean region” (Londres, 1996).

The book presents the results from a field research carried out among 371 officer of 9 different countries, who took part in military operations other than war (MOOTW). Findings show that seven officers out of ten feel, from personal experience, that the functions carried out in MOOTW require more and different preparation from what was given them. The shortcomings in professional preparation are essentially perceived in relation to three basic requirements: Understanding people, knowing the moods of one’s men, and knowing the rules for sorting out delicate political and military situations. Increased experience in missions of this type is accompanied by growing awareness of shortcomings in one’s basic preparation: it is an awareness gained in the field, faced with the concrete difficulties of interaction with ther other social actors and as data from experience is gradually acquired. Therefore, there is a concrete relation between the perceived insufficiencies of preparation and the difficulties that the interviewed officers say they came up against with the other social actors present on the scene. Concretely, the more the officer reports difficulty in relating to one social actor or another, the more he says he sees shortcomings in his basic training. Lastly, findings show that a military training closer to university standards, particularly centred on the behavioural sciences, seems to produce cadres who find themselves more at ease in handling the tasks proper to MOOTW. Data and trends of change in the military mind are reported as well.

Giuseppe Caforio, is retired general of the Italian Army: he is president of the research Commettee 01 “Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution” of the International Sociological Association, as well as member of several other international and Italian instituts of research. He has a Law degree, a Political Science degree, with a (published) thesis on military sociology, a Master in Communication Science. His main publications include: Sociologia e forze armate (1987); Ufficiali e società with P. Del Negro (1988); (ed.) The military profession in Europe (1994); The Sociology of the Military, (1998); (ed.) The European Cadet: Professional Socialisation in Military Academies, (1998): (ed.) The European Officier: A Comparative View on Selection and Education (2000).

The research on sociological aspects concerning the relations within contingents of Multinational Units the Case of the Italian-Slovenian-Hungarian Brigade, has been jointly conducted by the three strategic studies centres of those countries that participate to the MLF. It was almed at monitoring the operational experiences, and the social relations that occur between the officers of the three countries’ armies. The inquiry aim to verify on the field the common hypothesis commonly expressed, and in this way, analyse Service relations that dont’s necessarily rise in this particular operational context. After having briefly described the strusture of the three countries’ armies, the problems related to peacekeeping and the structural features of the MLF Brighade, the researche is developed through the empirical research. The instrument used is a survey, administered to a sample of Italian, Slovenian and Hungarian officers. The first are in service at the Jiulia Alpine Brigade. They are all featured by the common experience in the matter of international mandates and multinational missions. This survey is organized in four different topics areas: the official languagein service relations; the operational procedurs adopted; the organic level of integration of the forces, personal and working relations. These are all parameters that deeply influence relations within the components of the Unit.

Major General Gianfranco Gasperini Ph.D. attended the Military Academy of Modena, the Army Staff College and at the University of Torino. He commanded Infantry units in Toscana, Lombardia , Veneto, Friuli and taught at the Scuola di Applicazione, the Ramy Staff College and ISSMI. From 1990 to the 1993 he was appointed Deputy Director of the CeMiSS. He is author of numerous pubblications on social topics.

Mr. Beno Arnejc is Assistant to the Chief of the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) and State Undersecretary (CSS) MoD of the Republic of Slovenia. narrow field of interest: Nato and Slovenia:(psycological) strategy and analysis. Partecipation on more than 20 international seminars, conferences – field of interests of CSS. He is the author of several professional articles in the field of civil – military relations, grand strategy and social psycology.

Colonel András Ujj PhD is the deputy director-general of the Office for Strategic and Defence studies of the Hungarian Ministry of defence. His field of research are the civilian control over the militaries and the changes of European security system. Col. Ujj graduated at the Cranfield University on Defence Diplomacy Course and at the NATO Defence College Senior Course 97. He has been a partcipant or co-ordinator of a number of international researh programs.

The study identifies, prioritises and evaluates an important aspect of the political outlook of countries in South-Eastern Europe, i.e. their threat perceptions. Based on a common set of key questions, leading experts from the region assess the impact of internal and external threats and risks to state institutions, political stability, economic development, social progress and, broadly speaking, the overall security of each country or political entity. By so doing, a complex and sophisticated notion of security emerges, one that looks not only at military threats or border issues but rather at a combination of dynamic factors affecting societies in profound transition. On the basis of the data and assessments thus collected, as well as open discussions held in two meetings in Rome, the editors of the study develop a conceptual framework for understanding the evolution of security in the region. This framework focuses on the multiple features of transition phenomena, on perceptions of inclusion/exclusion from Western organizations and groupings, on relations with neighbours, and finally on the nature of cleavages and fractures particularly within polities. In a regional context – South East Europe – which has experienced the shockwaves of violent conflict over the last decade, perceptions by political elites and the broader public are crucial to defining the future of state institutions, democratic debate, and the fluid structure of society itself. The forms and degree of regional cooperation, as well as the role of the European and Euro-Atlantic institutions, will largely depend on how the local people perceive themselves in the wider European continent. The research project results from a close cooperation of the CeMiSS (Centro Militare di Studi Strategici) with CeSPI (Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale) and EastWest Institute.

The CeSPI (Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale), based in Rome, is an independent think tank specialized in international affairs, with a focus on European issues and the role of Italy, the Euro-American link, security affairs and “new security” issues, international economic cooperation and new development models, and Latin American studies.