The Courier

Hegel Goutier - Editor-in-chief

The much-vaunted ‘end of history’ paradigm following fall of the Berlin Wall lasted no more than a dozen or so years. The world's division into two blocs in 1917 was no more than a historical interlude.

The break-up of the Soviet bloc reawakened old animosities, rivalries and historical pacts, creating antagonisms between groups, tribes, peoples and nations. However, while much of the world seemed ever more unstable, one region managed to stay on course without any major jolts, despite the past and chequered histories of its members. The European Union (EU) has become a positive model thanks to its success in achieving extensive integration in an open and transparent way. Unlike the empires of the past – including the Soviet one – the EU has never sought to ‘invade’ sovereign States. It was left to the countries themselves to seek membership and make their own applications to join.

As part of this process, the EU implicitly guaranteed Member States that they would not be dictated to. This attitude is reflected by Czech-born writer Milan Kundera’s analysis in his book, ‘The Curtain’: “Small nations are different from large ones, not just because of the size of their populations. It goes deeper: they do not regard their existence as a certainty but invariably as a question, a wager, a risk. They adopt a defensive attitude towards history… There are just as many Polish people as Spaniards, but Spain is an older power whose existence has never come under threat, while history has taught the Poles the meaning of non-existence. Bereft of their State, they lived for over a century on death row. Indeed, ‘Poland is not yet lost’, reads the first line of their plaintive national anthem”.

A recent EU member, Poland today is now on its guard against a recurrence of losing statehood.

Europe's example should perhaps be seen against the background of another level of international cooperation, that of the United Nations. Although there have been certain changes for the better, the UN has not managed to replicate the EU's achievements. Here the Lomé-Cotonou process can hold up its EU-shaped model as an example. At every stage, developments have to be strictly approved by each Member State.

The report in the first issue of the new edition of ‘The Courier’ focuses on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In terms of geography, demographic make-up and resources, it is a large country. It recently avoided some of the major risks posed by History to small countries and its current resurgence is down due to the significant support of its key partner, the EU. But this backing can only make the right impact if it is perceived in the right way by the nation-state involved. If not treated carefully, nations, large and small alike, may quickly retreat into their “small or large provincial attitudes”, to borrow from Kundera once more, suppressing their future prospects.

The second major change that has occurred over the past three years since ‘The Courier’ was last published, is the dominance of the Internet as a source of information. The French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut has described the Internet as “an intricate mixture of truths and falsehoods”. This has heightened the need for accurate interpretations and trust in our information sources.

In aiming for a publication that is balanced in editorial content and above all independent and self-critical, the ACP Secretariat, who championed ‘The Courier’ project, and the European Commission, which agreed to finance it, are prioritising explanations over perception. The editorial team is ready to assume its duty to the ACP Secretariat and the Commission in this respect, and even more so, to its readers who can trust in it.