Bulletin n. 3/2010
January 2011
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Xuereb Peter
    Values, Intercultural Dialogue and Making It Pay to Be Good: More than a Research Agenda, but also a Policy Approach for the European Union to Promote in the World
    in Pace Diritti Umani , anno 7, n. 2, maggio-agosto ,  2010 ,  69-94
    ABSTRACT: This paper sets out that which the author sees as the key challenges for us all at this point in history, and his view of a vital contribution that academics can make, in the context of projects such as the Padua Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence Project, to the evolution of the Union and its policies in a global context. It argues that we begin to answer the question: «How should we in Europe evolve?» by first asking «What kind of a world do we want?». For this purpose, two premises are posited. First, there can be no real useful answer without real intercultural dialogue – not least about values and virtues in specific contexts – that feeds consensus at global level. Secondly, that Europe has a degree of «experience» with intergovernmental and then deeper co-operation between sovereign states and peoples that can surely be brought to the forum of dialogue about the future institutional and decision-making shape of our world order. It argues above all that we all together need to make a genuine commitment to the clarification of the philosophy of the «common good» in global, and then European, terms, seeing this as the key question to be addressed by us all at this point in our shared history. It argues that focusing on the common good means focusing on values to be observed at global, European and national level, with institutions and policies inspired by those values and directed towards the perceived common good. Taking the example of the «short-termism» that fuelled the global financial crisis and that of the ever increasing number of persons fleeing from persecution, oppression and poverty, the paper encourages us all to take stock of how our Union works and can work in the world. The really big question posed is: What does Europe stand for? And then, another: What should Europe stand for? To answer these questions, we can draw on the wisdom acquired through the experience of the «European Project» over the last sixty years, while seeking to draw in equal measure on that of other cultures and experiences. In academic terms, theories across all relevant disciplines that have been proven right or wrong, or partially or conditionally right (and therefore partially or conditionally wrong), need to be reassessed and drawn together to produce new insights and paradigms that can be more easily embraced and shared across all borders. Yet, it is argued, none of this intellectual effort makes sense, nor can it lead to the desired objectives, without the parallel global dialogue as to What is good (or bad), and What is right (or wrong)? This may itself point to the reshaping of international institutions, or the devising of new ones, that are capable of this dialogue and of making decisions on this basis. It may lead to new international law. The paper argues that academics have, as they have had throughout the ages, a continuing vital role in the construction of a new world order, European order and national orders based more firmly on the ideal of the global common good. Principle, conscience and enlightened self-interest can all be the reasons for a policy approach that also asks: How can we make it pay to be good?
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