CHRIS PATTEN

Globalisation, energy, international crime, Weapons of Mass Destruction, nuclear proliferation, small arms proliferation,international drugs trafficking, climate change, water shortage, migration, and epidemic disease, are in the list of challenges faced by our world. This book analyses what we know in each of these areas. Globalizacion, energia, crimen internacional, Armas de Destruccion Masiva, proliferacion nuclear, proliferacion de las armas de mano, trafico internacional de drogas, cambio climatico, sequia y falta de agua, migraciones y epidemias estan todas en la lista de los desafios a los que se enfrenta nuestro mundo. Esta obra analiza los datos que tenemos sobre cada una de estas areas.

The diaries of the last British Governor of Hong Kong, published on the 25th anniversary of the handoverIn June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor, to try to prepare it not (as other British colonies over the decades) for independence, but for handing back in 1997 to the Chinese, from whom most of its territory had been leased 99 years previously. Over the next five years he kept this diary, which describes in detail how Hong Kong was run as a British colony and what happened as the handover approached. The book gives unprecedented insights into negotiating with the Chinese, about how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were (belatedly) strengthened and how Patten sought to ensure that a strong degree of self-government would continue after 1997.

Fue una tarde fría y lluviosa de junio cuando Chris Patten, último gobernador británico de Hong Kong, recibió plegada la Union Jack y dijo adiós a la última joya del imperio. Como presagio del futuro inmediato, el clima se encargo de realzar la incertidumbre que rodeaba al retorno de la isla a manos chinas. Meses mas tarde, el mismo Patten plasmaria por escrito su experiencia durante la transicion y sus valiosas reflexiones acerca del complejo futuro de la antigua colonia.

The diaries of the last British Governor of Hong Kong published on the 25th anniversary of the handoverIn June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor to try to prepare it not as other British colonies over the decades for independence but for handing back in 1997 to the Chinese from whom most of its territory had been leased 99 years previously Over the next five years he kept this diary which describes in detail how Hong Kong was run as a British colony and what happened as the handover approached The book gives unprecedented insights into negotiating with the Chinese about how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were belatedly strengthened and how Patten sought to ensure that a strong degree of self government would continue after 1997 Unexpectedly his opponents included not only the Chinese themselves but some British businessmen and civil service mandarins upset by Patten s efforts for whom political freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong seemed less important than keeping on the right side of Beijing The book concludes with an account of what has happened in Hong Kong since the handover a powerful assessment of recent events and Patten s reflections on how to deal with China then and now

From 1999 to 2004 Chris Patten was a member of the European Commission with responsibility for its External Relations. The first half of this book deals with his views on Britain's relationship with the European Community. I am not an enthusiast for Brussels myself, but I found this a most eloquent critique of Euroscepticism. Some things come out very strongly: Lord Patten's admiration of post-war Germany and for Helmuth Kohl in particular, and his rightful contempt for the Germanophobia so widespread in Britain and so fanned by the popular press and television. He puts it down to the fact that the `British' victory over Germany is the last episode in British history of which Britons can be proud, so that they compulsively replay that reel over and over again. He is contemptuous of the Tory Party, which, having under Heath taken Britain into Europe, then became the home of what Patten considers illogical arguments about sovereignty (a concept he examines with masterful authority). He is equally scathing about the British illusion that there really is something like a Special Relationship with the United States. The USA actually wants Britain to have a closer relationship with the European Union, and makes no compromises with British interests whenever those diverge from those of the United States. And although Europe and the United States share many values and Europe owes much to the USA in politics and culture, this has, since the end of the First World War, always been counter-pointed with a strand of anti-Americanism in Europe. Patten examines the many ways in which Europe and America are very different, pointing, among other things, to the pervasive influence of religion in the US, to a nationalism which is more overt and assertive across the Atlantic than it is now in Western Europe, to a much more unrestrained capitalism, to national and individual attitudes to budget deficits, to gun-ownership and to capital punishment. On all these matters Patten much prefers the European way; and clearly the ascendancy of the gung-ho, unilateralist neo-cons - Patten has selected some choice quotations from Bush, Rumsfeld, and Bolton to this effect - has done nothing to make America more popular in Europe, - not to mention the USA opting out of Kyoto, insisting on immunity from the International Criminal Court, and flouting the Geneva Conventions at Guantanamo Bay. It is all such a far cry from the internationalist approach of Truman, Marsha