New global challenges

In order to maintain peace in the world and stability for the planet, France argues for international law and multilateral cooperation.

Peacekeeping
Response to global challenges

The UN is the only universal organisation with general jurisdiction and the Security Council must fully exercise its unique responsibilities for peace and security. For crises such as that in Iraq, it is now established that unilateral use of force is doomed to failure.

France [1] favours the enlargement of the Security Council to new permanent members-Germany, Japan, India, Brazil-and a fair representation for Africa.

 In Africa, so long the site of bloody conflicts, France supports the peace-keeping action of the UN: in the Great Lakes region, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Horn of Africa, and now Darfur. It also plays its own part in capacity building for Africa (RECAMP programme).

 In the Middle East, France, the friend of Israel and the Palestinians, advocates the recognition of two states living in peace side by side.

 In Lebanon, it supports national reconciliation and provides a large contingent to the UN force.

 In Afghanistan, France is part of the NATO forces, under UN supervision.

Although France is one of the largest contributors to NATO, it wishes to see the European Union play a more powerful role in conflict resolution. This country favours progress towards a Europe of defence and renovation of the Atlantic Alliance, which are complementary goals.

In the face of the threat of terrorism across borders, international cooperation must be strengthened. After the 11 September 2001 attacks, it was under the French Presidency of the UN Security Council that Resolution 1373 was adopted, requiring States to take practical measures against those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts. France led the movement in the UN General Assembly to adopt a convention against the funding of terrorism and a convention against nuclear terrorism was adopted in 2005. It has taken similar action in the European Union and the G8.

In the face of the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, for example in Iran, France also favours the strengthening of international cooperation (International Atomic Energy Agency, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons), and indeed possible sanctions.

At the UN, EU and OSCE, France has pressed for the adoption of instruments to control arms trafficking, particularly the small arms and light weapons that cause such human misery in Africa. In the case of drugs trafficking and organised crime, France also acts to strengthen multilateral cooperation.

Last but not least, on the topic of climate change and water pollution, global public goods, France militates for a world environment organisation and the universal adoption of the Kyoto Protocol cutting CO2 emissions.

For the major pandemics such as AIDS, France has taken the initiative of finding innovative forms of funding.

Source: France 2008, La Documentation Française

[1] ^{France is one the five permanent members of the Council (another ten countries serve two-year terms). As such, the country can veto certain decisions concerning peace and international security.}