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France
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France position paper, courtesy of Meghan Shaughnessy:
May I first congratulate you Mr. President on your election, which shows the high esteem the international community, has for your country and yourself. France an old and true friend of Uruguay welcomes it. We would like the 53rd General Assembly to the see the strengthening of our organization under your presidency.
France is the largest European country, about four fifths the size of Texas. (Background Notes). France has a republic form of government and urges democracy all over the world. A socialist nation, France provides its people with basic necessities such as free health care. In our nation nuclear power produces over 75% of the electrical energy and we are much in favor of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. France does have nuclear weapons, but we are party to both the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
As a charter member of the United Nations and fourth leading contributor (www.diplomatie.fr/france/politq/culture.gb.html), France is proud of the work that the United Nations has accomplished to date. Though for years during the Cold War, the excessive use of the veto nullified the Security Council, the United Nations lived on. In the past fifty years, the Security Council has authorized 49 missions to promote international security. But our world today is not perfect. Currently, there are more than thirty odd cases of conflict, civil war and disintegration of states involving more the forty countries. (Vendrine 09-23-98). This includes Afghanistan, Kosovo, and a border-definition conflict in the Great Lakes region of Africa, and much more. Currently, "22 million civilians, refugees, displaced and repatriated people are victims" and "the High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR) [has] to be active in more than 118 countries as a result" (Vendrine 09-23-98). Though we must be proud of our accomplishments, we must also work harder.
Mr. President
As you are well aware, January 1st, 1999 will mark the advent of the Euro. France is exited about the possibilities of a single currency for much of Europe. This will protect our people from monetary fluctuations and will enable France to be America’s equal in the monetary sphere. We believe that this can bring an area of stability to the world economy, which presently is in a major slump.Chirac August 26th, 1998). The world is in a dire straight, Mr. President. When you consider the case of Indonesia, a nation that between 1966-1996 the economy grew on average nearly 7% annually. In the first half of 1998, the economy of Indonesia contracted 12%(MacIntyre 44). At present firms in Indonesia other than banks are suspected to owe $60 billion to foreign lenders (MacIntyre 50). A lesson of this crisis is the urgent need to strengthen the world’s monetary system.(Chirac 08-26-98).
Mr. President,
As you are well aware, since August of 1990 the United Nations has sanctioned Iraq. Today the general inflation in Iraq is 4,000%. It is suspected that 567,000 Iraqi children have died since the end of the Gulf War as a result of the sanctions (Drezner 70). Iraq has ceased cooperation with UNSCOM and AIEA and we cannot support that decision. We would like nothing more than to be able to lift Iraqi sanctions through Security Council actions, but we cannot do that until Iraq has complied with resolutions requiring the controlled dismantlement of its weapons of mass destruction. We urge Sadam Hussein the Iraqi leader to cooperate fully so that Iraq can be reinserted into the world community.
Mr. President
France is gravely worried about the situation in Kosovo. Recently, "the Security Council condemned the atrocities and demanded that the Yugoslav government punish those responsible" (Erlanger). We support political autonomy for the province of Kosovo, which was the case until 1989. ("Time is all but gone for Kosovo agreement, Albright warns"). We have been working with the British in the Security Council and asked NATO to look into the issue. We will ask for Security Council approval for a NATO operation in the area if necessary. We hope that the Yugoslav government can bring about a peaceful end to the situation immediately or we will be forced to act.
Mr. President
We must combat terrorism regardless of the perpetrators and their motivations. As you well know, "the newest nightmare [is] the threat of a massive terrorist attack with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons"(Sprinzak 110). It is well known that "most terrorists possess political objectives"(Sprinzak 113), but we must stop the financing. There is never a reason to kill. There is never a reason for terrorism. France proposes the negotiation of a Universal Convention Against the Financing of Terrorism"(Vedrine 9-23-98). We must make the world safe for our children and their children.
Mr. President
We must reinforce the multilateral disarmnament and non-proliferation system. This past May, India carried out five nuclear tests and Pakistan soon followed (Singh 41-43). It has become clear to the world that nuclear capabilities have expanded. Border disputes such as Iran and Iraq, Israel and the Arab States, China and Japan and North and South Korea have been the cause of nuclear proliferation (Singh 46). We must convince all nations to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. France with the United Kingdom was the first to ratify this treaty and France is the only nation party to this treaty to have completed the dismantlement of its testing center. We urge all nations not party to this agreement to sign. India and Pakistan have both announced their intentions to sign and we urge them to be true to their word (Vedrine 9-23-98).
Mr. President
The world today is not the world of 1945 as you are well aware. Our esteemed Secretary-General Kofi Anan said this past July, "he hoped that governments would agree to reform the Security Council to give it more broad-based support (www.globalpolicy.org/security/reform/annansc.htm). France agrees totally. We are much in favor of adding Germany and Japan as permanent members as well as three south nations. A legitimate Security Council will be to the advantage of the whole world.
Mr. President
As you can see, France is exited about the 53rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, and we hope that the world can be better through our actions
Great Lakes Region of Africa
France is going to continue to press for a conference about the Great Lakes region of Africa. We feel that is not the problem of the Democratic Republic of the Congo but instead a problem of six or seven countries. But this problem is not going to be solved unless all of the involved nations work together. (Vedrine)
Russia
France has stood by Russia’s side since 1989 and will continue to do so. It appears that Russia may need food aid and we will provide them with food.
Israel/Palestine
We are hoping for negotiations and implementation of agreements to pave way for an eventual Palestine state. We believe that this goal cannot be accomplished unless both Israel and Palestine compromise. (Press 9-29-98)
Cambodia
We condemn the September 24th Siem Reap attacks that resulted in several casualties. We believe that this is against the will of the Cambodian people who have expressed their wish to resolve their country’s problems peacefully in a democratic way. (Press 9-29-98)
Cuba
The Vice-President of the Cuban State Council was in Paris on September 21st for an official visit. We support the reintegration of Cuba in the world community.
(Press 9-18-98)
Albania
We hope that the appointment of a new Albanian Prime minister and the establishment of a new government will be a return to stability. We urge the opposition party to return to the Parliament and at the same time ask that the Albanian government continue their responsible policy toward the crisis in Kosovo. (Press 9-30-98)
Afghanistan
France demands that the Taliban fully respect humanitarian international law and human rights. We ask all parties to work towards an end to the fighting.
(Press 9-16-98)
*Have not recognized the Taliban.
Libya
Along with the Security Council, we have declared that sanctions against Libya will be suspended if the two accused in the bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland arrive in the Netherlands. The second condition is that the Libyan government must give French judicial authorities satisfaction regarding UTA flight 772. (Press 08-28-98).
India
France has had a friendship with India and hope to continue to do so. We urge India to be true to their word and sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. (Press 9-28-98)
Iran
France is very impressed by the new government of Iran. President Khatami is known to have supported "the character of western civilization and the appropriateness, and even necessity of Muslims adopting certain Western social and political institutions"(Hunter 24). We hope that the conflict in Afghanistan will not interfere with the great changes in Iran. (Chirac 8-26-98).
Relations with the United States
France and the United States are old friends and allies, but we do not agree on all issues. We often find that the United States finds it hard to engage in true negotiations.
Latin America
France’s policy toward Latin America is based upon systematically developing our bilateral relations and encouraging the aspirations of regional integration. (Vedrine 8-26-98).
NATO
France is a member of NATO and while we do not oppose expansion of NATO. We refuse to let NATO become a "Holy Alliance". We require Security Council approval before any NATO action is taken.
Africa
France has recently changed its policy in regard to Africa. We believe that we are modernizing our policy. We are continuing close dialogue with Francophone Africa and trying to build relationships with the rest of Africa. (Vedrine 8-27-98)
Bibliography
Chirac, M. Jacques. "Meeting of the French Ambassadors Speech." Paris, 26 Aug. 1998.
Erlanger,Steven. "NATO May Act Against Serbs in Two Weeks" New York Times 2 Oct. 1998
Hunter,Shireen T. "Iranian Perestroika Possible without Fundamental Change." The Washington Quarterly. 21.4 (1998): 24-27.
Singh,Jaswant. "Against Nuclear Apartheid." Foreign Affairs 77.5 (1998):41-52.
Sprinzak, Ehud. "The Great Terrorism Scare." Foreign Policy Number 12, Fall 1998: 110-113.
United States. United States Department of State. "Background Notes". Washington DC:1995.
Vedrine,Hubert. "Address By His Excellency Hubert Vedrine, Minister of Foreign Affairs, At the 53rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly". UNGA. New York,23 September 1998.
Vedrine, Hubert. "Meeting of the French Ambassadors Speech." Paris, 27Aug.1998.
"Time is all but gone for Kosovo agreement, Albright warns" The Providence Journal 9 Oct. 1998, sec A:6.
www.diplomatie.fr/france/politiq/culture.gb.htm
Press Reports: www.info-france-usa.org
All speeches: www.diplomatie.fr