Country Profile

France

On the first issue of the SC agenda, the issue of peacekeeping in Sierra Leone, France was, unfortunately unavoidably detained. France managed to be present near the end of the SC discussion on this issue. One clause suggested that the national police and army have a role in the maintenance of stability. France wasn’t pleased with this since the former military of Sierra Leone was the body that the overthrew the government, thus France amended the clause to suggest the training, if necessary, of the national police and army by UNAMSIL officials so that the former, if necessary, assist the latter in maintaining the stability and security of the region after the region has been initially stabilized by UNAMSIL officials and personnel, and after UNAMSIL has left the region. One more significant clause of the resolution that France "liked" was a clause the made France involved in the situation; France wanted to be involved, for there were no French troops in the region. Nigeria donated the most troops, the UK was also a major donator of troops in the region, and, of course, the US had a big role to play in the region, (as it always does); thus France supported this clause in order to have a stronger position in the region for the maintenance of peace and the restoration of democracy.

On the second issue of the SC agenda, the issue of peacekeeping in Southern Lebanon, France had an obviously important pro-Lebanese role since Lebanon was France’s ex-colony. France proposed the first clause of the resolution; it basically reaffirmed the role and tasks of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). All of these tasks were basically for the protection of Lebanon, but no one seemed to notice that. Theses tasks included preventive deployment, the maintenance of a stable region, and the distribution of food supplies. France was extremely glad when an amendment was made; it added, to the tasks of UNIFIL, the removal of all Israeli troops from the Sheba farms of Lebanon, (even though they are officially Syrian property, they were still on or very close to Lebanese borders). France applauded the efforts of Malaysia for adding this amendment. Most delegates agreed to a clause proposing a 5 km buffer zone, France wanted the initial withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Lebanese ground prior to the implementation of a buffer zone, but the amendment that France proposed failed. France considered vetoing the resolution, but it didn’t have to negatively affect its reputation, for the United States vetoed, thus France didn’t need to do so. As for the reason why the US vetoed, read on. When the Bangladeshi delegate proposed a clause for Israel to pay war reparations to Lebanon, France had to abstain because, even though France wanted Israel to pay, it didn’t want Lebanon to pay, and France thought that the US might bring this point up. In the end, the clause passed and the US vetoed the resolution because it refused to pass a resolution entailing, (even though it only "suggested"), war reparations that Israel would pay to Lebanon. But not even the US delegate had the power to do anything else, for he was abiding by US policy.

The third issue on the SC agenda, the issue of the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict and peacekeeping in the region, passed extremely quickly. France voted for the resolution because it basically reinstated the role of the UNHCR, and various other humanitarian organizations. The resolution also created a path for refugees to take. France proposed a clause on the role of UNICEF in the region in terms of educating and protecting children, (it had various sub-clauses about shelter, food, and not allowing children to participate in combat, armed or not). The clause passed successfully with only one amendment, which removed supplementing food provisions, for it wasn’t the role of UNICEF to do so, France understood the logic of the delegate of the Netherlands in that the UNHCR and other organizations were responsible for supplementing of food rations.

France basically gave a good impression of its intentions to promote peace worldwide, even in regions and issues that did not directly pertain to France; this improved France’s image in the eyes of other nations, further encouraging these nations to compromise and cooperate with France on the issue of Southern Lebanon, (on which debate continued after the resolution on the third issue was completed), and on various other aspects. The best thing France did on this issue was when the French delegate spoke against a clause calling for a peace conference to be mediated by the USA. When it was amended to have the Organization of African Unity (OAU) be the mediator, France voted for it, (if my memory serves me right).