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| Michèle Alliot-Marie |
ABU DHABI (Emirates
Palace) 18 April 2013: Underscoring the longstanding, deep and strong relations
that the UAE and the France enjoy, Her Excellency Michèle Alliot-Marie, Former
Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of France, called for
greater cooperation between the two countries in identifying and solving
problems of the future through prospective and strategic thinking. In an
exclusive interview to the Website of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies
and Research (ECSSR), Her Excellency provided detailed and insightful analyses
on wide-ranging geopolitical issues covering the areas of international
cooperation, the Iranian nuclear issue, defense spending and even the Eurozone
economy. She even hinted at the possibility of a select group of Eurozone
country possibly coming together in 2014 to follow a new set of economic rules.
Following is the edited text of the interview.
Q1. Earlier this year,
UAE-French relations received a fresh impetus with the visit of President His
Excellency Francois Hollande to Abu Dhabi earlier this year. In your view what
is the significance of improving UAE-French relations not just from a
political, economic and cultural point of view but also from a security and
strategic perspective. How do they serve as a role model of relations for other
states in the region?
Ans: France and the
United Arab Emirates enjoy very close, strong and comprehensive relations. They
cover economic and cultural ties, along with defense and strategic cooperation.
The two enjoy close strategic partnership, which has been built over many
years. The first defense agreement was signed in 1995 and I remember the close
relationship between Jacques Chirac, when he was the Prime Minister and then
the President with the Founder of the UAE, the Late Sheikh Zayed (may his soul
rest in peace). I met Sheikh Zayed twice and conveyed to him a few friendly
messages from Jacques Chirac. Recently, we established a naval base in Abu
Dhabi, which has hundreds of troops. I think it is a new and important step for
both countries. From this base, we can launch campaigns against pirates and
terrorists operating in the high seas. It is both a security and a defense
accord. The two countries also cooperate in providing medical and humanitarian
assistance for Syrian refugees in Jordan. We also have joint cooperation
between our military officers and soldiers. We conduct joint training and
military exercises, one of it was in 2012. We have fought together in Kosovo
and more recently in Mali. We also have cooperation in intelligence and in
cyber-security. You know in my lecture I spoke about the problem of cyber
attacks. The meeting that we had in the morning was also a kind of new
relationship because it allowed us to chart the problems we may face in the
future and the solutions we can find together.
In the lecture I spoke
of the new threats not only related to terrorism, but also in the field of
nuclear proliferation and chemical weapons. There also concerns about conflicts
around water, particularly drinking water. There are similarly issues about food
and energy security etc. All these issues are very important and we have to
anticipate and preempt what could happen because when these problems erupt it
might be too late to handle them. So I think we can achieve this through a
mutual and balanced approach and it would constitute a real model of
cooperation.
Q2. With US stating
that in the next decade it would have a more Asia Pacific-oriented foreign
policy, should we expect France to play an even more active role in the Middle
East and the Gulf region because of its long ties to the region and the direct
impact of developments in the region on Europe and France itself?
Ans: I hope so and I
did make efforts in this regard for many years. We have a similarity of views
and outlook with countries of the Gulf, particularly when it comes to
international relations, respect for cultures, and so on. So I began the
process of establishing good relations with GCC states. I do not know what the
United States will do in terms of their policies. Maybe they are more
interested in issues related to the Pacific, like nowadays with North Korea and
maybe China too. But I think there is concern in France and in Europe for the
South Mediterranean, the Gulf region and even Africa. You see, our relations
with the region do not exist merely at the economic level, but at a human level
and I think that is very important because that allows real confidence between
not only our leaders but also between our people and we have to work for
strengthening that. It is not only very important for the stability of the
region, but also for the stability of the Mediterranean area and maybe Europe
too because what happens here is of immediate consequence for Europe.
Q3. It is quite a
paradox that just as new security threats are emerging on the global scene, the
current global economic crisis is forcing countries to make drastic defense
cuts. How do you see the future for global security in this context and what is
France’s strategy in managing these constraints?
Ans: It is indeed a
paradox as the risks are increasing and the budgetary support is falling.
However, the problem varies from country to country. As for France, President
Francois Hollande stated last week that France will not make cuts in its
defense spending and I think it is a good thing. You know, France is now first
in Europe in terms of its budgetary spending on defense. Until recently we
rivaled the UK, but now I think we have moved ahead and I think that France is
now probably the first or maybe the second best army in the world. The first
one is probably the United States, because of its resources, but in terms of
knowledge and capabilities of our soldiers ours is probably better. The defense
spending problem relates to other countries of Europe because they have
significant budgetary constraints.
But you are correct
when you say that we need cooperation because the threats confronting us will
be more daunting in the future and one country on its own cannot face them. So
I think we could be more efficient if we are all together. Therefore, we have
to prepare for a new kind of cooperation. A cooperation built on more
confidence in each other, which is more fully integrated, more comprehensive,
guided by prospective and strategic thinking, and supported by the proper
training of our soldiers and so on.
Q4. The growing
privatization of militaries, especially in the US, is setting a dangerous
trend, where private contractors who are not bound by military rules and mostly
escape prosecution are undermining war efforts. What are Your Excellency’s
views on this matter?
Ans: We do not have
that kind of a system. Sometimes, we have contractors supplying civil
equipment. But in France and Europe we believe that war and peace are problems
of state. When I was Minister of Defense, for example I witnessed in
Afghanistan a situation where contractors acted very dangerously even for the
coalition members. I remember once I was on my way to President Karzai’s
office, and behind my car there were members of the press. The security
contractors standing outside the office did not understand who the journalists
were and they pointed their guns toward them. Perhaps, these security
contractors were themselves afraid. I think that in America war is accepted but
not the deaths caused by war. So they deploy planes and drones that sometime
cause ‘collateral damage’. It is for this reason I had drawn attention in my
lecture to the dangers posed by some of the new technologies. Similarly, the
mindset behind having the civilian contractor is that the price of this
personnel’s life can be compensated by money.
Again, I would like to
mention here about the relationship the French forces enjoyed with the local
population in Afghanistan. The American command acknowledged it and called it
the “French touch.” We had a problem with IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)
there. However, the relations that our special forces established with the
local population, caused people to be friendly. On many occasions, they told
our soldiers that we have seen somebody plant a bomb near the road so take
care. Therefore, we had fewer deaths. I think this is something special and
this applies to British forces too.
Q5: Iran’s apparent
intransigence over its nuclear program and its ambitious plans for greater
influence continues to create tension and uncertainty in the region. What is
the position of France with regards to security and stability in the Gulf and
are there signs of any headway in the P5+1 negotiations with Iran over its
nuclear program?
Ans: I think it is
very difficult to have discussions with Iran. One day they say something
positive and the next day they retract from it. Therefore, we do not know what
they really want. We get the impression that each discussion has become a
pretext for Iran to buy time. I spoke in my lecture about why it is impossible
to accept Iran developing a nuclear weapon. First, Iran has affirmed its
commitment to an international convention, so it has to obey the rules of the
convention. For example, it has to open all its nuclear sites for inspection.
Second, I think that if Iran has a nuclear bomb there will be two major
problems. On the one hand, Iran already has the missiles with which it could
launch a nuclear war in the region and some statements made by Ahmedinejad
validate these concerns. Second, this could trigger a nuclear arms race in the
region. Other countries in the region will not accept that Iran alone could
have a nuclear weapon. Some of them, who have the resources, might think of
developing such weapons in response. This will lead to a proliferation of
nuclear weapons technology which will be a very dangerous trend. Therefore, we
all have to work toward creating public awareness in Iran that a great nation
like Iran does not need to have a nuclear bomb to exist in the international
arena or to have a real and important role. For example, you can see Germany,
Brazil, Japan, South Africa etc. having strong international influence without
having nuclear weapons.
Q6: In recent years,
questions have been raised over the whole Eurozone experiment and the problems
faced by economies of Greece, Italy, Spain, etc, have become a recurrent
phenomena. How do you view this trend and what should be done to keep the
Eurozone experiment alive?
Ans: I firmly believe
that the Eurozone has a longstanding future, because Europe itself has a
longstanding future. In the globalized world of today no country can exist
without the other, so the European bloc is necessary. Secondly, Europe is the
first economic bloc. It is natural that such a zone should have its own
currency and I think that maybe the euro is more secure than the dollar because
there is gold in different European banks and guarantees by different states.
So, what is the problem today. The financial problem started in the US and then
it spread to the rest of the world. However, there are is also problem related
to some states in Europe. For many years, we had high level of concern for
social welfare, which took more and more share of our budgets. Many of our
companies and industries started leaving their places of origin in France,
Germany, Spain and Italy and established their bases in countries of eastern
Europe and then in China, India and so on. So our production fell and our
expenditures increased. Today we need to reorganize that, today we have to find
a balance between what we produce and what we spend. So, I personally do not
believe that the Socialist parties are following the right path for increasing
production. I think we will have to cut down our spending, especially
government spending.
Q7: There have been
critics who say that Europe should have had a fiscal union first to have a
sound monetary union. In other words you cannot have countries making separate
budgets and at the same time have a common monetary system. What are your views
on this?
A: We tried that
(fiscal union). It is not very easy. We consider that we are not a federal
nation but several countries with close cooperation and common organizations
but we considered that individual states can draw their own budgets. However,
it is natural that we would need common rules to formulate our budgets. For
example, we need to have limits on budgetary deficits. So, Nicholas Sarkozy —
when he was the President — spoke with German Chancellor Angela Markel for
setting the rules between France and Germany, particularly for industries. I
think in the next year, probably we would have a group of some European countries
that will follow similar rules for the project.
Q8: Will it be the
so-called ‘core Eurozone countries’ or all of them?
Ans: Maybe not all the
countries of the Eurozone. Today, I cannot say how many countries. But there
will be a few to begin with and later others can join. Probably now it would be
too hard for some of them.
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