Contradictions of French militarism hard to ignore

Jacques Chirac, the former French president who opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, once said that 'war always means failure'. With French forces engaged in three theatres in 2011 – Afghanistan, Libya and the Ivory Coast, his successor and one-time adversary, Nicolas Sarkozy, is hoping to prove him wrong.

The military operation the Ivory Coast is France’s second on the African continent in the spring of 2011, leaving many to wonder whether this signals a new, more interventionist policy to rid the continent of unpalatable dictators. However, this is probably not the case.

Le Figaro, 12.4.11: Exit Gbagbo, with French nudge (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/594941-exit-gbagbo-french-nudge

France24, 12.4.11: France denies its forces arrested Gbagbo http://www.france24.com/en/20110412-france-military-abidjan-arrest-gbagbo-ouattara-paris-ivory-coast

EEAS: Press Release, 11.4.11: Statement by the High Representative Catherine Ashton on the situation in Cote d'Ivoire http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/121482.pdf

EUObserver, 12.4.11: MEPs question French intervention in Ivory Coast http://euobserver.com/9/32163

ESO: Background Information: France bolsters Ivory Coast presence http://www.europeansources.info/record/france-bolsters-ivory-coast-presence/

ESO: Background information: UK and France to spearhead campaign http://www.europeansources.info/record/uk-and-france-to-spearhead-campaign/

EUObserver, 11.4.11: Ivory coast report complicates EU support for Ouattara http://euobserver.com/9/32152

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