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French Foreign Policy in Libya and Syria (2003–2017): Strategic Adaptability in Quickly Changing Environments

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The World Community and the Arab Spring

Abstract

Because of its extensive Mediterranean history, France had a particular responsibility when the Arab revolutions broke out in 2011. The strategies defined by Paris in Libya and Syria, implemented through foreign policy, have proved to be less effective than expected. Although distinct, both were pursuing the same aim: the expansion of friendly democratic regimes in the Southern European neighborhood bloc.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Libya: Facts and Figures”, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, opcw.org, 2017.

  2. 2.

    “In November 2011 and February 2012, the new Libyan government declared a “previously undeclared chemical weapons stockpile”, consisting of several hundred munitions loaded with sulfur mustard, few hundreds kilograms of sulfur mustard”. Source: Ibid.

  3. 3.

    “La Libye va acheter des Airbus et un réacteur nucléaire à la France, selon le fils Kadhafi”, AFP/La Dépêche, 7 December 2007.

  4. 4.

    “EU cites progress in bid to free Bulgarian nurses”, Reuters, 12 June 2007.

  5. 5.

    “Seif el-Islam Kadhafi: ‘La Libye sera un pays heureux’”, Le Figaro, 7 December 2012.

  6. 6.

    “Le fils Khadafi révèle les dessous de la libération des infirmières bulgares”, AFP, 1 August 2007.

  7. 7.

    “Une tente pour le colonel Kadhafi à Paris”, Liberation with AFP & Reuters, 7 December 2007.

  8. 8.

    “Statement by 99 Syrian Intellectuals”, Al-Hayat, 27 September 2000, in Document File: Syria, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 9, 5 October 2000.

  9. 9.

    “Chronology—Lebanon”, ABC Australia, abc.net.au, 2017.

  10. 10.

    “Sarkozy meets Assad in Syria”, The New York Times, 3 September 2008.

  11. 11.

    Ibid.

  12. 12.

    “Libya: Examination of intervention and collapse and the UK’s future policy options”, Foreign Affairs Committee, United Kingdom Parliament, 9 September 2016.

  13. 13.

    “BHL: “Le Conseil national de transition veut une Libye laïque””, Le Monde, 24 March 2011.

  14. 14.

    “Libye: ce que l’on sait du Conseil national de transition”, Le Monde with AFP, 23 August 2011.

  15. 15.

    “The welcome return of French diplomacy”, The Economist, 20 March 2011.

  16. 16.

    Resolution 1973 (2011), Adopted by the Security Council at its 6498th meeting, on 17 March 2011, paragraph 4, S/RES/1973 (2011), un.org.

  17. 17.

    “Libye: les pays amis des rebelles seront récompensés”, Le Figaro, 24 August 2011.

  18. 18.

    “Libye: Hollande approuve l’intervention”, Le Figaro/AFP, 20 March 2011.

  19. 19.

    “France condemns violence against protestors in Syria”, AFP/NOW Lebanon, 17 March 2011.

  20. 20.

    Ibid.

  21. 21.

    “Syrie: Une révolte de plus en plus meurtrière”, Le Journal du Dimanche, 23 March 2011.

  22. 22.

    “Syria urged to end deadly repression”, Al-Jazeera, 23 April 2011.

  23. 23.

    “Sarkozy: Actions of Syria’s Assad ‘irreparable’”, AFP/NOW Lebanon, 1 September 2011.

  24. 24.

    “French president says no political solution in Syria unless Assad steps down”, Al-Arabiya, 20 August 2012.

  25. 25.

    “Cameron and Sarkozy comment on Syria”, American Press, 30 July 2015.

  26. 26.

    UN Documents for Syria: Security Council Resolutions, Security Council Report, securitycouncilreport.org, 2017.

  27. 27.

    “Syria Emergency”, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, unhcr.org, 2017

  28. 28.

    “The Cost of Conflict for Children: Five Years of the Syria Crisis”, Frontier Economics & World Vision, March 2016.

  29. 29.

    “Que fait la France contre Daech aux plans militaire et politique?”, diplomatie.gouv.fr, 2017.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sciences Po Paris, Paris, France

    Julien Theron

  2. Sciences Po SGEL, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France

    Julien Theron

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  1. Julien Theron
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Researcher, Eskişehir, Turkey

    Cenap Çakmak

  2. Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, Turkey

    Ali Onur Özçelik

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Theron, J. (2019). French Foreign Policy in Libya and Syria (2003–2017): Strategic Adaptability in Quickly Changing Environments. In: Çakmak, C., Özçelik, A.O. (eds) The World Community and the Arab Spring. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60985-0_10

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