Friday, March 11, 2011

France formally acknowledges Libyan Rebels

France became the first country to extend formal recognition of the Libyan rebels. At the same time, French President Nicholas Sarkozy has renewed his call for an immediate "No-fly zone".

There are several ways to interpret the French move. One, it could be an altruistic, a virtuous plan by the French in light of the outraging human rights violations committed by the Libyan government. But human rights are rarely a motivation for such a policy shift. After all, France has a history of supporting dictatorships , such as Gabon that are no better than Libya when it comes to human rights.

I suspect that France is trying hard to be on the right side of history. They probably know that the Libyan regime is crumbling, and they want to be associated with the victors. This is a perfect realpolitik move, likely to be rewarded once the rebels gain full control of the oil fields. We have to wait and see.

Etienne

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