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France and United Nations Peacekeeping

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

James Joseph Combs
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Extract

“To maintain international peace and security …” is the first purpose listed in Article I of the United Nations Charter, and it is generally conceded to be the Organization's most important one. Although the United Nations Charter provides procedures for both peaceful settlement and peacekeeping, the peacekeeping role has been more active and more contentious. Indeed, without an authoritative organ for interpreting the Charter each Member has been left to determine for itself the meaning of such fluid phrases as “enforcement action,” “national sovereignty,” and “primary responsibility,” to mention only a few. The result has been a divergence of views which surprises all but that consummate logician—the reasonable man.

Type
Articles
Information
International Organization , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , Spring 1967 , pp. 306 - 325
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 1967

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References

1 Kissinger, Henry, “The Illusionist: Why We Misread De Gaulle,” Harper's, 04 1965, p. 69Google Scholar.

2 Major Addresses, Statements and Press Conferences of General Charles de Gaulle, May 18, 1958–january 31, 1964 (New York: French Embassy, Press and Information Division), pp. 120, 121Google Scholar.

3 Ibid., p. 61.

4 General Assembly Resolution 377 (V), November 3, 1950.

5 Security Council Resolution 15 (1946) of December 19, 1946 (originally adopted as UN Document S/339), established the United Nations Commission of Investigation concerning Greek frontier incidents (Balkan Commission), which consisted of eleven representatives, one appointed by each Security Council member. In the Indonesian case Security Council Resolution 30 (1947) of August 25, 1947 (originally adopted as UN Document S/525, Part I), established the Consular Commission in Indonesia, to consist of the consuls in Indonesia of Security Council members. In the Palestine question the Security Council in Resolution 48 (1948) of April 23, 1948 (originally adopted as UN Document S/727), set up a three-man Truce Commission for Palestine. Security Council Resolution 39 (1948) of January 20, 1948 (originally adopted as UN Document S/654), established the UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), one member to be chosen by India, one by Pakistan, and the third to be designated by the two so selected.

6 See, for example, a speech by the United States representative in the Security Council concerning a United States draft resolution on the establishment of a commission on the Greek question. (Security Council Official Records [1st year], 70th meeting, 09 20, 1946, pp. 410–411Google Scholar.)

7 Apparently, the Western powers which drafted the Uniting for Peace Resolution intended to have the UN endorse their defense of Europe against a Soviet invasion.

8 Security Council Official Records (11th year), 751st meeting, 10 31, 1956, p. 22Google Scholar.

9 General Assembly Resolution 998 (ES-I), November 4, 1956.

10 The Soviet zeal to please Egypt was manifested in its abstention since a vote against the resolution in the General Assembly would not have blocked the operation.

11 General Assembly Resolution 1000 (ES-I) of November 5, 1956, authorized the Secretary-General “to undertake the recruitment directly … of the additional number of officers needed.” Resolution 1001 (ES-I) of November 7, 1956, authorized the Secretary-General “to issue all regulations and instructions which may be essential to the effective functioning of the Force.” The French had no legal objections to the resolutions prior to Resolution 1001 (ES-I); they had abstained because they were not certain that the Force would be adequate.

12 General Assembly Resolution 1089 (XI), December 21, 1956.

13 No reference was made as to whether it was legally binding upon all Member States; in all events many states refused to pay.

14 France voted to refer the Hungarian question to the General Assembly in accordance with the Uniting for Peace Resolution; the French also voted to send observers to Hungary. (General Assembly Resolution 1004 [ES-II], November 4, 1956.)

15 See, for example, General Assembly Resolution 1012 (XI), February 15, 1957.

16 Dallin, Alexander, The Soviet Union at the United Nations: An Inquiry into Soviet Motives and Objectives (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1962), p. 118Google Scholar.

17 For the Security Council's discussion of the Lebanon question see Security Council Official Records (13th year), 823rd–825th, 827th–840th meetings, June 6–11 25, 1958Google Scholar. The Soviet Union did, however, veto a Japanese draft resolution (UN Document S/4055/Rev.I) which would have specifically allowed the Secretary-General to use his discretion in directing the functions of the Group; for the Soviet delegate/s comments on the draft resolution sec Security Council Official Records (13th year), 835th meeting, 07 21, 1958, pp. 11–18Google Scholar. The Secretary-General's early reports on UNOGIL are contained in UN Documents S/4029 and S/4038.

18 Moreover, on September 15, 1960, the French delegate felt compelled to reply to a slur by the Soviet delegate on French colonial policies. (See Security Council Official Records [15th year], 903rd meeting, 09 15, 1960, p. 17Google Scholar.)

19 Security Council Official Records (15th year), 873rd meeting, 07 13–14, 1960, p. 42Google Scholar. This resolution (originally adopted as UN Document S/4387) called upon the Secretary-General to take the necessary steps to send an armed force to the Congo.

20 Security Council Official Records (15th year), 879th meeting, 07 21, 1960, p. 15Google Scholar. This resolution (originally adopted as UN Document S/4405) called for the Secretary-General to continue his efforts under the resolution of July 14, 1960.

21 For the French delegation's position see Security Council Official Records (15th year), 886th meeting, 08 8–9, 1960, pp. 34–38Google Scholar. Under the provisions of Resolution 146 (1960) of August 9, 1960 (originally adopted as UN Document S/4426), Belgium was called upon to withdraw its troops immediately; the entry of the UN Operation in the Congo (ONUC) into Katanga was declared to be “essential.”

22 General Assembly Resolution 1573 (XV), December 19, i960. For the vote on this resolution see General Assembly Official Records (15th session), 956th plenary meeting, 12 19, 1960, pp. 1428–1430Google Scholar.

23 Ibid., p. 1430. Note that the United Kingdom and the United States voted against a paragraph of the draft resolution calling for a UN-conducted referendum in Algeria.

24 Security Council Official Records (15th year), 906th meeting, 09 16, 1960, p. 38Google Scholar.

25 See below, p. 317–318, for the present French position on the Uniting for Peace Resolution.

26 General Assembly Official Records (4th emergency special session), 861st plenary meeting, 09 19, 1960, p. 62Google Scholar. The draft was subsequently adopted as General Assembly Resolution 1474 (ES-IV), September 20, 1960.

27 General Assembly Official Records (15th session), 958th plenary meeting, 12 20, 1960, pp. 1478–1479Google Scholar.

28 See Security Council Official Records (16th year), 941st meeting, 02 20, 1961, p. 36Google Scholar, for a record of the vote. The text of the draft resolution is contained in UN Document S/4733/Rev.I.

29 Security Council Official Records (16th year), 942nd meeting, 02 20, 1961, p. 9Google Scholar.

30 Ibid., p. 18. The text of the draft resolution is contained in UN Document S/4706.

31 Ibid. The draft resolution was adopted as Security Council Resolution 161 (1961), February 21, 1961 (originally adopted as UN Document S/4741).

32 Ibid., p. 10.

33 Security Council Official Records (16th year), 974th meeting, 11 15, 1961, p. 13Google Scholar.

34 Ibid., pp. 14–15.

35 Security Council Official Records (16th year), 982nd meeting, 11 24, 1961, p. 12Google Scholar. (Resolution 169 [1961] was originally adopted as UN Document S/5002.) Resolution 146 (1960) of August 9, 1960, had

reaffirmed that the United Nations force in the Congo [would] not be a party to or in any way intervene in or be used to influence die outcome of any internal conflict, constitutional or odierwise.

36 See General Assembly Official Records (15th session), 960th plenary meeting, 12 20, 1960, p. 1504Google Scholar, for the vote.

37 Ibid., p. 1499.

38 Ibid.

39 Ibid.

40 See General Assembly Official Records … Fifth Committee (15th session, Part II), p. 93, for the vote on Resolution 1619 (XV)Google Scholar; see General Assembly Official Records … Fifth Committee (16th session), p. 333Google Scholar, for the vote on Resolution 1732 (XVI).

41 The French question was:

Les dépenses autorisées, etc., ont-elles été décidées conformément aux dispositions de la Charte, et dans l'affirmative constittient-elles “des dépenses de l'Organisation” au sens du paragraphe 2 de I'article 17 de la Charte des Nations Unies?

See I.C.I. Pleadings, Certain expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, paragraph 2, of the Charter) (hereinafter cited as I.C.J. Pleadings, Certain expenses of the United Nations), pp. 130–131.

42 UN Document A/AC.113/47, p. 2. This statement was made before the Working Group on the Examination of the Administrative and Budgetary Procedures of the United Nations (Working Group of Twenty-One).

43 Ibid.

44 Ibid., p. 3.

45 Ibid.

46 Ibid., P. 4.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid, p. 5. Although the French take a different view of the merits of UNEF, it too is illegal under their present position. See below, p. 318.

49 Ibid.

50 See above, p. 311.

51 Ibid., p. 3.

52 For the French position on financing of the Congo operation see above, p. 316. See Security Council Official Records (18th year), 1039th meeting, 06 11, 1963, p. 7Google Scholar, for the French representative's speech on the financing of operations in Yemen; in this case expenses were covered by the participating states. For France's position on the financing of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) see Security Council Official Records (19th year), 1155th meeting, 09 21, 1964, p. 4Google Scholar.

53 UN Document S/5811, p. 5.

54 Ibid., p. 6.

55 See I.C.I. Pleadings, Certain expenses of the United Nations, p. 134. The French argued that such a power would make the Assembly a world parliament.

56 UN Document A/AC.121/SR.7, p. 4.

57 Ibid., p. 6.

58 Ibid.

59 This definition appears in the majority opinion, Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, paragraph 2, of the Charter), Advisory Opinion of 20th July 1962: I.C.J. Reports 1962 (hereinafter referred to as l.C.J. Reports 1962), p. 164.

60 UN Document A/AC.121/SR.7, pp. 5–6.

61 “Memorandum of the USSR Government on the Procedure of Financing the Operations of the United Nations Emergency Force in the Middle East and the United Nations Operations in the Congo,” I.C.J. Pleadings, Certain expenses of the United Nations, p. 271. Also see I.C.J. Reports 1962, pp. 272–273, where Judge Vladimir M. Koretsky (Soviet Union) in his dissenting opinion distinguished between the General Assembly's recommending an operation to the Security Council or Member States and its organizing an operation itself.

62 UN Document S/5811, p. 4.

63 There is a precedent for such an action: the French abstention from the vote on the Cyprus force. See below, p. 320.

64 See Vernant, Jacques, “L'O.N.U. et le Monde de 1965–1980,” Politique Etrangere, 1964 (Vol.29, No. 4), p. 367CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Vernant does not make this prediction; he does, however, refer to the departure from the Charter system in the 1950's as the product of necessity.

65 Security Council Official Records (18m year), 1039th meeting, 06 11, 1963, p. 7Google Scholar.

66 UN Document S/5571. This draft resolution was adopted as Security Council Resolution 186 (1964), March 4, 1964 (originally adopted as UN Document S/5575).

67 Security Council Official Records (19th year), 1102nd meeting, 03 4, 1964, p. 5Google Scholar.

68 Ibid., p. 6.

69 Ibid., p. 2.

70 The New York Times, October 25, 1965.

71 Ibid.

72 UN Document S/6699/Add.3.

73 Ibid., p. 2.

74 UN Document S/6699/Add.4.

75 For the Guatemalan request see UN Document S/3232; for comments of the French delegate see Security Council Official Records (9th year), 675th meeting, 06 20, 1954, pp. 37–38Google Scholar.

76 Ibid., p. 22.

77 UN Document S/4484.

78 Foot note Sequence Error 40 to 98 Security Council Official Records (15th year), 893rd meeting, 09 8, 1960, p. 15Google Scholar.

79 UN Document S/5075 contains the text of the OAS resolution embargoing arms to Cuba which was adopted by the Eighth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in January 1962. For the comments of the French delegate see Security Council Official Records (17th year), 995th meeting, 03 20, 1962, p. 13Google Scholar.

80 Ibid.

81 Ibid.

82 UN Document S/5182.

83 Security Council Official Records (17th year), 1024th meeting, 10 24, 1962, p. 3Google Scholar.

84 See above, p. 322.

85 “Evolution Politique et Economique de la France en 1965,” Chronique de Politique Etrangére, 01 1966 (Vol. 19, No. 1), p. 20Google Scholar.

86 Security Council Official Records (20th year), 1217th meeting, 05 22, 1965, p. 9Google Scholar. The French draft resolution (UN Document S/6376) was adopted as Security Council Resolution 205 (1965), May 22, 1965.

87 See above, p. 322.

88 See above, p. 307; see also Duroselle, J.-B., “France and the United Nations,” International Organization, Summer 1965 (Vol. 19, No. 3), p. 710CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

89 See above, p. 317.

90 See above, p. 322.

91 Duroselle, , International Organization, Vol. 19, No. 3, p. 710Google Scholar.

92 In this article the phrase “neutralist world” generally means the newly emergent nations; often, as here, it could be taken to include the older, uncommitted nations of Asia and Latin America as well.

93 Schwoebel, Jean, “La Crise Constitutionelle de l'O.N.U.,” Le Monde, 02 21–22, 1965, p. 2Google Scholar.

The Fifth Republic plays a role which is very diversely received. Inasmuch as it sets an example for the many countries less well developed than it and renews its determination to shake off the domination of the superpowers, its attitude is applauded and it is assured a great prestige. On the other hand, when it aspires to superannuated conceptions of nationalism which render impossible all attempts to organize the international community and thus to consolidate the peace, it provokes grave disappointment.

(Author's translation.)

94 Major Addresses, Statements and Press Conferences of General Charles de Gaulle, May 18, 1958–january 31, 1964, p. 121.

95 Ambassade de France, Service de Presse et d'Information, Speeches and Press Conferences, No. 208, July 23, 1964.

96 UN Document S/PV.1277, p. 51.

97 Ibid., p. 31.

98 Lerner, Daniel and Kramer, Marguerite N., “French Elite Perspectives on the United Nations,” International Organization, Autumn 1963 (Vol. 17, No. 1), p. 59CrossRefGoogle Scholar.