Apartheid in South Africa—France
Meghan McKendry
The apartheid in South Africa has put many human liberties at stake. The first and
most prominent of those liberties is freedom. Peoples’ freedoms have been taken away
because of their race, and they can no longer do simple things like travel in their own
country. Another liberty that has been taken away from people is their ability to call
themselves South African citizens. The Bantu Homeland Citizens Act ordered all black
citizens to become a citizen of their homeland, or the land where their culture and race is
accepted, and took away their South African citizenship. Those liberties violate many
aspects of the United Nations, including “…the right of all racial groups to enjoy the
same rights and fundamental freedoms” and that apartheid is viewed by the United
Nations as “…a crime against the conscience and dignity of mankind.”
As far as France and the issue of apartheid are concerned, France hasn’t fully
acknowledged its existence, even within its own country. Racial discrimination has been
a part of French society in the suburbs for a long time, and its obvious existence has not
been accepted or acknowledged. As far as taking actions against apartheid is concerned,
France has not taken many actions to stop it within its own “walls,” but has voted for
actions against it to occur within the United Nations by voting against the South African
draft stating that it didn’t have to comply with the Ad Hoc Political Committee. On the
other hand, France abstained from voting on Security Council Resolution 282 stating, “a
series of measures needed to be taken to strengthen the arms embargo against South
Africa.”
To facilitate change in South Africa, the United Nations Security Council should
watch the situation for a while longer to see how it progresses and then act from there.
The threat of violence is strong in South Africa, and it could spread into surrounding
countries, but France believes that the situation should be monitored for the time being.
The United Nations is a peacekeeping body, and if the situation grows too large and gets
out of hand, then it should intervene by trying to arrange peace negotiations with South
African government officials. If that doesn’t work, then more desperate measures need to
take place in order to end the apartheid.
Situation in Vietnam—France
Meghan McKendry
As for the situation in Vietnam, France is on the side of the American and
Southern Vietnamese troops. France, under Georges Pompidou, offered moral support
and advice. Pompidou had commended American President Nixon for pulling out of
Vietnam because that act in itself “…will be the most precious of victories—a victory
won over oneself." Pompidou hadn’t offered much more support beyond that. In fact,
Pompidou hadn’t had much interest in Vietnam and had focused his time and energy in
different places.
In France’s opinion, the most vital aspects of the crisis in Vietnam are few. France
viewed the crisis and their involvement to be behind them and a part of their history.
After Vietnam had gained independence from France and after the Vietnam War, France
left Vietnam, while still offering support to the United States, and put all of it behind
them. Another aspect of the crisis that is vital is the attacks on the Southern Vietnamese
and American troops. These attacks are brutal and too frequent to be ignored. Other
aspects are the constant bombing in Vietnam, the war crimes that have been committed
by both sides, and mass grave that had been found.
The international actors in this situation are the United States, Vietnam, Soviet
Union, and China. As of late, France’s relationship with the United States has been
strained because of the war. Recently, Pompidou has tried to ease the tension between the
two countries. As far as France’s relationship with Vietnam is concerned, they haven’t
been on good terms. France’s relationship with both the Soviet Union and China is
strained as well due to the fact that France backs South Vietnam while Soviet Union and
China support North Vietnam.
Situation in the Middle East—France
Meghan McKendry
Over the years, the Security Council has tired to ease the tensions in the Middle
East, and part of this attempt was to stop Israeli citizens from settling in already occupied
territories. A ceasefire had been signed, but that has seemingly been ignored. Also, more
and more attacks are occurring in the Middle East, and nothing that has been done has
seemed to affect the feuding nations. Due to the fact that both the Arabs and the Jews
took Resolution 242 to mean different things, France believes that the best approach to
the situation is to construct a new, and more defined resolution that neither side can
incorrectly interpret. The President of France, Georges Pompidou, believes that Israel
should be pulled out of the territories that it doesn’t belong in, in order to ease tensions in
the Middle East. Israel had remained in areas that had been intended for Arab nations to
take, and Arab nations had interpreted that the Israelis would be removed from those
areas. This is a major issue and a more defined resolution is needed that will specify the
particulars of the territories and the removal of people from those territories.
The PLO does not properly represent the Palestinian people because their views
are not the views of the Palestinian people. They are more of an extremist group that acts
by committing terrorist attacks against Israel from their multiple bases in Syria, Lebanon,
and Jordan. The UN should view them as a terrorist group and should recognize them as
a threat that needs to be dealt with soon, so more attacks don’t break out in the Middle
East. Also, the UN and other international organizations should take note that the PLO
has a political poll and is not to be taken lightly.
At this time, France doesn’t ally with a certain religion, but it has allied with
Israel in the past. In the past, France has helped Israel attack other nations, such as Egypt,
in order to gain control of the Suez Canal once more. France had shared power over the
canal with Great Britain until the canal had been nationalized by Egypt. France’s possible
backing of Israel could help Israel gain power in the Middle East. If Israel had a more
powerful country as an ally, then it would have more power in the Middle East and would
be able to fight back much easier.