France's Negotiating Skills with regards to Russia-Georgia Conflict?

Question

They have awful negotiating skills with dealings in the EU, but do you think the ceasefire agreement they hammered out with Russia and Georgia makes up for it?

Are they good at conflict resolution and bad at peacetime diplomacy?

Answer 1

The French have been diplomats when the US was still a gleam in the eye of G Washinton.

Answer 2

France looks after France.

Answer 3

You mean the cease fire they brokered a couple days ago? The one brokered before Russia moved in thousands more troops and cut Georgia in half, is occupying Georgian cities, destroying georgian ports and infrastructure.......

not exactly sounding like a raging success personally. The russians are using Georgia to test their boundaries and so far we're telling them do whatever you want with our current reactions.

If this was a successful event by french negotiators I'd hate to see what the failure would've looked like.

Answer 4

Actually we used to be better, Sarkozy is not very good at diplomacy. He has ashamed every French when dealing with Khaddafi and China, a terrible humiliation for us.

Chirac and De Villepin for example, you may not like them (because of Iraq) but they were impressive when dealing with foreign affairs. Unfortunately, they were very poor with economy and internal problems.

As for the Russia/Georgia case, it's a good try, but I fear it won't be enough. Russia wants to show its power to the US but also to the EU.

Answer 5

Maybe Sarkozy's new wife helped "seal the deal" ;-D

Answer 6

i don't believe the French did a very good job in implementing the ceasefire.. might've looked good on paper when they drafted it.. but, it was hugely unsuccessful..  but, to be fair, i don't believe anyone could get the Russians to behave.. they we're going to do what they wanted regardless of who approached them..  they've planned this invasion for a long time.. and i think they did what they set out to do..  we need to be even more cautious of Putin and his commie cronies..  this isn't the last we've seen of Russian aggression.. i assure you..

Answer 7

I feel that having successful negotiations in an organization comprised of so many different countries with varying interests is a difficult task...period.  Not just for France, but for any country.  Considering the U.N., the U.S. uses "big sticks and big carrots" to create consensus amongst different countries.  

Personally, I think it's bad idea to stigmatize a country's efficacy at anything by not framing your analysis in the correct context.  Lets be clear about things.

Russia is a juggernaut.  Clearly no country could have prevented Russia from occupying all of Georgia.  The fact Russia didn't occupy all of Georgia shows restraint on Russia's part.  It also indicates a desire by Russia to be a part of the international community.

I think the cease-fire agreement is adequate.  France and Russia brokered the agreement without the U.S.  The U.S. forced itself into the fray on behalf of the incompetent president of Georgia, Saakashvili.  Saakashvili essentially used the U.S. government like retained counsel to review the terms of a legally binding agreement.  The U.S. gave ithe agreement its ok except for 1 or 2 ambiguous terms.

Also, it's importan to keep in mind that Saakashvili initiated the conflict.  Russia responded to protect its citizens in S. Ossetia and protect its interests.  Although the U.S. government is trying its hardest to make Saakashvili foolish attack look innocent, remember that Georgia sent the 3rd largest number of troops to Iraq.  That's sad.  Remember that Iraq was an unjust war that no nation, other than weak ones seeking to ingratiate themselves with the U.S., wanted to be a part of.  Georgia was one of the few desperate nations that blindly followed America into war and gave Bush the ability to say the  "international" community supported the war.  

Saakashvili wanted America to make good on its promise.  It attacked S. Ossetia knowing Russia would respond with overwhelming force.  Of course Russia was prepared for such an event.  That's good military strategizing; especially considering S. Ossetia was a highly contested region that wanted to secede from Georgia and join Russia.  Trust that Georgia knew how Russia was going to respond.  In fact, so did Bush and every other world leader.  Saakashvili acted very imprudently.

Notice that Bush and Rice have again advised Saakashvili not to use military force to provoke Russia once more.  You know you're a bad leader when leaders from other countries have to tell you what not to do to keep from destroying your country.  Saakashvili assumed the risk of Russia's "aggression."  He's not a child.  He's going to suffer the consequences.

I've gone way off topic.  But I know most Americans won't get the full-story.  I just had to share the part of the story U.S. media is inexcusably overlooking.