The French-American Foundation Weekly Brief

France joined a large number of nations and international organizations in condemning the violence in the North African nation of Libya as the protests that have swept the Arab world found its newest top target in Muammar al-Gaddafi, leader of Libya since 1969, the Associated Press reported. On Wednesday, February 23, French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested that France may suspend all economic relations with Libya a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned a televised speech in which Gaddafi threatened his own people with civil war, Bloomberg reported. In preparation for a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council scheduled for Friday, February 25, the European Union has called for a resolution to look into the “extremely grave human rights violations” and potential crimes against humanity of the Libyan leader, who has used violent force to quash protest movements across the nation, according to the Nouvel Observateur. This meeting marks the first time the council has called a special session to address a member nation. The UN Security Council also met on Tuesday, February 22, in New York, the first meeting to address the protests and violent repression that have swept Northern Africa and the Arab world since January, Le Monde reported. The Security Council called for an immediate end to the violence being employed by Gaddafi. Following Gaddafi’s menacing rhetoric on Tuesday, February 22, the Arab League equally announced its plans to exclude Libya from a ministerial meeting to be held March 3, with intentions to discuss a potential suspension of Libya from the 22-nation institution.

France sent three military planes to Libya this week to evacuate more than 500 French citizens living in Libya amid violence that has erupted during mass protests of the nation’s leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, RFI reported. Foreign Affairs Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie announced that after two planes left the capital of Tripoli, a third plane left the southeastern city of Sebha on Wednesday, February 23, carrying 165 tourists, 152 of them French nationals, according to Le Figaro. In total, European Union member states are scrambling to evacuate nearly 10,000 from Libya, while Turkey removed about 3,000 nationals on Wednesday, February 23, according to Al-Jazeera. Ships and planes sent to retrieve non-Libyans from the violence and protest have encountered considerable delays. While Asian nations have worked to evacuate nearly 150,000 low-paid workers from Libya, nearly 15,000 Egyptians have engaged in an exodus to cross the land border back to their native Egypt, which itself saw mass protest lead to the ousting of past president Hosni Mubarak on February 11.

France and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement in Riyadh on Tuesday, February 22, in which France will provide technological support to the development of nuclear energy in Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported. Saudi Arabia has projected that its energy demands will triple by 2032. Despite its status as the world’s largest producer of petroleum, the nation is looking to diversify its energy sources, according to Le Point. The technology agreement also will provide the nation with techniques to desalinate its water supply. For nuclear energy, the agreement provides for Saudi Arabia to explore France’s nuclear-energy program, which provides nearly 80 percent of energy in France, the technology behind it, and the human resources necessary. The agreement is the first accord on the peaceful use of nuclear technology for Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is also looking to invest in renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, to limit pollution and increase its energy capacity to facilitate expected growth. German Siemens announced on Tuesday, February 22, a sale worth more than $1 billion of turbines, steam generators, and other parts to facilitate a gas-burning power plant currently under construction in Saudi Arabia, according to the National.

Dominique de Villepin, French prime minister from 2005 to 2007, met with President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday, February 23, for a much discussed conversation between the two political rivals, Libération reported. Villepin, who had not met with Sarkozy in nearly three years, was the third past prime minister to be invited to the Elysée Palace to discuss France’s role as president of the G20 and G8. Villepin warned of a grave situation both domestically and worldwide in his discussion with Sarkozy, clarifying that his concerns come not from his tumultuous political relationship with the current president but from a concern for the future of France and the French people. On Wednesday, February 23, Villepin confirmed that he would not renew his membership to the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), the party of Sarkozy, due to a growing gap between the politics of the rightist party and the French people, according to RFI. In explaining his decision to quit the party after a long open opposition to Sarkozy, the figurehead of the UMP, Villepin said he had been optimistic in renewing his membership for 2010, hoping the party would return to its common ideals, according to France 2. Among other issues, Villepin cited the expulsion of the Roma people since summer 2010 and the ongoing debate over the practice of Islam in France as indicators that the political party was veering away from the people it purports to serve, according to le JDD.

In Paris for three days for the G20 summit, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, leader of the International Monetary Fund, made several appearances and included in his rhetoric talk of French politics, furthering speculation that he will seek a socialist bid for president in his native France, Reuters reported. Though DSK, as Strauss-Kahn is popularly known, has not yet announced whether he will run in the upcoming socialist primaries, a poll by TNS-Sofres released on Wednesday, February 23, showed that DSK would win a second-round faceoff with Sarkozy 63 to 37 percent were the elections to be held now, according to AFP. While the speculative poll gave DSK the greatest margin, it also showed hypothetical victories for socialist hopefuls Martine Aubry (56 percent of votes), François Hollande (also 56 percent), and Ségolène Royal (52 percent), according to Le Parisien. A CSA poll released on Thursday showed hypothetical first-round results, giving DSK 28 percent of votes, a decrease from 30 percent in a poll released a month ago, with Sarkozy taking about 23 percent while far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen receiving 18 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal.

After meeting in Paris, finance ministers from Group-of-20 member states issued a communiqué on Saturday, February 19, showing they had reached an agreement on the main focus of the meeting – global imbalances. The G20 summit was able to accomplish its goal of laying out an agreed-upon list of indicators of economic imbalances, using public and private debt levels, private savings rates, and trade balances as key indicators, according to Time. The list of indicators came as a compromise with China, which had been the primary concern leading up to the summit, as the inclusion of exchange rates and currency reserves were considered essential elements in the equation of global balance but were sure to be shot down by China, according to Reuters. As the narrow victory for the G20 sets a next step of determining how to use those indicators to control global imbalances, Les Echos explored the G20’s reluctance to adopt the reforms most needed to ensure a healthy global economy.