Alwaght- Only three days before celebrating the 70th anniversary of its independence, Syria on April 14 came under joint missile attack of a Western trio— the US, Britain, and France— to once again experience the intervention of the old colonial powers.
On April 17, 1964, the last units of French military forces left the Syrian territory after holding a 26-year-old mandate over the Arab nation.
But the exit of the France from the Syrian territories did not go forever without thinking of a return to the West Asia region. In the past few years, and particularly after Emmanuel Macron assumed the power in France, Paris is intensifying its efforts for a redefined presence in the region. The main focus of the French leaders is to get a foothold in various parts of West Asia.
Regarding France’s policies towards Syria crisis one may wonder if France intends to restore its colonial-time influence in the key global regions like West Asia or only strives to secure economic interests Is the risk of terrorism influential in the French regional weight gain efforts? How much does Paris work in coordination with the European Union as well as the US? And how unilateral and independent is France in this case?
Historical background
France’s presence in West Asia dates back to the 19th century. After the independence of Syria and Lebanon, both experienced the French mandate, French policy up to 1960 was leaning towards the Israeli regime. The French leaders offered to Israeli Regime a wide range of support, including military backing. Paris, itself a frontrunner in the nuclear technology, helped Tel Aviv to build its nuclear reactors and then nuclear bombs. When the Arab-Israeli war of 1956 broke out following the Egyptian nationalization of its Suez Canal, the French took the Israeli side in the battle. France, together with Britain, attacked Egypt in support of the Israeli forces.
The country’s political approaches underwent a sort of transformation and shift under the presidency of Charles de Gaulle. Paris scaled down its military backing for the Israelis, and instead went towards prioritization of the economic interests in its relations with the Arab world. This approach was important because it laid the foundation for a similar policy the next French presidents followed. Since then, France paid attention to West Asia as a region capable of addressing its energy needs. The energy was not the only attention-getting factor. French leaders also found West Asia a wealthy region of attraction because it made a significant market for the French products.
One year after 11 September 2000 attacks in the US, Washington attacked Afghanistan and two years later sought to unite the West for a coalition to invade Iraq in 2003, the then President of France Jacques Chirac stood against the decision, an opposition that drove the Americans to move towards isolation of France. Finding the objection to the US policies hard, Elysee Palace found it unavoidable to side with the White House in various cases such as the Afghanistan war, imposing diplomatic pressures on Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon, and Iran nuclear case.
Since 2007, when Nicolas Sarkozy became president of France, Paris more seriously joined the Americans policies. The notion was that France sought to build a partnership with the US similar to that of London.
Macron wants France back to the region
In the past few years, France very fast involved in various African conflicts, including Libya, Mali, and the Central African Republic. But it recently built for itself the role of a diplomatic force in West Asia. Although Paris has been relatively successful in securing its interests in the region, its hasty policies and some uncalculated decisions in relation to Syria and Iran have distanced it from full realization of its regional goals. So, France, at the end of the presidency of the former President Francois Hollande and beginning of Macron term began to design new policies with regard to the interacted parties. The center of Macron's policies is the restoration of the glory of France that was once followed by de Gaulle, although there are distinctions between the two in terms of tactics and strategies.
Scrutinizing the failed French policies in the past decade and learning lessons from them, Macron has decided to return to multilateralism as a generally successful policy. Multilateralism played itself out in France's siding with the US and the fellow EU members' policies in various parts of the world, specifically in West Asia. This approach took Macron to contribute to the anti-Iranian pressures of the West. France under Macron also shared with the US an aggressive and interventionist policy in the crisis-hit Syria.
Finding the stability of West Asia a vital factor, France also finds the regional stability tightly linked to Iran's stability, although Paris does not hold Tehran an ally similar to the Arab states. French president also seeks to fill the possible US vacuum in some parts of Asia as Washington seeks refocusing its military presence to the East and close to the Chinese borders as part of “pivot to East Asia policy”, which was initiated by the former President Barack Obama and appears to be under implementation by the current US administration. This strategy will largely serve revival of French power, either through an alliance with the other Western powers or through a unilateral policy. For example, prior to the last Saturday missile attack in the company of the US and Britain, France had threatened to attack Syria separately after Damascus was accused of carrying out chemical attacks, something the Syrian government dismissed as a false flag operation made to build excuses for aggression against Syria.
Contradiction in France's Asian policies
When we look back at the French foreign policy in West Asia over the past 10 years, we can see glaringly apparent political contradictions and even mistakes. At the beginning of the Syrian conflict, France very effectively armed the anti-Damascus opposition and made hard efforts to persuade the fellow European countries to arm the militant factions to fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The outcome of such a hostile policy was the emergence of various terrorist and takfiri groups. But the push for the overthrow of Assad not only failed to bring him down but also the terrorists' heinous crimes against the civilians made the world aware of the Syrian government’s role in fighting terrorism. The French foreign policy mistakes in Syria became clearer when France itself became the target of attacks by terrorists whom Paris had supported politically and logistically.
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, France traditionally favored two-state initiative, which eyes an Israeli state beside a Palestinian one. The French officials have been using the sway over Tel Aviv and other diplomatic instruments to push the Israelis to accede to the solution. But the powerful Zionist lobbies in France, as in other Western states, are strong enough to manipulate the French politics against the Palestinian interests.
France’s place in regional competitions
France tries to take advantage of inter-regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia or Egypt and the Israeli regime for its own economic interests. A big showcase of this policy is the arms deals with the regional states. While some political parties in France raise their voices in opposition, the Elysee Palace continues to sell arms, to Saudi Arabia which waged a destructive war against neighboring Yemen since 2015. The French leaders are even in the race with other Western powers supplying weapons to the Saudis. Paris has been in a campaign to call Saudi attention to France as a weapon seller. France is also a party to the talks to help Saudi Arabia build its own nuclear reactors. Macron and his foreign minister have been pursuing active diplomacy via visits to the regional states, as they find their political, economic, and military interests in tight bonds.
Future of France’s policies in the region
One of the bugs of the international powers' policies in the highly tense West Asia region has to do with lobbying for short-term benefits like weapons sales to the regional states without considering the long-term consequences. Rejecting their leaders' interventionism, the public of the Western countries favor peace and stability. When the US invaded Iraq, regional and global public aversion to Washington reached unprecedented levels. This proved a public affairs challenge for the US for the next years.
France, an aspirant to become a power with sway in West Asia, has been using cultural diplomacy to present a positive picture of itself across the region. Paris is eyeing long-term role in the region. Its policies will be successful only if it considers a win-win game with the regional actors. The regional nations' key interests– peace, security, and cessation of foreign intervention– are on the line as Saudi Arabia and the Israeli regime are following militaristic policy and seriously sowing the seeds of sectarian division in the region. If France continues to support the Tel Aviv and Riyadh’s agenda for such short-term benefits as arms sales, it will certainly fail in its future policies.
France once fueled the conflict in Syria and paid the cost by facing the security challenges posed by the return of over a hundred battlefield-trained terrorists from Syria to France. Any more hasty actions in Syria and other regional hot spots could inflame new home crisis in France. The least fallout could be a failure of Paris policy to rebuild itself as an effective global power outside its borders in a world heading to a multipolar order.
