Values versus realpolitik debate

As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights affairs are more and more a subject for strategic debate.

When Nicolas Sarkozy was candidate for the French Presidency, he claimed that he would be the president for human rights, drawing a line with French former presidents. Sarkozy made a U-turn for French policy in this field by rejecting realpolitik. But since he has been elected, continuity seems to prevail against rupture.

The debate between realpolitik and values in foreign affairs is not new. Recently, France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner just made a mockery of realpolitik in an interview saying that reality must prevail when it comes to power. It was quite contradictory to what Kouchner said before being minister.

Kouchner even stated that according to him it was a mistake to create an Undersecretary of State for Human Rights. But we could only be satisfied that the classical temptation to patronise other countries to lecture them on the public stage with a superior attitude was over. Such behaviour is always popular in Western public opinions but usually bears little fruit in the real world. The goal is more to lure public opinion than to change reality. It is more a non-governmental organisation (NGO) mission than a government task.

Sarkozy has nominated Kouchner, as the advocate of droit d'ingérence. In the Cabinet, the emblematic Rama Yade has been appointed as State Secretary for Human Rights. She reports to Kouchner which means she is not in charge of violations of human rights in the French republic. It reminds us of the dispute between the Secretary of State for Human Rights Claude Malhuret and the Interior Minister Charles Pasqua from 1986-1988: indeed Malhuret could not have the advantage when he opposed Pasqua.

Soft power

As a result, the French Foreign Affairs governance raises certain questions.

Is there a specialisation within the foreign affairs ministry? It means that the ministry deals with serious foreign affairs issues when the secretary of state deals with specific human rights at stake. Moreover, we have noticed that using human rights issues could be a means of soft power when it comes to countries that have bad relationships with France. On the other hand, friendly countries would not be blamed. But the supporters of this kind of governance argues that there is now an answer to the following question "Human Right Affairs? Is there a telephone number? Indeed Human Rights Affairs now has a ministry in charge.

Sarkozy is aware of public opinion. And human rights are a very consensual issue. So the leaders are more likely to support symbolic actions and media events such as the public mobilisation around Ingrid Betancourt or the "Bulgarian nurses" in Libya. If it is very important to back these actions then other problems might be pushed into the background when they need more international pressure. Symbolic actions cause huge mobilisations but don't really reflect the international crisis.

The other problem is that such media events involve supposed experts or real intellectuals fighting for human rights but not Non Govermental Organisations (NGOs) which have a real understanding of many issues in many areas. In fact, it is surprising that NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch or the Ligue des droits de l'Homme were not received by the French president when personalities such as Bernard Henri-Lévy, André Glucksmann and Pascal Bruckner - the latter two who supported the war in Iraq - met Sarkozy before he undertook a controversial visit to China. But it turned into a winning challenge: the press reported the event as a success for human rights and these personalities didn't say one word about the following meeting in China.

The French president has often said that France is a Western country and its human rights policy is governed by this. We don't criticise our family and the Western world would never be criticised for human rights abuses.

Indeed France has not criticised Guantanamo whereas the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has. When French citizens are imprisoned for political reasons, the French position depends on the country that violates human rights - for instance the Hamas hostage Galid Shalit receives support from French officials but the Franco-Palestinian imprisoned in Israel Salah Hamouri doesn't.

Dr Pascal Boniface is the founder and director of IRIS (Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques). He has published or edited more than 40 books dealing with international relations, nuclear deterrence and disarmament, European security and French international policy.