France, 2002

I wish at the outset to pay tribute to the

remarkable work of the Secretary-General, who,

through his outstanding personal qualities and sense of

dialogue, gives our Organization unparalleled

influence. I congratulate Mr. Jan Kavan on his election

as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-

seventh session. I also congratulate Switzerland on its

admission to our Organization, and Timor-Leste on its

forthcoming admission.

A year ago, to our stunned horror, New York and

Washington were struck in unprecedented attacks.

From now on no one now can disregard the dark side

of the world: international terrorism that combines

archaism with technology, and shifting underground

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criminal networks with a growing risk of the

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

These formidable opponents insinuate themselves

into the heart of the world's complexity. They play on

frustrations and resentment, hatred and fears. They foil

our plans; they know how to find weak spots and turn

our weapons against us. No, the world is definitely not

suffering from an excess of power. To the contrary, it is

suddenly discovering its extreme vulnerability.

Faced with these threats, the temptation to forge

blindly ahead could emerge. That would be a serious

mistake. Force cannot be the sole response to these

elusive adversaries that are constantly changing.

The example of Afghanistan shows this.

Mobilizing the international community enabled us to

overthrow a retrograde totalitarian regime that

harboured and supported the Al Qaeda network and

dealt a harsh blow to terrorist infrastructures. That was

necessary, but it is not enough. We must now rebuild;

we must help the Afghan people, maintain our efforts

over the long term, and continue our work to bring

about stability and democracy, but also to dismantle the

drug economy and the trafficking it fuels.

The fact that force alone is often futile is one of

the characteristics of our age. We live in a world that is

interdependent, where cause and effect may be distant,

indirect and unpredictable. Let us take care that our

interventions do not give rise to new frustrations,

produce new imbalances or spark fires that we cannot

put out.

The case of Iraq is typical of this new situation. It

is a country that has defied the authority of the Security

Council and flouted international law for years. It is a

regime that poses a grave threat to security, particularly

the security of the peoples of its region, because of the

risk of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Its

conduct is the direct cause of the great suffering

endured by its people.

Is the international community concerned? Of

course it is. Can it continue to tolerate this situation?

Definitely not. Should it act? Obviously: the status quo

cannot go on. France's determination to obtain

compliance with the law is absolute.

We must act, but we must do so effectively. We

must act, but without risking results opposite to those

we seek. We must take care not to exacerbate a

situation that is already very disturbing. We must act,

but there are many traps. Intervention that is politically

or legally ill-defined or poorly mounted would not

garner the broad support necessary; it might galvanize

public opinion in the region against it, and the regime

in Baghdad, which is isolated now, could benefit;

lastly, it might exacerbate tension in the Middle East

and beyond at a time when we should, on the contrary,

redouble our efforts to return to the path of dialogue

and peace.

How are these traps to be avoided? How are we to

succeed? There is only one way, and it is demanding. It

is the path of responsibility collective responsibility.

The world now is one of interdependence. Its stability

concerns us all. All of us must contribute to it.

The necessary measures must be adopted by the

international community after in-depth and transparent

consideration. Any temptation to engage in unilateral

preventive action would be dangerous. We must take

care to avoid any suspicion of bias or injustice. This is

the only way to ensure that any action to enforce law

and restore security does not add to insecurity. That is

the best guarantee of effectiveness.

That is why, in the case of Iraq, France advocates

a dÈmarche made completely legitimate by collective

deliberation. It requires two successive steps. First, we

must together reaffirm the need for United Nations

inspectors to return and demand that Iraq comply at

last with its obligations under the Security Council

decisions taken since 1991, and do so according to a

definite timetable. That is the objective of the

international community. It is also in Iraq's interest. If

Baghdad persists in its refusal to allow the inspectors

to return unconditionally, then there must be

consequences. The Security Council should then decide

on the measures to be taken without excluding any

option. Responsibilities would be clarified. The world

must be able to act. But it must also be coherent and

effective, in a sustained way. That is today the real

challenge to our values, and to our democracies.

I recently travelled to the Middle East, the

Balkans and Afghanistan. I realized the strength of the

aspirations and hopes for peace. But I also saw how the

efforts and energies of various parties need to be united

and centred on a collective ambition.

No Power can today assume sole responsibility

for world equilibrium. The world aspires to be

structured around poles of stability and progress. In

addition to the United States, the European Union is

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naturally destined to form one such pole, along with

Russia, China, Japan and India, among others. In future

each actor must make its contribution to the effort. It is

a common project that we must build.

That is the ambition that inspires the European

Union, and France's action within it. The Union affirms

its role on the world stage in the service of peace and

prosperity. It is acquiring the appropriate diplomatic

and defence instruments. With a view to major

enlargement, the Union is also committed to genuinely

re-making its design. That is the purpose of the

Convention on the Future of Europe, guided by the

principles of democracy and effectiveness for a future

Europe. In that way, the Union will contribute to the

stability of the continent and beyond. Finally, the

European model reconciles in a unique way the

requirements of social cohesion and economic

performance to further a common plan, while

respecting the diversity of all. For all those reasons, I

am convinced that Europe's voice offers elements for

addressing the major challenges of our time.

Today, power in all its aspects must be shared. It

is essential to listen to diverse approaches and points of

view. A dialogue among cultures is essential. Only this

will enable us to understand the main issues today by

taking into account the history and aspirations of every

people and every country. Only this can prevent us

from having too narrow a conception of the world

based on ignorance and on fear of the other. Only this

can guide us in putting humankind back at the centre of

our concerns and at the heart of our action and our

shared commitment.

Sharing means responding to the requirement of

solidarity. Extreme poverty, famine, epidemics and

financial crises are factors contributing to disorder and

fomenting instability. Terrorism feeds on these things.

Generosity must be the corollary of power. It is our

political and moral duty. It is also in our own interest.

Accordingly, France has pledged to augment its

development assistance, which will increase by 50 per

cent over the next five years.

Owing to its geographic proximity and historical

and cultural ties, my country has a deep friendship for

Africa. It feels a special responsibility. That continent,

more than others, needs the solidarity of the

international community in the difficult trials it is

experiencing: the too-numerous conflicts that persist;

the return of the spectre of famine; the economic

difficulties; and the tragedy of AIDS, which today

strikes nearly 30 million Africans.

Yet Africa is rich in potential, rich in the

enthusiasm of its young people and in the energy of its

civil society, and rich in memory, in tradition and in a

treasury of wisdom from which we all have much to

learn. Important efforts are under way today to advance

human rights, democracy, the fight against corruption,

and favourable economic and social policies for strong

and balanced growth. The establishment of the New

Partnership for Africa's Development attests to the

continent's willingness to take charge of its

development, in the context of a renewed partnership

with the industrialized countries. Let us recognize and

support those efforts.

In particular, we must help Africa to move

forward on the path of conflict resolution in Sierra

Leone, Liberia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and the Sudan. Those

tragedies concern us all, because today there are no

more localized crises. Instability spreads. The

international community must mobilize.

In the Great Lakes region, the agreements signed

at Lusaka, Pretoria and Luanda must be implemented.

They must lead to the withdrawal of all foreign troops

present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to

the disarmament of foreign armed groups, to

reconciliation and to a return to peace.

With regard to Western Sahara, it is good that the

Security Council, in its most recent resolution,

resolution 1429 (2002), gave Mr. James Baker the time

to work to bring the parties closer together. That time

must be used to make progress.

We must stay engaged in the Balkans, where the

progress made this year must be consolidated in

Kosovo, in the former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Linking

the Balkans to Europe through the rule of law and

democracy is, more than ever before, our common

aspiration.

In the Middle East, we must emerge from the

impasse and restore hope. The situation will worsen as

long as the parties remain prisoners to the logic of

violence. There is urgency to act. The Palestinian

Authority must use all available means to prevent and

curb terrorist actions. With a view to the creation of an

independent, viable and democratic Palestinian State,

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based on the 1967 borders, it must pursue its reforms,

particularly in the institutional context.

For its part, the State of Israel, while it

legitimately wishes to defend itself against terrorism,

must do so with respect for international law. The

security imperative cannot by itself take the place of

policy. Settlement-building must cease, and the Israeli

armed forces must withdraw from the occupied

territories, as demanded by the Security Council.

Measures must be taken quickly to improve the now

alarming humanitarian and social situation of the

Palestinian people.

On the basis of Security Council resolutions 242

(1967), 338 (1973) and 1397 (2002) and the principle

of land for peace which all the Arab countries,

meeting in Beirut, agreed to recognize at the initiative

of Saudi Arabia the political process must be

relaunched with the aid of the `quartet'. We support

the convening of an international conference at an early

date. The objective must be a just, comprehensive and

lasting peace; a peace based on the coexistence of two

States within secure and recognized borders,

guaranteeing security for the Israelis and offering the

Palestinians a normal life with dignity; a peace based

on a comprehensive settlement of the regional conflict

between Israel and its neighbours.

The attention that we pay to regional crises must

not distract us from the responsibility that we must

assume in the face of global challenges. The United

Nations is playing its full role in the fight against

terrorism. Let us do likewise in the other great

struggles of our time.

Let us fight tirelessly against the proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction and their means of

delivery. The President of the French Republic has

proposed that the Security Council meet at the highest

level in 2003, during the General Assembly, with a

double mandate: to review non-proliferation policy and

to give it a new impetus.

Let us mobilize all actors for sustainable

development in a renewed partnership, in conformity

with the commitments made at Doha, Monterrey and

Johannesburg. The time has come to strengthen

concrete cooperation to permit access by all to basic

resources such as water and energy, to basic social

services such as education and health, and to food

security. Let us also call for the ratification and full

implementation of the Kyoto Protocol on climate

change.

Let us establish true global governance of

sustainable development and give it the necessary

coherence. France proposes the creation of an

economic and social security council and of a world

environmental organization to give all countries

especially those of the South the possibility of

making their voices heard on those issues.

Finally, let us fully exercise our responsibility to

defend and promote human rights. These are universal.

Progress, often fragile, must be encouraged. Violations,

often so numerous, must be punished.

Let us strengthen the authority and the

universality of the International Criminal Court to

enable it to ensure that the most serious crimes at the

international level do not go unpunished. This new tool

is essential to build a more just and democratic world

where the principle of responsibility is fully respected.

Through ambitious conventions, let us provide

better protection, as we did for children, for the

disabled and for the victims of forced disappearance

and torture. Let us fight against corruption. Let us

commit ourselves to the negotiation of a universal

convention against human cloning for reproductive

purposes, as proposed by France and Germany.

Yes, the principle of collective responsibility is at

the heart of the international system. It is at the heart of

United Nations action. In order to play its full role, the

Organization must pursue its reforms. In particular, we

must increase the representativity of the Security

Council by enlarging both categories of membership.

France supports the aspirations of Germany, Japan and

India in particular.

The United Nations is the keystone of the world

order. The generous and strong ideas that presided over

its birth, just after a world conflict that pushed the

limits of barbarism to the unspeakable, retain all their

currency. The contemporary world is complex,

confusing and unpredictable. It is urgent that we forge

among nations a new alliance, a community of destiny.

That is our future; that is our chance. Through our

actions, let us respond to the expectations of the

world's peoples.