Sarkozy the 'peacemaker'? - Was August 2008 a French diplomatic resolution of the Georgian crisis?

Résumé du document

Two distinctive strands characterize the extensive amount of literature commenting the diplomatic resolution of the Georgian crisis. While some attribute it to the French President Sarkozy's panache, and "diplomatic fleetness", others, refusing to grant one man all the glory, rather emphasize the European Union (EU)'s common handling of the crisis.

Instead of fueling fruitless debates over to whom (EU or France) goes the credit of this crisis resolution, this study seeks to balance the two before-mentioned clear-cut statements by arguing a random combination of numerous facilitating factors with respect to the French President's way into a successful crisis resolution. Without these factors, such a demonstration of French high-profile diplomacy would have been unlikely.

We distinguish three types of factors.
The EU-related factors refer to EU's institutional settings, former commitments in Georgia as well as to European Member States (MS) conflicting geopolitical preferences within the European Council. The contextual factors are to be associated with the summer 2008 international conjuncture. Finally, the "Sarkozy" factors refer to the French President personality and diplomatic history.

Tags: Georgian crisis,EU-related factors,European Member States, French President, diplomatic fleetness

Extraits

[...] "We are opposed to Georgia and Ukraine's entry because we think that it is not the correct response to the balance of power in Europe, and between Europe and Russia," he told France-Inter radio”. “France opposes Georgia, Ukraine as NATO members”, USA Today. Sarkozy also fancies his chances of pulling off a diplomatic coup because of his good relations with Moscow. France, along with Germany, opposed Bush's move to put Georgia on a fast track to NATO membership at the NATO summit in Bucharest in April”. [...]

[...] M. Tran, “Enter Sarkozy the peacemaker”, the Guardian. Dehousse & Menon, op.cit., p worrying new world order, Europe frets about its place in a different world order”, The Economist. [...]

[...] Juncos, “European Union's Relations with the Wider Europe”, Journal of Common Market Studies, vol Annual Review pp. 193-212. R. G. Whitman & S. Wolff, EU as a conflict manager? The case of Georgia and its implications”, International Affairs, vol no pp. 87-107. Websites Collège d'Europe J. Weisensee, “Measuring European Foreign Policy Impact: The EU and the Georgia Crisis of College of Europe EU Diplomacy Papers, September 2010, retrieved 10 November 2010, www.coleurop.be/file/ . /ird/ . /EDP_9_2010_Weisensee.pdf. [...]

[...] Nicolas Sarkozy held the Presidency of the European Council from July 2008 to December 2008. The EU allocated 25 million to Abkhazia and 8 million to South Ossetia between 1997 and 2006, making it the largest foreign donor. EU allocated million to Abkhazia and million to South Ossetia between 1997 and 2006, making it the largest foreign donor. In addition, just over million was spent on humanitarian assistance under ECHO between 1993 and 2006” R. G. Whitman & S. Wolff, EU as a conflict manager? [...]

[...] At the eve of the negotiations, the President made the most of the strong diplomatic ties he continuously built and fostered with Russia ever since he came to power. The French Head of State has in fact a history of taking challenging stances vis-à-vis Russia. After the December 2007 Russian parliamentary elections, he distinguished himself by congratulating Vladimir Putin, even though many other MS leaders loudly denounced the countless flaws that characterized these irregular elections[13]. What is more, not only did the Nicolas Sarkozy largely benefited from France history of opposing American foreign initiatives[14], but he also forged himself a reputation of being keen in hosting heads of rogue states and international pariahs[15]. [...]