This book offers a thorough study of France’s evolving relationship with humanitarian intervention and the duty or responsibility to protect (R2P) norms over several decades. Spanning the presidencies of Mitterand, Chirac, and Sarkozy, the book traces France’s role as a norm entrepreneur in promoting humanitarian intervention in the 1990s, its subsequent exclusion from R2P negotiations in the early 2000s, and its later efforts to promote and implement R2P after its formal adoption. The book is organised chronologically, with parts exploring France’s method in discrete time periods. This structure successfully shows how France’s stance has changed in response to changing global norms and events.
The author’s central argument is that France’s association with humanitarian intervention and R2P has been complex and multifaceted. The book highlights France’s historic commitment to human rights promotion stemming from its self-perception as the “homeland of human rights”. It also demonstrates how France’s colonial legacy and desire to maintain global power have led to tensions, with its interventions being perceived as neo-colonialist by some. The book makes several key contributions. Firstly, it offers a thorough case study of how France has grappled with humanitarian intervention over many years. This helps highlight the challenges of executing R2P and humanitarian norms in practice. Secondly, the book gives a nuanced viewpoint on R2P by acknowledging its promise while also examining its selective implementation. Furthermore, the historical method provides useful insights into norm evolution and diffusion in international relations.
The book also makes important contributions by showing the interconnectedness between local norms and foreign norm promotion. It shows how France’s view of itself as an upholder of human rights shaped its foreign agenda. The book also shows the tensions forming when Universalist norms based on colonialism are pushed globally. This complicated interplay between domestic identity, colonial heritage, and changing international norms offers theoretical insights into state behaviour.
Additionally, the book’s structure and historical method allow it to follow long-term norm development. By splitting the analysis into separate time periods, the book can show slow changes in norms that may be imperceptible in short-term studies. Examining France’s stance from the 1990s onwards reveals how humanitarian action has remained debated and controversial. This helps us understand norms as continually changing rather than fixed things.
While the book produces useful insights into norm evolution and spread, engaging more deeply with research from critical IR theorists could improve this analysis.
Although the book successfully utilises original sources and uses a clear chronological format, there are several ways the analysis could be strengthened. The study’s narrow focus on France limits knowledge of how other nations have shaped norms on humanitarian action. Expanding the focus to compare France with other powers interested in R2P projects, such as the US, would provide useful comparative insights.
The book would also benefit from increased engagement with academic debates on humanitarian action and R2P. Situating the book’s points within key works by scholars such as Anne Orford, Alex Bellamy, and Ramesh Thakur would allow deeper theoretical analysis. Furthermore, comparing France’s stance to other big cases of humanitarian intervention that took place concurrently, like Kosovo, could give additional context.
While the historical structure reveals broad norm shifts, the analysis may be improved by exploring French domestic politics more deeply. Examining government debates, political speeches, public opinion polls, and protests regarding interventions could uncover more complicated motives beneath state actions. Additionally, studying different views within the French government—such as from the military, Foreign Ministry, or development agencies—could show institutional debates that shape policy.
From a methodological viewpoint, the book rests heavily on textual analysis of government documents, the UN decisions, media, and secondary literature. Incorporating different sources could improve the study. Conducting talks with French officials and ministers involved in these cases could provide more clear insights into decision-making processes. Analysing statistical data on the effects of French measures may also bolster reviews of their success.
While the opening chapter grounds the study in famous IR theories, these frameworks fade in later empirical parts. Ensuring the theory ideas presented initially stay embedded in the historical analysis would strengthen the consistency.
Overall, this book offers an important investigation into France’s engagement with humanitarian intervention norms. It offers a useful foundation and opens several avenues for future study. It represents a useful case study of how France has managed to change norms surrounding humanitarian action. The historical method provides insights into norm evolution and spread, while the critical viewpoint unpacks the practical difficulties of performing R2P regularly and successfully. Although additional theoretical views and more recent cases could improve the analysis, the book nonetheless offers an insightful examination of France’s multifaceted association with humanitarian ideals. This will prove useful for scholars and politicians looking to understand the promise and dangers of R2P implementation.
Open access
