Vedrine: Threat of Force Key To US-Russia Initiative on Syria
Hubert Vedrine, a former French minister for foreign affairs, talks to Al-Monitor about the Syrian crisis.
French President Francois Hollande, an early and vocal advocate of military intervention in Syria, has had a difficult few weeks.
His ally, US President Barack Obama, left him out on a limb not once, but twice by deferring the use of force in Syria first to a congressional vote and then in the context of a potentially groundbreaking US-Russia agreement to gain Syrian compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Like Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Hollande faces a public uninterested in military intervention in Syria. Of those polled, 68% of French citizens oppose a military strike.
In the current discussions over a UN Security Council resolution, France supports a reference to Article 7 of the UN Charter, which regulates the use of force if Syria does not comply. This plan is opposed by Russia and China.
