Reading your post reminded of an article I read in yesterday's London Times. It reflected some of M. Chirac's thoughts on current issues, as I recall. Anyway I may retrieve it from the re-cycling bin tomorrow and post a precis tomorrow.
100 years of the Entente Cordiale
Taken from the London Times, 20 November, 2004, report by Alan Hamilton
M. Chirac said, "The great ambition of the postwar leaders was to make war impossible in Europe. Experience has shown that when France and Germany get along fine, Europe makes progress".
Relations between France and Britain were never fraught, the President said. We did, after all help to liberate his country. (Not according to the bastardised version of history churned out by Hollywood*). Asked about his vision of a new world order, M. Chirac predicted a "multipolar" world in which China, India and even Latin America were emerging as powerful global forces. But Europe and North America remained destined to work together because they shared the same history and values> He even saw them acting as a joint force of deterrence should trouble ever erupt between new world powers. What, like invading a country to enfore regime change?
"When peace is a stake, when there are human rights issues, no one nowadays could question the need for interference. That does not belie the fact that war is always the worst solution. But it is not up to individual countries to decide to interfere; that would open the door to all manner of interferences and wars. The decision must be made by the international community; the rules of international law must always apply."
M. Chirac called for reform of the UN, 'a tremendous achievement in 1945 but now showing signs of age"'. Major countries such as Germany, Japan, India and Brazil should be admitted as permanent members of the Security Council, and there should be a parallel social and economic council to deal with non-military issues.
The Gallic largely worked on his 200 strong audience of students and academics at Oxford University.
*This comment is mine. Hollywood appears to have re-worked a whole series of historic events so that the Allied participants all seem to have retrospectively changed nationality in order to appeal to a North American audience; which I am sure does not need this distortion of history. The American part in the course of World War 11 can stand alone and without need of embellishment.