Introduction to International Politics
Foreign Event Analysis
| Locale | ![[]](http://www.kvasaheim.com/flags/flag15-fr.png "Flag of France, Metropolitan") | France, Metropolitan |
|---|---|---|
| Title |
“Angolagate” trial may violate Angolian state’s sovereignty
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| Summary |
Angola has called for a halt in the trial of 42 individuals accused of selling weapons to this African nation during its civil war in the 1990s. A French court is trying the accused, including notorious French and Israeli politicians and businesspeople, of selling Soviet-made weapons to Angola through a French firm despite French laws prohibiting sale of weapons to countries at war and an embargo on Angola. The accused have also been implicated in exchanging bribes and favors in oil trade. Angolan representatives decry this case as a threat to national sovereignty because it may expose confidential state information.
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| Analysis |
The trial of Europeans in the “Angolagate” case in France, from the Angolan point of view, poses a threat to the state’s security and sovereignty. As Angolan lawyers have testified, the case could reveal secret information about the Angolan government and its dealings to the international community. Angola claims that it has a right, as a sovereign state, to protect its own security and confidentiality. Breaches in confidentiality could detrimentally affect Angolan standing with other nations, diminishing the power of and jeopardizing the Angolan state. The French state should not, from this viewpoint, violate the Angolan state’s sovereignty.
From the French viewpoint, because of the anarchy in international politics, the Angolan state cannot effectively appeal to a higher power to defend their interests. Therefore Angola and France must each act to protect their own interests. For France, this means enforcing laws that give the French state power. The law against selling weapons to countries at war and the embargo against Angola during the 1990s were French measures to exert their power over Angolan affairs. The Angolan civil war had pitted a Marxist president against rebel forces, so France, acting upon the philosophy that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” supported the rebels by imposing and embargo on the Marxist state. This decision protected the interests of French power, so criminals who undermined the law were a threat to French security. Consequently the French state plans to prosecute violators of the embargo as a serious offense.
"Angolagate” pits the interests of two states against one another. Because neither can appeal to a higher authority, each will simply try to exert power in order to preserve their own national security.
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| Perspective |  | Realist |
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| Out-of-Region URL | ||
| Submitted | October 9, 2008 at 02:02 am | |
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