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Article: France and Africa: dangerous liaisons.
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 23, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"FRANCE and Africa, we are like an old couple," reflects Bruno Delaye, the gregarious special adviser on Africa to President Francois Mitterrand of France. "We argue, we disagree, but in the end we cannot separate. We have too much, too many friends, in common."
If much of the West now seems to view much of Africa as being beyond hope or help, France still lays claim to special relationships there with roots in the colonial era. Alone of European countries France dispatched 2,500 soldiers to intervene in Rwanda last month while its neighbours were wringing their hands. Once Nelson Mandela had been inaugurated as South Africa's new president, his first state visitor ...