A charter member of the United Nations, France holds one of the permanent seats in the Security Council and is a member of most of its specialized and related agencies.

Europe
France is a leader in Western Europe because of its size, location, strong economy, membership in European organizations, strong military posture, and energetic diplomacy. France generally has worked to strengthen the global economic and political influence of the EU and its role in common European defense. It views Franco-German cooperation and the development of a European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI) with other EU members, as the foundation of efforts to enhance European security.

Middle East Peace
France supports Quartet (US-EU-Russia-UN) efforts to implement the the Middle East Road Map. France supports the establishment of a Palestinian state and the withdrawal of Israel from all occupied territories. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive peace agreement, France supports the involvement of all Arab parties and Israel in a multilateral peace process. France has been active in promoting a regional economic dialogue and has played an active role in providing assistance to the Palestinian Authority. France opposed the use of force in Iraq in March 2003 and did not join the US-led coalition that liberated the country from the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein. France contributed in part to the 230 million euro EU contribution to Iraq reconstruction in 2003, and has suggested possible additional assistance, in the form of police training and debt relief, after formation of a sovereign Iraqi government.

Africa
France plays a significant role in Africa, especially in its former colonies, through extensive aid programs, commercial activities, military agreements, and cultural impact. In those former colonies where the French presence remains important, France contributes to political, military, and social stability. France maintains permanent military bases in Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon and Senegal. France deployed military forces to Cote d'Ivoire in 2002 and to Central African Republic in 2003 to address crisis in both countries and, with EU partners, led an international military operation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2003.

Asia
France has extensive political and commercial relations with Asian countries, including China, Japan, and Southeast Asia as well as an increasing presence in regional fora. France is seeking to broaden its commercial presence in China and will pose a competitive challenge to U.S. business, particularly in aerospace, high-tech, and luxury markets. In Southeast Asia, France was an architect of the 1991 Paris Accords, which ended the conflict in Cambodia.

Latin America
France supports strengthening democratic institutions in Latin America. It endorses the ongoing efforts to restore democracy to Haiti and seeks to expand its trade relations with all of Latin America.

Security Issues
French military doctrine is based on the concepts of national independence, nuclear deterrence, and military sufficiency. France is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and has worked actively with Allies to adapt NATO--internally and externally--to the post-Cold War environment. In December 1995, France announced that it would increase its participation in NATO's military wing, including the Military Committee (the French withdrew from NATO's military bodies in 1966 while remaining full participants in the alliance's political councils). France remains a firm supporter of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other efforts at cooperation.

Outside of NATO, France has actively and heavily participated in recent peacekeeping/coalition efforts in Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, often taking the lead in these operations. France has undertaken a major restructuring to develop a professional military that will be smaller, more rapidly deployable and better tailored for operations outside of mainland France. Key elements of the restructuring include reducing personnel, bases, and headquarters and rationalizing equipment and the armament industry. French active-duty military at the beginning of 2001 numbered about 437,573, of which nearly 39,000 were assigned outside of metropolitan France. France completed the move to all-professional armed forces when conscription ended on December 31, 2002.

France places a high priority on arms control and non-proliferation. After conducting a final series of six nuclear tests, the French signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996. France has implemented a moratorium on the production, export, and use of anti-personnel landmines and supports negotiations leading toward a universal ban. The French are key players in the adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe to the new strategic environment.

France is an active participant in the major supplier regimes designed to restrict transfer of technologies that could lead to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Australia Group (for chemical and biological weapons), the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Missile Technology Control Regime. France participates actively in the Proliferation Security Initiative, and is engaged with the US, both bilaterally and at the IAEA and OPCW, to curb NBC proliferation from the DPRK, Iran, Libya and elsewhere. France has signed and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.