COUNSELOR ZELIKOW'S CONSULTATIONS WITH FRENCH MFA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004705

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR C, T, NEA AND EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2015
TAGS: PREL PARM MNUC CH IR IS FR PETER
SUBJECT: COUNSELOR ZELIKOW'S CONSULTATIONS WITH FRENCH MFA
POLITICAL DIRECTOR LABOULAYE

REF: STATE 114952

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Alejandro Wolff, Reason 1.4 B/D


1. (C) Summary: Counselor Zelikow reviewed general themes in
U.S. foreign policy with MFA Political Director Stanislas
Laboulaye and senior ministry officials. The June 28 meeting
took place in conjunction with the Counselor's anti-terrorism
consultations in Paris (septel). In response to a French
request, the Counselor briefed Laboulaye on current U.S.
initiatives in South Asia, the Middle East Peace Process, and
China. On the latter, MFA experts observed that France sees
developments in China as positive, although the EU remains
vigilant about China's intentions on security issues. MFA
experts confirmed that a decision to lift the EU arms embargo
on China has been pushed back indefinitely, for now. On
regional security, the French believe individual Asian
nations have not performed well, with the possible exception
of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF),and that the EU and the
U.S. could help provide new ideas. France also believes that
Europeans and the U.S. need to stop seeing India and Pakistan
exclusively in opposition to each other. The French also
believe that China has been pressuring North Korea to return
to the six-party nonproliferation talks.


2. (C) Summary continued: Laboulaye conveyed the French view
that Iran remains a problem and is more likely than North
Korea to end up before the UNSC. France is not enthusiastic
about the new Iranian leadership, although President Chirac
will send an appropriate congratulatory letter. Meanwhile,
France and its EU3 partners will continue to push every
avenue of negotiation, but the French do not rule out the
possibility of a crisis developing. On terrorism, the
Counselor informed Laboulaye that the U.S. will announce a
new strategy soon, which will focus less on the "war
fighting" aspects and emphasize more the political and
economic dimensions of stopping violent extremism. This
strategy will include activities to build up the police,
customs, border and financial regulation capacities of
countries facing extremist threats (septel). MFA experts
noted that France agrees with this approach and is also
addressing it in an MFA White Paper on counter-terrorism.
Counselor Zelikow and Political Director Laboulaye agreed
that closer consultations between France and the United
States were needed, especially with respect to our Middle
East agenda. End Summary.

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Regional Issues
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3. (C) In advance of his planned technical-level
consultations on counter-terrorism with French experts,
Counselor Zelikow reviewed broad themes of U.S. national
strategy as it applies to U.S. policies in East Asia, South
Asia, and the Middle East. With A/S equivalent director for
Asia, Herve Ladsous, and DAS-equivalent director for the
Levant, Antoine Sivan, Laboulaye and Zelikow exchanged
perspectives on the way ahead in the region. Drawing on
Zelikow's presentation, Laboulaye inquired about U.S.
strategies on development and the Millennium Challenge
account. The Counselor briefed on the Secretary's approach
to these issues and pointed to her planned trip in July to
Africa to highlight the importance she places on development.
In response to a question from Laboulaye on differences
between the President's first and second terms, aside from
changes in tone, Zelikow cited our support for the EU3 on
Iran, French-U.S. cooperation on Sudan in the UN, and our
discussions on Lebanon and Syria. Turning to the Middle
East, Laboulaye commented that Europe found the Secretary's
approach, as witnessed by her speech in Cairo, most
encouraging. There is great hope in Europe that the U.S. can
get through Gaza disengagement, he added. Laboulaye also
observed that it was essential that we maintain pressure on
both sides of the Israel-Palestinian issue, and added that
Europe would support this balanced approach.


4. (C) On Asia, Ladsous said France is very keen on its
relations with China, Japan, and India. He believes that
China has shown a capacity to manage its problems without
renouncing the primacy of the communist party. Given the
party's resilience, the Europeans believe they need to engage
the Chinese. Ladsous noted that Europe does not always agree
on how to effect this engagement, but there is agreement that
developments in China have generally been positive, although
problems do exist. He also cautioned that Europe must remain
vigilant on security issues as the Asians have not been able
to work together on security, except in terms of their
individual relations with the U.S. The Asean Regional Forum
might prove an exception, but in any case, Europe and the
U.S. could assist by providing new ideas to the region.
Already, in part due to our prodding, China is more involved
in UN issues, peacekeeping and the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.
The South Koreans have told the French they believe China has
been leaning heavily on North Korea with respect to the
six-party talks, even if in a discreet manner. The French
are optimistic about prospects for the six-party talks and
claimed that they can be most helpful if brought into the
discussions early. Laboulaye added that France would not
want the North Korea issue to end up before the UNSC.
Ladsous and Laboulaye turned to the EU arms embargo on China
and observed that a decision to lift has been pushed back
indefinitely. (Note: the implication is that the French do
not expect a lift during the UK Presidency.) Ladsous
concluded with the observation that lifting the embargo was
not about selling arms, but about how to handle technology
sales. On South Asia, he suggested that we need to move away
from an approach to India based solely on its relation to
Pakistan. France has been talking to India on such issues as
arms sales, space technology, and nuclear issues, he added.

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Iran
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5. (C) Laboulaye stated that France is concerned with the
Iranian election results -- France is not enthusiastic about
the new Iranian leadership. President Chirac, nonetheless,
will send the obligatory letter of congratulations. It
remains unclear how the election of Ahmadinejad would affect
EU3-Iran negotiations, but France does not see any option
other than to continue to negotiate. That said, he would not
rule out a crisis scenario. Iran may more likely end up
before the UNSC than North Korea, he warned. He noted that
EU3 Political Directors were meeting in Berlin June 28 to
better map out their strategy. (Note: Laboulaye's message
was in contrast to French press reports that cited alleged
differences with the U.S. on dealing with the new more
hardline Iranian leadership and a conclusion that the
election results would not adversely affect EU3-Iran
negotiations.) Laboulaye also observed that the Iranian
President-elect could be expected to attend UNGA in
September, which would represent an opportunity to make
contact and progress.

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Counter-terrorism and security issues
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6. (C) Political Director Laboulaye brought in key staff from
the MFA's Strategic Affairs and Disarmament bureau for a
follow-on round of discussions on security issues with
Counselor Zelikow. The Counselor noted that the U.S. had
completed in mid-June a major counter-terrorism strategy
review (septel). In response to Laboulaye's request for
details, Zelikow explained that the strategy focuses on the
long-term objective of combatting violent extremism or
"strategy against violent extremism." The enemy are
non-state actors which exploit Islam for ideological ends.
Our approach will move away from primarily military and
intelligence operations to building coalitions and
emphasizing the need to build countries' capacities in such
areas as police, courts, border security and financial
regulation. Laboulaye fully concurred, revealing that the
French government is working on a White Paper on terrorism
with similar conclusions. Strategic Affairs and Disarmament
Director Philippe Carre explained the French view that the
Global War on Terrorism had not been well suited to cope with
existing types of terrorist threats. A new approach calls
for an emphasis on reform and a recognition that the problem
is Islamist extremism, while carefully avoiding "clash of
civilizations" language. Zelikow agreed and observed that
the U.S. seeks coalition partners, and that France could help
through its comparative advantage in such areas as gendarme
and police training.

7. (C) In discussing threats, Zelikow cautioned that Europe
is potentially in greater danger than the U.S. given its
growing Muslim communities. MFA Policy Planning Deputy
Director Philippe Errera volunteered that we should be
careful not to allow our political differences to interfere
with how we deal with terrorist threats. It is especially
important that we analyze closely local conflicts in the
world and how they feed into the global terrorism framework,
he added. Zelikow agreed, indicating that we need to speak
more openly about "unhealthy" societies, which are in need of
political reform. Local governments, in turn, will have to
take a calculated risk and more effectively address their
domestic problems. Laboulaye responded that France agrees
with our reform assessment, and was impressed with the
Secretary's performance and message in Cairo, but the French

SIPDIS
also have been told by their Middle East contacts that the
problem is the messenger, i.e. the United States. The U.S.
is unpopular in the region, and France has a few ideas on how
to make "the messenger" more popular, he volunteered.
Zelikow acknowledged that the United States faced an uphill
public image battle in the Middle East, especially since the
Arab media remained hostile. The fact that the United States
will continue to defend Israel in the region, does not help
either. The United States can not easily overcome these
negative perceptions, but Zelikow indicated that France could
help us to better communicate our joint message of reform in
the region.

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More Consultations needed
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8. (C) Zelikow and Laboulaye concluded with an observation
that the United States and France could better coordinate
some of our policies. They noted the convergence in many of
our views, with Iraq being the notable exception. Laboulaye
observed that the Middle East remains an area of major
differences between France and the United States, but that
France is ready to talk with us. Zelikow and Laboulaye
pointed to our support for EU3 efforts with Iran and our
approaches toward Syria and Lebanon as potential models for
future cooperation. Errera also suggested more frequent
exchanges between our respective policy planning staffs.


9. (U) Counselor Zelikow's staff cleared this telegram.


STAPLETON