L'armée française et l'éthique dans les conflits de post-guerre froide

In a number of incidents, particularly in Rwanda (1990-1994) and in Côte d'Ivoire (2004), the behavior of certain French soldiers as regards their respect for military ethics and war ethics has been questioned. Can the hypothesis that democracies are increasingly taking liberties with the ethical standards in post-Cold War conflicts, liberties that are illustrated by the attitude of the US forces in Iraq, be applied to the French army? On the contrary. There has been a reinforcement of external and especially internal control of soldiers' behavior in these conflicts. This is reflected particularly in a special concern for the issues of civilian losses, the controlled use of force as well as the implementation of a voluntaristic policy by the Army high command as regards the ethics of the military career since the French Army has become a professional one. The various forms of human rights violations committed in operations conducted since the end of the Cold War are analyzed here to assess the change in behavior of the Army as regards ethics.