ABSTRACT
Since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, questions about the use of military force have more than ever become topical issues in France. French military forces have indeed been actively deployed more times to more places than in any comparable number of years during the Cold War. In December 1992, France sent 2,000 troops to Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope. Since 1992, an average of more than 4,000 troops have been involved in the various UN and NATO peacekeeping operations in ex-Yugoslavia. In June 1994, under the auspices of the United Nations, 2,500 soldiers were deployed in order to bring assistance to the civilian population of Rwanda. Humanitarian aid is the common denominator of these post-Cold War military operations. Their main aim is not to serve the national interest but rather to allay civilian deaths and suffering in countries ravaged by civil war. Intra-state conflicts calling for peace operations have indeed replaced the more traditional inter-state conflicts prevalent prior to and during the Cold War.
