geopolitics
Libya is located on the southern bank of the Mediterranean, adjacent to Egypt, Tunisia and other countries, and its territory is mostly desert. 19 12 became an Italian colony. Since then, France has controlled southern Libya for several years. 195 1 year, Libya gained independence and became a kingdom. 18, the "Freedom Officers Organization" led by Gaddafi launched a military coup, seized power and established the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Geopolitically, Libya is of great significance to France. It faces Europe across the sea and is surrounded by four French-speaking countries. Many French politicians regard Libya as a special country in their own country, and the French authorities naturally cannot stand idly by. There is another important factor. Because of oil interests, the French government can only break off diplomatic relations with the Qaddafi government in Tripoli, Libya, and then recognize the Libyan opposition. There is no way out now. This can understand why France has made a high-profile announcement to participate in military operations against Libya. Because France's main oil facilities in Libya are concentrated in Benghazi, another big city in Libya (within the control of the rebels).
economic factor
By the end of 20 10, the number of French companies operating in Libya increased from 18 in 2008 to 32, mainly investing in the energy field. According to the US website, French oil companies have invested billions of dollars in Libya. CCTV commented that for France, if the Libyan government stabilizes the situation and its dominant position, the former will pay a heavy political and economic price. On the contrary, if the rebels are helped to come to power, France will undoubtedly be the biggest beneficiary.
The disease of the European Union
Last year, the European sovereign debt crisis hit EU member states hard. Finally, after more than half a year of adjustment, we slowly entered the recovery stage. The soaring international oil price, especially the Brent crude oil price in the North Sea, makes most European countries that use North African oil face the risk of imported inflation. This is what I introduced in China Fiber Finance Review: Oil/Cotton Capital Movement under American Control.
From an economic point of view, the strategic purpose of the United States is very clear. After disrupting the situation in North Africa, import inflation into Europe, and then suppress the euro to boost the dollar. The European Union headed by Germany and France is naturally not to be outdone. In response to the "soft knife" of the United States, on the one hand, European banks actively built financial firewalls, on the other hand, they simply overthrew the Qaddafi regime and used American strategy to support the Libyan opposition in Libya. By then, France will greatly enhance its energy interests in Libya.
Originally, the earthquake in Japan temporarily suppressed the international oil price, which was really good for the EU. I didn't expect Wall Street analysts to ignore the impact of the earthquake in Japan on the world economy every few days and turn their heads to the situation in Libya to forcibly raise the international oil futures price. In addition, the United States "tried its best" to deal with the earthquake of Japanese allies, and it was too busy to take care of Comrade Gaddafi, which led to the tendency of Libyan government forces to regain control of the situation, and the Libyan war situation was once again deadlocked. It seems that the European Union has been ignored by the United States again. As one of the two giants in the European Union, Germany will definitely not take the lead in sending troops to intervene (the defeated country in World War II), so France has no choice but to face the current Libyan government.
America-the ultimate embodiment of "soft power"
Diseases in America
After the 9-magnitude earthquake in Japan, the United States was the most urgent. Why? Of course, he is not worried about Japan, but because the US dollar index has been sideways for too long, and finally found a chance to rebound at the bottom of the 76th line. A super earthquake caused the yen to appreciate sharply against the dollar, which knocked down the dollar again. Anxious America yesterday forced the Group of Seven (G7) to hold urgent consultations to jointly intervene in Japan's foreign exchange market. Interestingly, yesterday, both the British Treasury and the French central bank admitted to intervening in the yen, and the German central bank also confirmed that it was intervening in the market, while the European Central Bank refused to comment, which is worth pondering.
However, on the Libya issue, the US government is vague. This is contrary to the tough foreign policy that American diplomacy has always been at the forefront. Why? Quite simply, whether the Libyan government forces win or the opposition wins, it is unprofitable for the United States. Only by letting the situation in Libya and North Africa continue to be chaotic will it be beneficial to the United States. Although American warships fired more than 100 tomahawks at Libya on the 20th, it was mainly because people "cleared their stocks" first, and then stimulated the domestic demand of the domestic arms manufacturing industry. This is how jobs are created.
Americans never expected the situation in Libya to be resolved immediately. Because the oil interests of the United States are in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain (anti-government demonstrations have recently taken place in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and the United States immediately supported Saudi Arabia to send troops to suppress it, which is quite powerful for the Saudi government to "suppress bandits"), not in North Africa. Moreover, Libya's oil reserves only account for 3% of the world's total, mainly supplied to Europe, and its output has been declining in recent years.
Therefore, at present, the United States has no clear interest goal in Libya. On the contrary, Libya is just a wedge for Americans to deal with the EU. Therefore, the international community, which seems to be dominated by Europe and the United States, supports military action against Libya. The essence behind it and the different interests of western groups will certainly complicate the situation in Libya in the later period.