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OO RUEHBW RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHFR #1011/01 1491358
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O 281358Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3172
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0642
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001011 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2018 
TAGS: MCAP PGOV PREL KCRS AF FR
SUBJECT: S/CRS HERBST DISCUSSES CIVIL-MILITARY COOPERATION 
WITH GOF, OECD 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Minister-Counselor Andrew Young for rea 
sons 1.4 b and d. 
 
¶1.  (C) On May 16, S/CRS John Herbst met with French 
Government and OECD officials to brief on S/CRS activities 
and discuss potential areas for cooperation.  At the MFA, 
Jean-Hughes Simon-Michel, PDAS for Strategic 
Affairs, discussed French activities to promote 
civil-military cooperation within the EU and in Afghanistan. 
At the MOD, Michel Miraillet, A/S for Strategic Affairs, 
agreed on the importance of building civilian capabilities, 
while emphasizing that budget restrictions preclude the 
development of any new capabilities in France.  Amb. Herbst 
also briefed Marion Paradas, Head of International Relations 
at the interagency General Secretariat of National Defense. 
At the OECD, Amb. Herbst discussed possible synergies with 
Development Cooperation Directorate Chief of Policy Alexandra 
Trzeciak-Duval and Jerzy Pomianowski, Director of the 
Advisory Unit for the Partnership for Democratic Governance. 
 
¶2.  (C) Amb. Herbst met with Jean-Hugues Simon-Michel, the 
MFA's PDAS-equivalent for Strategic Affairs.  Simon-Michel 
provided some insights into France's forthcoming Defense 
White Paper, which he said will cover the links between 
internal and external security along the spectrum of civil 
and military operations.  For France's upcoming EU 
Presidency, he said France will propose creation within the 
EU of deployable expert teams, a proposal shaped in close 
cooperation with the UK.  Though France is keeping a close 
hold on the proposals now, they will become public in late 
June, following the Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon 
and shortly before the French Presidency begins. 
Simon-Michel said the GOF has recently discussed the proposal 
with German officials and obtained their agreement 
in principle, though not in any level of detail.  When asked 
how the proposed teams would differ from the EU's 
existing list of civil contacts, Simon-Michel acknowledged 
the inherent difficulties of mobilizing civilians rapidly. 
In principle, the EU civilian response teams would be 
deployed on a rapid response basis for three-month periods. 
Security sector reform (SSR) teams deployed under the EU flag 
would be in principle available for immediate 
deployment.  Their members would be seconded, and thus paid, 
by their home nations.  Simon-Michel called the EU 
mission in Chad a success for France in mobilizing European 
partners, including some neutral states that are less 
inclined towards operations abroad.  He noted that West 
Africa is of increasing concern to the GOF and that the 
French EU Presidency will present some proposals directed 
towards that region. 
 
¶3.  (C) Simon-Michel noted that France's civilian component 
is a small part of its engagement in Afghanistan, but said 
that France is considering increasing its participation in 
the EUPOL mission in Afghanistan.  The increased French 
contribution, which would raise staff levels from 3-4 people 
to 10-15, would benefit Franco-German relations due 
to Germany's leadership of the mission.  Any French increase 
would be announced before the June Afghan Support 
Conference.  He said that a crucial element of success for 
June's conference is reaching agreement on principles of a 
comprehensive strategy - similar to that developed by NATO in 
Bucharest, but with a civilian focus.  Simon-Michel 
noted that one priority for France is strengthening Kai 
Eide's role.  The GOF also has a particular interest in 
counternarcotics and the possible UNSCR on chemical 
precursors. 
 
¶4.  (C) Amb. Herbst also met with Michel Miraillet, the MOD's 
A/S-equivalent for Strategic Affairs.  Miraillet 
expressed much interest in the S/CRS concept and activities, 
while emphasizing that France will be unable to 
develop any new capacities in the near future for budget 
reasons.  Miraillet said France does not have an existing 
capability to mobilize civilian experts (for example, a Peace 
Corps equivalent), and that is one of the reasons 
France has not taken on a PRT in Afghanistan.  While 
acknowledging that French NGOs operate in many difficult 
places, and work well with the French military as needed, he 
noted that they do not wish to integrate their 
operations.  Acknowledging that France has capacities in 
Africa, Miraillet said the people and their expertise are not 
transferable to other parts of the world.  He said that, 
therefore, though there is no political opposition in 
France to creating a civilian response capability, France 
does not have the financial or human resources.  (Miraillet 
noted that the forthcoming Defense White Paper calls for 
France's military reserve system to be strengthened, which 
would require increased funding, a problem in and of itself.) 
 He expressed more optimism about the prospects 
 
PARIS 00001011  002 OF 002 
 
 
for creating civilian response capabilities in the EU, but 
noted that European mindsets may need to evolve to 
accommodate more hardship.  Miraillet's staff noted, however, 
that the French gendarmes are a formidable 
deployable asset, and that students and young people are an 
underutilized resource.  In closing, Miraillet's Department 
Head for NATO and EU, Col. Philippe Steininger, expressed 
interest in the capability planning process that S/CRS used 
to determine its staffing goals. 
 
¶5.  (C) Amb. Herbst also briefed Marion Paradas, Director of 
International Relations at the General Secretariat for 
National Defense.  Paradas expressed interest in S/CRS' work 
with, and assessment of the success of, PRTs in 
Afghanistan.  Paradas and her staff also inquired about how 
we ensure both security and civil-military coordination on 
the ground.  Finally, they noted similarities between the 
concept for Africom and the philosophy of S/CRS. 
 
¶6.  (C) At the OECD, Amb. Herbst met with OECD Development 
Cooperation Directorate (DCD) Chief of Policy Alexandra 
Trzeciak-Duval.  Trzeciak-Duval and Rory Keane of her staff 
briefed on OECD activities in "state building" and 
presented publications on security sector reform, fragile 
states, and whole-of-government approaches.  Trzeciak-Duval 
offered to make OECD training materials and sessions 
available to USG staff going into the field.  Trzeciak-Duval 
said that DOD and DOS participation would add to the work of 
OECD's Development Assistance Committee.  Keane asked if 
S/CRS might contribute expertise to DCD's 2009-10 Program of 
Work, which will include civil-military relations; Amb. 
Herbst suggested Matt Cordova. 
 
¶7.  (C) Amb. Herbst also met with Jerzy Pomianowski, head of 
the Partnership for Democratic Governance Advisory Unit. 
Pomianowski will travel to Washington in early June to try to 
build closer relationships with the World Bank, but will also 
meet with DOS, AID, IFC, and MCC.  PDG's steering group 
recently reached a compromise decision to work with 
countries only when invited to do so, rather than identifying 
a list of candidates.  Though no country has yet requested 
PDG's support, Pomianowski said that Somalia has asked the 
U.S. for assistance with service delivery, 
a request which could eventually come back around to the PDG. 
 He noted PDG's goal of establishing international standards 
for what constitutes a functional working environment, as 
well as development of transfer strategies before personnel 
is deployed or service delivery begins to target zones. 
 
¶8.  (U) This cable has been cleared by Amb. Herbst. 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
STAPLETON