France - why?

Because it's difficult to find someone cruel enough to break it to the French people that their country is no longer a superpower and has as much say in what goes on in the world as, oh, say, Finland.

 

Someone's gotta be the whipping post.

 

Exactly. And no one has had the heart to tell them since.

 

I think there permanent seat comes from the fact that both world wars as prior wars were fought in France. So the powers that be realize that millions have died fight for and against France. To prevent another european war they were given a seat.

 

stupid americain, we Francais have the joie de vivre, and i am sexy franche man with the menage a trois for you americaine girls.

frankly, i don't understand it either. Both the French and English remind me of old ladies who can't go away gracefully. if anybody Germany and japan should take their spots. Russia, you're on thin ice too.

 

Nah, basically they should just eliminate everyone except for the US from the security council.

 

France and Britian have nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers.

Germany and Japan do not.

(Well, Japan has these assault ships that are sometimes refered to as "Not Aircraft Carriers" because they look an awful lot like the small carriers the British have. But they are adamant that they are NOT aircraft carriers. )

 

Since no one has actually answered your first question, I shall. The five permament members of the Security Council are the five major allies that won world war II, United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France, and China. Of course, all but the US and UK have had siginificant changes since. France is now under the Fifth Republic. The Republic of China is now the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union is now represented by Russia.

I can't honestly think of why any other country should be a permamnent member of the security council. Some suggest Japan and Germany. However, France still has a greater capacity to project power on a global level than either of those countries and it has its own nukes.

 

Re: Re: France - why?

France won the war? I know there was an underground resistance, but really, it's pretty laughable if they think they won WWII.

Why is France a member of the Security Council? This was Cold War posturing. France got a seat under the suggestion of Churchill, who sought to prop France up to maintain the balance of power v. Russia in international affairs. Churchill was also against the partition of Germany. After partition became inevitable, having a more internationally involved France kept more of Germany from falling under the Iron Curtain. Had there been only 3 powers as part of the German partition (UK, USA, and Russia), East Germany and E. Berlin would have been bigger than they already were. Russia wanted China involved for similar reasons. Red (Russia and China) v. the West (UK, USA, and France).

 

Re: Re: Re: France - why?

This part of your analogy doesn't work out because when China became a member of the United Nations, it was still the Republic of China. The Republic of China held on to the China seat until 1971 and up until that point, it constantly sided with the United States.

 

I think Germany are hesitant to have a big military, just in case , and Japan build whaling boats instead (for scientific purposes ).

 

Besides various small battles throughout the war, 100,000 french fought with the US in Italy, and more than 200,000 in Europe from D-Day on.

They still have a sizable offensive-capable military, and of course nuclear weapons.

The so-called replacements for France on the council are lame. Japan has already entered a state of perpetual decline, and Germany is nothing but a Russian puppet state.