Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin says Africa and Europe must stand together to counter the threats and challenges posed by the United States in a unipolar world. He spoke yesterday at the South African Institute for International Affairs in Johannesburg. Former French diplomat and prime minister Dominque de Villepin says the Africa Europe partnership will be driven by crisis management. This is evident in the Sahel by the security crisis posed by jihadism from Mali to Nigeria. There is no simple military solution to this, he argued. The root causes are the lack of political and social inclusiveness and the accountability of administrations and elites. Crisis management is also necessary in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Horn of Africa. De Villepin says it is necessary to reinforce the backbone of the world. The first of these involved reinforcing the axis of Paris, Berlin, Moscow and China to give more stability and perspective to Eurasia. The second axis requiring reinforcement is Europe and Africa. This will give a bigger capacity for the world to stand in front of both local and global crisis that threaten to emerge again like in the cold war era. There was a special mentality and rules that applied in that era, he said, adding that there are no regulations or any help to monitor the dificulties that arise.
