The months June and July have been very busy! Next to the international inaugural Euro-ISME conference (see our previous article->), several meetings were held and events organized. These were very fruitful and have led to the production of interesting and informative material.

We have selected the most important ones for our “Letter of the Summer”. Given the current weather, while I’m writing this letter, the tourists here in Southwest France will have all the necessary time and calm to study these texts carefully. In fact, wind and rain are putting in the mood for reading.

Still, we do not wish June’s drought back but at least we wish you some sunnier days in August and thank you in advance for your always welcomed comments.

PLEASANT READING AND NICE HOLIDAYS

1. The "compendium" of the contributions made to our international colloquium in Dakar has been published and can be downloaded here .

Panel Euro-ISME

2. The statements, from the experts who came from all over the world to our international inaugural Euro-ISME conference in Paris, will be compiled in a conference transcript by the end of the year. You can get a “preview” here:

►The opening speech, by General Jean-Louis Georgelin – Grand Chancelier of the French Legion of Honour and former Chief of the Defence Staff – on the topic “Why is it that difficult to build-up a European Defence?”

►The “conclusions”, by the Major General Eric Bonnemaison, Commander of the Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan Schools.

Allocution Gl Bonnemaison

3. Our partner for the Colloquium of the Senegalese Armed Forces, the representation of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Dakar , forwarded us their monthly review about the current situation in Dakar and Senegal.

Maybe some of you want to learn more about the views of a local NGO on the up-coming election campaign in Senegal?

You can read this lively and lucid report here .

Just as interesting is the extensive paper on the German foreign policy in Africa

And if, instead of reading texts on your screen, you prefer to read a proper book while relaxing in a hamac, we suggest the following:

Benoît Royal - L’Ethique...

"L’Ethique du Soldat Français - la Conviction d’Humanité" ("The Ethics of the French Soldier – Humanity as Belief") from General Benoit Royal

Published by: Economica Serie: Stratégies & Doctrines Published on: 18/11/2010 Number of pages: 220

An English version will be published coming fall with our support.

Here is a summary:

Humanity as belief builds on the respect for human beings, the denial of torture, dignity and ethics. To illustrate the reality of this concept, the author has added about 25 new eyewitness accounts to the new edition of his book. Soldiers from the land forces, the navy, special troops, air force and marine pilots report on their experience with both modesty and vivid emotions. Some have been in Afghanistan, others in the Ivory Cost, Kosovo, Vietnam or Algeria. The author focuses on the latter and describes de vicious circle in which the French soldiers fell into there and how it led them to use torture and brutality. Against this background – a dark chapter of our history – the General Royal poses a crucial question: Which weapons can and want to use modern democracies against the threat of terrorism and mafias of all sorts?

About the author:

General Benoît Royal is a former student of Saint-Cyr’s, class Moncalm (1980-1982). Now he is visiting lecturer and researcher there, at the Department for Ethics and Deontology of the Research Institute of the French Army’s School of Officers (GREC). He has gathered significant experience as a commander in garrison, operational headquarters and field operations. General Royal spent more than 10 years of his career abroad: in Germany, Polynesia, the Reunion Island and the Ivory Coast. Furthermore, he has participated in several training courses in foreign countries (England, Nepal and the USA). General Royal has a degree from the French "Enseignement Militaire Supérieur" and has been a guest auditor at the Centre des Hautes Etudes Militaires (CHEM – the Centre for Higher Military Studies) and at the Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale (IHEDN – the Institute for Higher Defence Studies). Currently, he is the vice director in charge of the recruitment for the French Land Forces. 2009, he was designated with the price of “La Saint-Cyrienne” for the first edition of his book. The new edition has been enriched with 120 additional pages and about 25 new eyewitness accounts.