Editing Jacques Chirac (section)

==== Foreign policy ====
[[File:Victory Day Parade 2005-26.jpg|thumb|Chirac with [[George W. Bush]], [[Gerhard Schröder]], [[Vladimir Putin]], [[Junichiro Koizumi]] and other state leaders in Moscow, 2005]]

Along with [[Vladimir Putin]] (whom he called "a personal friend"),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/node/15578042 |title=Europe's bear problem |date=25 February 2010 |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=8 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629205103/http://www.economist.com/node/15578042 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Hu Jintao]], and [[Gerhard Schröder]], Chirac emerged as a leading voice against [[George W. Bush]] and [[Tony Blair]] in 2003 during the organisation and deployment of American and British forces participating in a [[Coalition of the willing|military coalition]] to [[Deposition (politics)|forcibly remove]] the government of [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] controlled by the [[Ba'ath Party]] under the leadership of [[Saddam Hussein]] that resulted in the 2003–2011 [[Iraq War]].

Despite British and American pressure, Chirac threatened to veto, at that given point, a resolution in the [[UN Security Council]] that would authorise the use of military force to rid [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction]], and rallied other governments to his position. "Iraq today does not represent an immediate threat that justifies an immediate war", Chirac said on 18 March 2003. Future prime minister [[Dominique de Villepin]] acquired much of his popularity for his speech against the war at the United Nations (UN).<ref>Stefano Recchia, "Did Chirac Say"'Non'"? Revisiting UN Diplomacy on Iraq, 2002-03." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 130.4 (2015): 625-654 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43828728 online].</ref>

After Togo's leader [[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]]'s death on 5 February 2005, Chirac gave him tribute and supported his son, [[Faure Gnassingbé]], who has since succeeded his father.<ref name="Smith" />

On 19 January 2006, Chirac said that France was prepared to launch a [[nuclear warfare|nuclear strike]] against any country that sponsors a [[List of terrorist incidents|terrorist attack]] against French interests. He said his country's [[Force de frappe|nuclear arsenal]] had been reconfigured to include the ability to make a tactical strike in retaliation for terrorism.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903311.html Chirac: Nuclear Response to Terrorism Is Possible] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204084314/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903311.html |date=4 December 2016 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 20 January 2006</ref>

Chirac criticised the [[2006 Lebanon War|Israeli offensive into Lebanon]] on 14 July 2006.<ref>{{cite news|title=France Criticizes Israel Attack on Lebanon |date=14 July 2006 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071400746.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024182220/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071400746.html |archive-date=24 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, Israeli Army Radio later reported that Chirac had secretly told Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Olmert]] that France would support an Israeli invasion of Syria and the overthrow of the government of President [[Bashar al-Assad]], promising to veto any moves against Israel in the United Nations or [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121878 |title=France Urged Israel to Invade Syria During War |date=18 March 2007 |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805123723/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121878 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Whereas the disagreement on Iraq had caused a rift between Paris and Washington, recent analysis suggests that both governments worked closely together on the Syria file to end the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and that Chirac was a driver of this diplomatic cooperation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.institutmontaigne.org/blog/jacques-chirac-explorateur-du-monde-multipolaire|title=Jacques Chirac – explorateur du monde multipolaire|last=Duclos|first=Michel|date=1 October 2019|website=Institut Montaigne|language=fr|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001142422/https://www.institutmontaigne.org/blog/jacques-chirac-explorateur-du-monde-multipolaire|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Robert Kocharyan and Jacques Chirac in Yerevan, 2006.jpg|thumb|Chirac and Armenian president [[Robert Kocharyan]], 2006]]
In July 2006, the [[G8]] met to discuss international energy concerns. Despite the rising awareness of [[global warming]] issues, the G8 focused on "[[energy security]]" issues. Chirac continued{{when|date=August 2014}} to be the voice{{citation needed|reason=Declaring him to be "the" voice is POV without a source|date=August 2014}} within the G8 summit meetings to support international action to curb global warming and [[climate change]] concerns. Chirac warned that "humanity is dancing on a [[volcano]]" and called for serious action by the world's leading industrialised nations.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

After Chirac's death in 2019, the street leading to the [[Louvre Abu Dhabi]] was named Jacques Chirac Street in November 2019 in celebration of Chirac's efforts to bolster [[France–United Arab Emirates relations|links between France and the United Arab Emirates]] during his presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/uae/heritage/street-named-in-honour-of-jacques-chirac-at-louvre-abu-dhabi-ceremony-1.936272|title=Street named in honour of Jacques Chirac at Louvre Abu Dhabi ceremony|newspaper=The National|date=11 November 2019|last=Dajani|first=Haneen|access-date=21 April 2020|archive-date=30 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830200654/https://www.thenational.ae/uae/heritage/street-named-in-honour-of-jacques-chirac-at-louvre-abu-dhabi-ceremony-1.936272|url-status=live}}</ref>

Chirac espoused a staunchly pro-Moroccan policy, and the already established pro-Moroccan French stances vis-à-vis the [[Western Sahara conflict]] were strengthened during his presidential tenure.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wPGAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154|page=154|title=Perspectives on Western Sahara: Myths, Nationalisms, and Geopolitics|location=Lanham, MD|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1-4422-2685-2|editor-first=Anouar|editor-last=Boukhars|editor-first2=Jacques|editor-last2=Roussellier|chapter=Diplomatic Struggle in Africa and Europe over the Western Sahara Conflict|first=Antonin|last=Tisseron|access-date=21 August 2021|archive-date=27 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927095717/https://books.google.com/books?id=8wPGAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154|url-status=live}}</ref>