UN General Assembly
1984

181. I owed it to representatives here present to provide this very broad overview, for I am standing at the rostrum of an assembly whose responsibility is global, covering the whole world, from north to south and from east to west, dealing with all aspects of human activity—political, economic and social. I have thus outlined some of the principles that guide my country's policy. We have reaffirmed them on many occasions; we will continue to do so with the calm and the confidence that arise from our convictions. 182. France's foreign policy is guided by a few simple underlying principles. It serves essential values, values that since the appearance of the first individual have put mankind at the centre of the efforts of every civilized society and every society aspiring to be civilized, values that consequently acknowledge the rights of peoples and thus the rights of nations, values, lastly, that cry out that peace is possible through the balance of forces in a climate of free expression and through a search for progress for all.