French Forces Research Articles

Rwanda Redux: The Latent Genocide in the Central African Republic and the Failure to Protect

The paper makes a critical analysis of the conflict in the Central African Republic which began as a simple military coup but has gradually degenerated into a humanitarian disaster as clashes between rival militia groups have produced severe civilian casualties. The situation is made even more complex as the anti-balaka Christian militias have embarked on a systematic ethnic cleansing of Muslims and the AU led international peacekeepers supported by French forces are visibly overwhelmed by the unfolding crisis. It is argued here that religious polarization is perpetuating the conflict and the lethargic attitude of the international community to implement the Responsibility to Protect may, once again, result to genocide similar to Rwanda. The crisis is analyzed within the conceptual framework of Jonathan Fox’s theory of ethno-religious conflicts.

The Siege of Strasbourg, by Rachel Chrastil

The Siege of Strasbourg, by Rachel Chrastil. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2014. 320 pp. $39.95 US (cloth). Just as the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 represented an important milestone on the sanguine path to total war, the sieges conducted during that conflict also reflected a strange hybrid of seventeenth century practices and rituals, and the increasing destructive power of modern industrialized warfare. Of course, the most significant and protracted sieges conducted during this war were of Metz and Paris. For good reason they have received the lion's share of attention from historians studying this period. However, the relatively brief (six week) siege of Strasbourg is of special interest for a number of reasons. Since it was the first major city besieged by the advancing allied German armies the destruction of cultural heritage and civilian lives through artillery bombardment evoked outrage in a European community that had been spared any major war since the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. It was also a somewhat unique situation in that the Germans were attacking a city populated by people that they intended to reunite with an empire from which they had been annexed by France centuries earlier. Chrastil has chosen to focus her study on the experience of the citizens during the siege as opposed to the military-political dimension of the conflict. This seems to have been a wise decision as the sections that discuss the military aspects of the conflict are amongst the weakest in the book. Fler chronicle of the drama of the besieged inhabitants of the city is at times compelling and the author has succeeded in bringing new manuscript sources to light that help to provide a very personal perspective on the course of the battle. The author also avoids falling into the trap of providing a chronology of hardships suffered by the city's population by continually attempting to place her narrative into the larger context of broader historical trends--the rudimentary state of international law governing the conduct of war, the role of humanitarianism as a motive for the intervention of non-belligerent states and the importance of gender stereotypes in enumerating civilian suffering. And although Chrastil has pushed the military dimension of the siege into the background and only gives a rough sketch of the actual course of events in the field, she does offer an interesting character study of the leaders of both the German and French forces--Generals Jean Uhrich and August von Werder. In particular, she gives an insightful analysis of how each commander perceived his assigned role based upon military conventions and how each played their designated parts in this drama. …

Frontier Arms Race: Historical and Archaeological Analysis of an Assemblage of Eighteenth-Century Cannon Recovered from the Detroit River and Lake Erie

An assemblage of six iron 4-pounder guns, recovered from the Detroit River between 1984 and 2011, is contextualized against the military history of the Great Lakes between the founding of Detroit (1701) and the outbreak of the War of 1812 The guns, their condition, and their deployment are used as indexes of the increasing militarization of the region, as French, Native American, British, and American forces contested the control of economic resources and strategic waterways.

Diplomacy in Black and White: John Adams, Toussaint Louverture, and Their Atlantic World Alliance by Ronald Angelo Johnson (review)

Deplomacy in Black and White: John Adams, Toussaint Louverture, and Their Atlantic World Alliance. By Ronald Angelo Johnson. (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2014. Pp. 241. Cloth, $49.95.)Reviewed by Gregory K. WeimerJoining a growing body of scholarship on Saint-Domingue and its relation to the early American Republic, Ronald Angelo Johnson argues that race was a central political issue in John Adams's relationship to Toussaint Louverture. Diplomacy in Black and White provides a fresh perspective on the dynamic role race played in Dominguan-American diplomacy, particularly in the period surrounding the Intercourse Act of 1799. In the first monograph-length study of this topic, Johnson uses foreign correspondence, congressional debates, presidential papers, and newsprint to argue that the Adams administration successfully negotiated concepts of race in order to foster a mutually beneficial Atlantic World alliance with General Toussaint Louverture in Saint-Domingue. Ultimately, Diplomacy in Black and White tells the story of the planning, execution, and collapse of Dominguan-American diplomacy at the end of the eighteenth century.Johnson argues that between 1798 and 1800 a major shift occurred in geopolitical diplomacy. When France's relationship to the United States and Saint-Domingue faltered during America's Quasi-War with France, Dominguans and Americans sought out each other. For the Adams administration, a close association with Saint-Domingue represented an opportunity within the Caribbean to increase trade and expel French forces from the Western Atlantic. For General Louverture, the United States was a trade partner and a source of commercial, military, and political support for his conquest of Hispaniola. Thereby, Adams and Louverture established a short-lived diplomatic bond under the Intercourse Act of 1799, and a subsequent tripartite treaty was agreed to by British, Dominguan, and American officials. Johnson argues that within the United States, the Adams administration skillfully handled the topic of race (inherent in Americans' perceptions of Louverture and SaintDomingue), to gain support for this alliance.Diplomacy in Black and White highlights several important events in Dominguan-American diplomacy, each chapter-length: Joseph Bunel's 1798 diplomatic mission to Philadelphia, the 1799 Intercourse Act, Edward Stevens's appointment as consul general, the joint command of Commodore Silas Talbot and General Toussaint Louverture, John Marshall's appointment as secretary of state in 1800, and the reversals of Thomas Jefferson's presidency. Highlighting each, Johnson draws attention to diplomacy fraught with racial implications and operating on several different levels.In the first two chapters, he argues that race was influential both in Americans' perception of the Intercourse Act of 1799 and in Adams's strategy for supporting this law. In 1798, Louverture initiated talks by sending Joseph Bunel as special envoy to Philadelphia, armed with a promise to protect American shipping interests in Saint-Domingue. Seizing the opportunity, while responding to anti-French sentiments, the Adams administration and leading Federalists brought the Intercourse Act to Congress. This law maintained the commercial embargo of France but allowed the president to reopen market relations with French territories that defended American ships from French privateers. Race became a major component of the resulting political debate, as southern lawmakers questioned the extent of America's commitment to a racially diverse Saint-Domingue. …

The Inspector of Music Meets the French

AbstractWhen the French military forces arrived in Newport in 1781, they brought with them not only music of a social nature, such as country-dances, but also music used in military ceremonies. Americans quickly adopted many French customs, melodies and traditions. A fife major's manuscript of 1781 is only one of many that evinces the importance of John Hiwell, the Continental Army Inspector of Music, in promoting this French influence on American military ceremonial music. This article also examines some aspects of fifes and drums in the Revolutionary War era.

Political leadership and the politics of performance: France, Syria and the chemical weapons crisis of 2013

This article draws upon developments in UK research on political rhetoric and political performance in order to examine the incident in 2013 when French President Francois Hollande committed French forces to a US-led punitive strike against Syria, after the use of chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb on 21 August. The US-led retaliation did not take place. This article analyses Hollande's declaration on 27 July and his TV appearance on 15 September. His rhetoric and style are best understood as generic to the nature of the presidential office of the Fifth Republic. The article concludes by appraising how analysis of the French case contributes to the developing literature on rhetoric, celebrity and performance.

Guerrillas and bandits in the Serranía de Ronda, 1810–1812

The Spanish Guerrilla (1808–1812) which has given its name to ideologically motivated insurgencies is usually portrayed as a patriotic uprising against the French occupation forces of Napoleon. It was that, in part, but also many other things besides. This case study illustrates its overlap and convergence with banditry but also with social unrest turned into uprisings directed by poor Spaniards against their creditors, as in the storming of Ronda by insurgents in 1810. From the propaganda of the day to the subsequent Spanish patriotic historiography, there has been a tendency to exaggerate the amplitude of events and also the damage that was done to the French forces and the casualty figures inflicted on them.

Disputed Heroes: Early Accounts of the Siege of Londonderry

Disputed Heroes:Early Accounts of the Siege of Londonderry Karen A. Holland The one hundred-and-five day Siege of Londonderry in 1689, at the close of a conflict-ridden seventeenth century, was a crucial episode in the larger War of the Two Kings (1688–91) that brought Catholic forces into conflict with Protestants in Ireland. The deposed James II had arrived in Ireland in March 1689 to capitalize on the support of his fellow Catholics in an attempt to regain his crown. By the time the king began his march north, Richard Talbot, earl of Tyrconnell—whom James II had appointed lord deputy of Ireland—had established Jacobite control of all of Ireland with the exception of Londonderry and Enniskillen in Ulster. The Siege of Londonderry began in April 1689 when the combined Irish and allied French forces led by James II arrived before the city walls and demanded the surrender of the Protestant town. Instead of the expected capitulation, they were met with gunfire that killed several of the king’s bodyguards and the possibility of surrender was lost. By June, the military siege had entered a second phase with a blockade of the neighboring River Foyle in an attempt to starve the resistance into submission. It would take an English relief expedition six weeks to break the boom and, with vital supplies now reaching the city, the Siege was lifted on July 31, 1689.1 The relationship between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland was marked by a deep and enduring animosity; the relationship among the various Protestant sects on the island was likewise often rancorous. Religious tenets, politics, and ethnicity all divided the two predominant confessions in the North, the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians. Ethnically, most Presbyterians were [End Page 21] Scots colonists to Ulster. The Episcopalians were the New English immigrants to Ireland.2 The episcopal Church of Ireland was the established church. Presbyterians, who dissented on church organization and theology, were suppressed. In matters of governance, the Episcopalian church was administered by bishops, whereas the Presbyterians favored a more republican organization overseen by ministers and elders. The Puritanism of the Dissenters was also in conflict with the remnants of popery that the Presbyterians believed continued to be practiced by the Churchmen. Furthermore, both sects had fundamentally different political philosophies. Anglicans were, by and large, supporters of “divine right” monarchy that saw the ruler as a chosen representative of God. Presbyterians, on the other hand, tended to be versed in resistance theory and supported the concept of the deposition of a tyrannical monarch. Presbyterians were frequently quicker in their support of William III than the Episcopalians, who struggled intellectually with the overthrow of the hereditary monarch James II.3 Historical and literary accounts of military engagements often unanimously extol one outstanding individual as the hero of the campaign—for instance, the role of Patrick Sarsfield at the Siege of Limerick. The varying accounts of the Siege of Londonderry, however, present no clear-cut hero. 4 Four works authored in the first two decades after the Siege, in a range of literary genres, propose a variety of individuals as the hero. Two of the authors promote themselves as the heroes of the Siege: Rev. George Walker in his journal A True Account of the Siege of Londonderry (1689) and John Mitchelburne in his five-act tragicomedy Ireland Preserv’d or The Siege of Londonderry (1705). The other two texts acknowledge Colonel Adam Murray as the champion of 1689: Rev. John Mackenzie in his history A Narrative of the Siege of Londonderry (1690) and Joseph Aickin in his epic poem Londeriados or a Narrative of the Siege of Londonderry (1699), each portray Murray as the hero, though they emphasize different aspects of his personality. The conventions of the literary genre that each author purposefully selected—a journal, a drama, a narrative history, and an epic poem—require certain attributes of the hero and create certain expectations and interpretations on the part of the reader. Readers do not treat genres as interchangeable; rather, as one recent scholar of the history of reading noted, they link the text to others they have already read, signaling “the appropriate ‘pre-knowledge’ in...

‘Not a drop for the settlers’: reimagining popular protest and anti-colonial nationalism in the Moroccan Protectorate

This article reevaluates the so-called Meknès water riots of 1937 as a way to understand how rural economic decline and the contest over natural resources during the Protectorate period sparked anti-colonial protest in Morocco. The ‘riots’ have long been considered an early example of Moroccans unifying under the banner of an emergent anti-colonial nationalism. This article argues, however, that the revolt cannot be adequately conceptualised as simply a reflection of the nationalist message based on the rehabilitation of the Alawi sultan and Islamic scriptural reform. When situated in the long-term transformations of the regional economy, urban infrastructure and local forms of religious power, the protest emerges as an organic and powerful attempt by Meknès residents to reclaim local sovereignty over natural resources that had been wrested away from their pre-Protectorate arbiters by the sultan's government and French forces. Popular action in Meknès took many forms based on a range of local logics that had little to do with abstract questions of national rebirth and was often diametrically opposed both to nationalist groups from outside the city and to the sultan's government.

Spine Injuries Related to High-Performance Aircraft Ejections: A 9-Year Retrospective Study

During an aircraft ejection, the pilot is exposed to accelerations to the point of human tolerance, which may cause spinal injuries. Many nations have reported a spinal trauma rate of about 20-30%, with plain radiography as the first-line exam. Insofar as ejection seats and diagnostic imaging have improved, the objectives of this study are to describe the spine injuries among recently ejected French aircrew, to analyze the spinal imaging used, and, if necessary, to propose a better standardized radiological procedure. A retrospective cohort study included all aircrews of the French forces who ejected from 2000 to 2008, with an authorized access to the technical reports of the investigations. There were 36 ejections collected, 75% with an MK-10 seat and an arrival on dry land. All pilots were alive, but 42% of them sustained 24 spinal fractures, most of the time with a simple compression of the thoracic segment, but also 4 ligamentous or discal lesions. Computed tomography or RMI was used in 64% of cases and four fractures were missed or underestimated on X-ray. One complex fracture required surgical treatment. A return to flying duties was frequently possible within a period of 6 mo. New generation ejection seats remain highly traumatic for the spine. It is recommended that all ejected aircrews be assessed with computed tomography to improve the sensitivity of the screening for fractures. The risk of asymptomatic lesions makes necessary the systematic use of a stretcher for initial evacuation when possible.

Paul Ledoux. An Alsatian painter and engraver in the 1914-1918 French forces

Paul Ledoux (1884-1960) est un artiste-peintre et graveur ne en Alsace, province francaise devenue allemande apres la guerre de 1870. Apres ses etudes artistiques a Strasbourg, Paris et Munich, il se retrouva de nouveau a Paris en 1914 au moment de la declaration de guerre. Il s’engagea dans l’armee francaise et combattit en Argonne. Durant le conflit, jour apres jour, il prit des notes dans ses petits carnets qui se trouvent resumees dans le present article. Il reussit egalement a poursuivre son art sur le terrain, illustrant par ses œuvres la vie des soldats et des lieux de combat.

The Mouth of a Labyrinth: Beauty’s Invitation to a New Violence

I. Introduction In 1955, Simone Petrement interviewed Abbe de Naurois, chaplain for Free French forces, who visited Simone Weil while she was in Middlesex Hospital in London in spring of 1943. Of few memories he recounted of his conversations with Weil, thorough bewilderment was foremost: What confusion...between principal propositions and subordinate or interpolated clauses, what continuous swerves and strayings...the acrobatics of a squirrel in a revolving cage! (1) For Weil's readers de Naurois's bewilderment is often shared, as for Weil truth hit upon contradiction only to be reconciled in mystery. Perhaps one of greatest contradictions in Weil's writings--and even in her life--was role of In Intimations of Christianity Among Ancient Greeks, we see several lines from Aeschylus quoted: first, from Agamemnon, Weil writes, gods who sit at celestial helm, grace comes violently; (2) then, from Suppliants, we read, Zeus strikes down ruined mortals from their hopes lofty as towers but he arms himself with no violence. (3) While on one level contradictory, Weil argues that in a much deeper way both of these passages speak truly of man's relationship with God. Grace comes violently, Weil affirms, but ultimately no violence can be predicated of divine. The nuance of Weil's understanding of God's violence contributes to her ambivalence toward Old Testament, in which God is at times depicted as a mere master to his slaves. (4) The books of Old Testament she deems most troubling recount acts of war and genocide perpetrated by Israel and ordered by God; this attribution of violence to God was to Weil's mind the greatest mistake possible to make with regard to him, (5) and Weil saw in it roots of a new order ultimately predicated upon violence of collectivism. At same time, Weil's own discussion of God's activity within moral agent often includes attributions of violence to God, especially in her consideration of beauty, through which divine is said to enter, devour, digest and kill its often unsuspecting victims. In this article, will explore concept of violence in Weil's writings, discuss in part some of her concerns regarding violence of God in Old Testament, and ultimately show how her understanding of beauty points to establishment of a new violence through which man becomes a new sacrifice to God. Finally, will conclude by distinguishing God's violence from collective II. Israel's Violence as Collective Violence From excommunicated Marcion of early Church to canonized St. Thomas Aquinas, numerous theologians and biblical scholars have acknowledged differences between Old and New Testaments with respect to how God reveals himself to man. Traditionally, means of reconciliation is achieved by transposing biblical narrative into context of mankind's moral maturation. Aquinas, for instance, implies that in Old Testament God enforces law by temporal threats and promises to initially encourage practice of virtue as if among children. Thus, Aquinas proposes, while the New Law is not distinct from Old Law: because they both have same end, namely, man's subjection to God ... New Law is distinct from Old Law: because Old Law is like a pedagogue of children ... whereas New Law is law of perfection. (6) Though of itself insufficient, Old Law is seen as prefiguring New Law, and precepts of Old Law that fall beyond purview of natural law are deemed provisional, but are nonetheless upheld as rational and illuminative. The contrast with Weil's analysis could scarcely be greater. In a letter to historian of religion Deodat Roche, she writes: I have never been able to understand how it is possible for a reasonable mind to regard Jehovah of Bible and Father who is invoked in Gospel as one and same being. …

Surrealism and the Art of Crime by Jonathan P. Eburne

Reviewed by: Surrealism and the Art of Crime by Jonathan P. Eburne Vincent Aurora Eburne, Jonathan P. Surrealism and the Art of Crime. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2008. Pp. 344. The thesis and methodology of Jonathan P. Eburne's Surrealism and the Art of Crime are made clear from the outset. Eburne's aim is to chart how Surrealism, from its beginnings in the early 1920s to its dispersion in the 1950s, was shaped to a significant degree by its reaction to crime. His methodology is chronological, with each chapter pertaining to discrete moments in the movement's history. The introduction's clarity of purpose is quickly clouded, however, by the first chapter, which deals with 1922, when the proto-Surrealist group was still the particularly fractious Paris branch of Dada. In this chapter, although the Surrealist reaction under examination is vaguely to crime, it is more precisely to artistic "crime," or to the way crime novels "kill" certainty by their multiplication of red herrings and dead-ends, and to the "epistemological murder" (27) of naturalism by photography, which, in their opinion, had co-opted naturalism's claims to realism. The chapter ends with a description of the Surrealists' distribution of nonsensical, decontextualized papillons in Paris, where they carried out an "assassination of unitary logic and its ideological confines," (46) the last in a series of "crimes" that appear rather anemic in comparison to the heartier assertions Eburne makes in his introduction. After this shaky start, Eburne returns in earnest to his thesis in chapter two, which recounts the "période des sommeils" of 1922-23 and the main Surrealist concern of the day--the transcription of Robert Desnos's and René Crevel's waking dreams. In their accounts of these "dream days," (61) the Surrealists stressed the lyrical and poetic aspects of Desnos's dream ramblings, while barely mentioning Crevel's, which were laced with imagery of horribly violent crime. To explain this strange omission, Eburne notes that while the unconscious impulses these dream sessions released were indeed, in Desnos's verbalization, the treasure-trove of great beauty, fantastical images and wonders the Surrealists had hoped for, the unconscious that Crevel revealed was clearly the hiding place for gruesome violence and bloodthirsty desires, all of which were repressed by the ego, and for good reason. According to Eburne, the Surrealists had an unconscious preference for Desnos's happier expression of the unconscious, and subjected Crevel's to a second censorship, after that of the ego, much as they chose to ignore the foul crimes enumerated in Lautréamont's Maldoror, favoring instead a celebration of his "thirst for the infinite." (65). Despite Crevel's and Aragon's objections that the Surrealists [End Page 159] were thus prettifying the truth of unconscious life and ignoring a royal road to the unconscious, Eburne shows that the Surrealists demonstrated a revulsion for crime--an attitude that marked their movement in the years when fascism was looming on the horizon. Chapter three relates the Surrealists' reaction to the anarchist Germaine Berton's assassination of an ultra-right journalist. When the group hailed Berton as a true Surrealist, not just in word but in deed, it united once and for all with the far Left, a union whose excesses included Louis Aragon's acceptance of terrorism as a justifiable means of warfare. As Eburne points out, this acceptance, together with Breton's assertion that firing blindly into a crowd was a simple Surrealist act, would repeatedly return to haunt the Surrealists, and would lead indirectly to Aragon's expulsion from the group in 1932. In chapter four, Eburne charts the ever-deepening anticolonialist alliance between the Surrealists and French Marxists between 1925 and 1928 in reaction to the Rif wars, native uprisings in colonial Morocco that were brutally repressed by French forces. Eburne's focus in this chapter does not, however, pertain to the book's central thesis, since the Rif uprisings, and even the French repression of this unrest, cannot truly be considered crimes per se, however germane they were to the development of Surrealism. Nonetheless, the chapter helpfully demonstrates that while chafing under the strictures of a doctrinaire Marxism, the Surrealists incorporated...

How the Whites Blew Their Chances

By investigating various aspects of the anti-Bolshevik struggle in Russia’s south-western borderland, this article examines the chances for victory of the Whites in the Russian Civil War. The article maintains that the Whites rapidly transformed from a patriotic movement into an ultra-nationalist force that did not tolerate any deviation from their dogmas. In the pursuit of a great, one and indivisible Russia, White leadership, especially General Denikin, antagonized all potential allies – from the anti-Bolshevik political elite, through the Cossacks and the Ukrainians, to the French forces intervening in the South. A centralized government that Denikin created, one obsessed with the desire to control everything within its reach, further aggravated this situation. The article’s underlying thesis is that the defeat of the Whites was – so-to-speak – a self-inflicted blow and that had they pursued a policy of including rather than excluding potential partners, their chances for victory would have been much greater.

Tending Our Vines:

The partnership and friendship of John Jay and Richard Peters reflect two extraordinary individuals who helped to plant the seed of American independence and nurture it in diverse ways for more than half a century through a long and devoted association. Toward the end of their lives, Peters wrote to Jay, “my recollections of the long and sincere love and friendship I have undeviatingly cherished for you afford to me the most gratifying and cordial satisfaction.” Their correspondence reflects two men with many shared interests but two distinct personalities. Both men were well educated and successful attorneys before the outbreak of the Revolution to which both became deeply committed. While their careers took different paths, their friendship strengthened over time and found expression in many unexpected ways as they “tended their vines.”

British Infrastructure and French Empire: Anglo-French Steam Interdependency in Asian Waters, c.1852–1870

This article considers the Anglo-French imperial relationship in the Asian littoral 1852–1870, revealing the ways in which Britain afforded France the use of key elements of maritime steam infrastructure in Asia, including coal supplies, coal storage depots, and ship repair yards. This facilitated the projection of French naval and military force to Asia. It also facilitated French colonization of Southeast Asia. This also left France dependent upon Britain for important parts of its maritime infrastructure in Asia. This article explores the dynamic of competitive-collaboration between the two powers, arguing that both deepened their interdependence in Asian maritime infrastructure for wholly self-interested reasons (Britain forestalled the development of independent, coal-based French power in Asia and France used British port facilities to support the development of French colonial power in Asia). In this collaborative relationship, Britain remained the senior partner.

Ivory Coast: Victor’s Justice

Ivory Coast: Victor’s Justice

The 2009 A(H1N1) influenza pandemic in the French Armed Forces: evaluation of three surveillance systems

The French military forces had to modify their epidemiological surveillance systems at the time of the 2009 A(H1N1) influenza pandemic. The aim of this article was to present an evaluation of the different systems used. Two influenza surveillance systems are usually used in the French forces: one permanent (Surveillance épidémiologique des armées or SEA) and one seasonal (Système militaire d'observation de la grippe or SMOG). The pandemic required the implementation of a daily surveillance system (Surveillance quotidienne--SQ), which aimed to monitor disrupted activity owing to 2009 A(H1N1) influenza. The qualitative evaluation of these three systems during the period from September 2009 to February 2010 was performed using 11 criteria based on the list defined by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Atlanta. Although it included only 30 sentinel units vs. 320 for the other systems, the SMOG system was the best-performing system in terms of relevance, feasibility, efficacy, quality of data, usefulness, acceptability, efficiency and cost/benefits/costs ratio. The SQ proved very expensive in terms of logistics. The SQ did not bring any significant advantage compared with the weekly surveillance schemes. In the eventuality of another similar episode, influenza surveillance could be significantly improved by using the SMOG system extended to more units for better geographical coverage.

Morbidity and Impaired Quality of Life 30 Months After Chikungunya Infection

We compared the morbidity and quality of life of military policemen ("gendarmes") infected with chikungunya virus (CHIKV+) 30 months after contamination. We categorized the subjects in 3 groups: healed patients (n = 48), non-healed patients (n = 37, 44% of CHIKV+), and uninfected subjects (CHIKV-, n = 297). Data were self-recorded in this retrospective cohort study; they included sociodemographic information, clinical symptoms, and the Medical Outcome Study 36-item short-form health survey (MOS-SF36) quality of life questionnaire. The study population was mostly men (92%), with a median age of 42.8 years, regardless of CHIKV status. The main complaints were rheumatic symptoms (pain, stiffness, and swelling), reported 5 times more often by non-healed CHIKV+ subjects and 2-3 times more often by healed CHIKV+ subjects than by CHIKV- subjects, and fatigue. The CHIKV+ patients reported more use of health care services. Thirty months after infection, all rheumatic symptoms were more frequent and intense among CHIKV+ than among CHIKV- subjects, with a gradient of severity between healed and non-healed CHIKV+ subjects. Non-healed CHIKV+ subjects reported subsequent limitation in their activities. All dimensions of MOS-SF36 as well as physical and mental component summaries were impaired in CHIKV+ compared to CHIKV- subjects, with a decreasing gradient of impairment from non-healed to healed CHIKV+ subjects, then to CHIKV- subjects. These observations confirm the long-term impact of CHIKV infection on both physical and mental health. Questions persist regarding the duration of this impairment and the possibility of a return to "before CHIKV" health status for infected patients.

Humanity and human DNA

Genetics has marked the second half of the 20th century by addressing such formidable problems as the identification of our genes and their role, their interaction with the environment, and even their therapeutic uses. The identification of genes raises questions about differences between humans and non-humans, as well as about the evolution towards trans-humanism and post-humanism. In practise, however, the main question concerns the limits of prenatal genetic diagnosis, not only on account of the seriousness of the affections involved but also because of the choice to be made between following-up the medical indication and engaging in a systematic public health strategy aimed at eliminating children with certain handicaps. History reminds us that genetic science has already been misused by political forces influenced by the ideas of eugenics, particularly in the Nazi period. We may wonder whether it is reasonable to formulate a judgement on the life of a child yet to be born, merely on the basis of a DNA analysis. My experience as a practising geneticist and my involvement in French politics forces me to stress the dangers of a new eugenics hiding behind a medical mask. As demonstrated by epigenetics, human beings cannot be reduced to their DNA alone. In our society, one of the problems concerns individuals whose lives may be considered by some as simply not worth living. Another problem is the place and the social significance of the handicapped amongst us. Fortunately, recent progresses in gene therapy, biotherapy, and even pharmacology, appear to be opening up promising therapeutic perspectives. We should bear in mind that the chief vocation of medical genetics, which fully belongs to the art of medicine, is to heal and to cure. This is precisely where genetics should concentrate its efforts software.