The British ambassador, David Hannay, thought the idea ‘crazy’ but the views of the British would be made known privately to the French and because of her bilateral relationship with France the British eventually expressed approval in the Council. The US thought it a disastrous policy and diplomats concluded that the French were aiming to maximise influence in Francophone Africa and had a ‘desire to be perceived as a great power’.14 The US agreed to vote in the Security Council to give UN authority to the mission as long as the French bore the financial burden.
