It is often the case in foreign affairs that a State must make quick decisions in order to
protect its own national interest. However, these decisions are often made without
thorough contemplation of immediate and distant consequences. This was the case in the
incident of France’s blowing up of the Rainbow Warrior. France was in the process of
developing and testing its newest nuclear warheads underground on one of the French
Polynesian islands. A well-respected international environmental pressure group called
Greenpeace reacted to this knowledge by sending out its vessel Rainbow Warrior to
interfere with France’s activity. In order to prevent any intervention, French president
François Mitterrand made a ludicrous and ultimately devastating quick decision by
ordering a team of French agents to bomb the Rainbow Warrior. On July 10th of 1985, the
Rainbow Warrior was bombed twice, killing one crew member, and ultimately sank in
New Zealand waters. Two of the bombing agents were consequently arrested and taken
into New Zealand’s custody. The State of France was ultimately ordered to pay a fine of $7
million to New Zealand as well as facing a series of other disciplinary actions. This paper
argues that France was wrong to bomb the Rainbow Warrior because it was not acting in
its own national interest when taking unnecessary actions that not only led to a loss of life,
but also to the sacrifice of relations with an allied nation.
The consequences of France’s bombing of the Rainbow Warrior could have been easily
avoided had president François Mitterrand taken into thorough consideration the national
