And, at least in the case of European joke armies, I say und das ist auch gut so.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

backyard. Libya was clearly a mistake, but it wasn't the case that this was due to French bungling of the classic diplomacy/force tandem, because there was no diplomacy to speak of. It was pure US-style power project for sake of power projection, and not even the US has resources for that, as Irak has shown.

I am refering to the area of the world known as Françafrique (using the term by the way means I am not lending my approval to it, just stating it as a fact), and recent interventions include Côte d'Ivoire a couple years ago, or more recently Mali and Centrafrique.

Libya is definitely not in Françafrique. You use of it is a red herring.

Where has Germany succesfully used its diplomatic power to alleviate tensions, and how has it done so?

The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill