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Since 1989, French defense and security policy has been undercut by changes in the external environment and domestic pressures to deal with the challenge of economic modernization. The Soviet revolution of 1989, the reunification of Germany, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the experience of coalition warfare during the Gulf War-all have challenged the assumptions and realities underlying the Gaullist synthesis. Above all, the French position on security independence has been put into question. The main hope has been for a European Alliance to supplant the American one over time in the face of a gradual process of change within Europe but change has not been gradual within Europe. The European Union is challenged by discontent within Western Europe. A new Central Europe has emerged that has yet to find its place in European or global politics. A new Russia is emergent in which nationalism is defining an assertive role for the Russians within Europe, but at the same time the economic weakness of Russia limits its ability to play such a role.
Since 1989, French Defense and security policy has been undercut by changes in the external environment and domestic pressures to deal with the challenge of economic modernization. The Soviet revolution of 1989, the reunification of Germany, the collapse of the soviet Union, and the experience of coalition warfare during the Gulf War - all have challenged the assumptions and realities underlying the Gaullist synthesis. Above all, the French position on security independence has been put into question. The main hope has been for a European Alliance to supplant the American one over time in the face of a gradual process of change within Europe - but change has not been gradual within Europe. The European Union is challenged by discontent within Western Europe. A new Central Europe has emerged that has yet to find its place in European or global politics. A new Russia is emergent in which nationalism is defining an assertive role for the Russians within Europe, but at the same time the economic weakness of Russia limits its ability to play such a role. Notably, the election of President Clinton has added another challenge. The French have grown used to an assertive American role within Europe and have defined their role in part as counterbalancing the challenge of the United States. Although this definition of the French role persists (the French press's treatment of the GATT debate is typical of this definition of the French role), many senior French government officials are more concerned about the withdrawal of the United States from active engagement within Europe than the mindless countermanding of US influence. For example, during the 1993 year end TV retrospective, General Moriollon was interviewed by a French journalist who asserted the following: "Isn't the US trying to assert its leadership through the UN?" Moriollon said, "No. The United States is reluctant to participate within UN missions and is very reluctant to become engaged in Bosnia." Clearly the young French journalist was shocked with this realistic response. Moriollon added: "I have just returned from the United States and know what I am talking about." In response to the changing environment, the Balladur Government has promoted the de facto policy of transition in French foreign and security policy. But the transition has been only partial in nature: the Balladur government is a cohabitation government. Power is shared between the President and the Prime Minister in the actual conduct of foreign and security policy. In addition, the Balladur government is itself a coalition among right and center right parties. There is no clear consensus on the definition of a new French synthesis of foreign and security policy. Perhaps the election of a new President of the Republique in 1995 will lead to an explicit redefinition of the Gaullist synthesis or its replacement by something new.
Beginning with a look at continuity and change in French policy since de Gaulle, this book presents the evolution of French security policy in the 1970s and 1980s. Dr. Laird pays special attention to the French nuclear modernization process and to the trend in the last two decades toward a greater emphasis on security interdependence within the Western alliance at the expense of the classic Gaullist stance of independence. He examines the major dimensions of French security policy, particularly French nuclear employment policy and doctrine, the Franco-German relationship, and France's role in Europe and in East-West relations. The book features the first-time translation of some of the most significant recent papers by leading French analysts of security affairs.
This book provides an analysis of the effects of recent historical events on the future of French security policy. The end of the Cold War division of Europe, the rebirth of Germany, the growing pressures for major defense cuts, the calls for France to review its nuclear doctrine, abandon its independent policies and rejoin NATO's integrated military structure, and finally, the lessons of the recent Gulf War, are issues that threaten to divide France in a way that has not occurred in several decades The fundamental question for the decade of the 1990s is how to, or perhaps whether to, preserve the legacy of national independence and grandeur handed down by former President Charles de Gaulle. This work concludes that the Gaullist myth of grandeur and independence can no longer be sustained. French security must now be achieved by strengthening ties with NATO, and building a stronger West European defense posture centered around close Franco-German relations.
This report examines contemporary French security policies and finds that despite momentous geopolitical changes in Europe since late 1989, the basic elements of French security policy have not changed much, as revealed both in France's relations with Europe and NATO and in France's response to the Gulf War. Looking ahead, the study finds that a major reorientation of security policy is unlikely in the near term. For U.S. policy, the study finds that it is not in America's interest to "marginalize" or "isolate" France by focusing solely on our "Atlantic" allies in Europe. While the study shows evidence that immobilism is more likely than major change in French-U.S. relations, it still argues that the United States should not oppose attempts to create a European security and defense identity and that it should do more to show France that the rejuvenation of NATO is not meant to exclude and replace everything else.
This book describes the evolution of French defence policy since the end of the Cold War. For the past thirty years there have been significant changes to French defence policy as a result of several contextual evolutions. Changes include shifts in the global balance of power, new understandings of the notion of international security, economic downturns, and developments in European integration. Yet despite these changes, the purpose of France’s grand strategy and its main principles have remained remarkably stable over time. This book identifies the incentives, representations and objectives of French defence policy The authors examine the general mechanisms that influence policy change and military transformation in democracies, the importance of status-seeking in international relations, the processes of strategy-making by a middle power, and the dilemmas and challenges of security cooperation. By doing so the book raises a number of questions related to the ways states adjust (or not) their security policies in a transformed international system. This book makes French-language sources available to non-French-speaking readers and contributes to a better understanding of a country that is at the forefront of Europe’s external action. This book will be of great interest to students of defence studies, French politics, military studies, security studies, and IR in general.
This report seeks to identify the various pressures on the famous French "defense consensus" and to ask how France has been adapting to those pressures so far. Based on extensive interviews with French officials and analysts over the past 12 months, the report places evolving French security policy into its postwar context and attempts to determine the extent to which traditional French thinking about European security has changed, and to identify those areas in which it has not changed. Section 2 reviews the main elements of French security policy since the early 196Os and examines the geopolitical, diplomatic, and fiscal pressures that many believe will force France to modify its long-standing approach. Section 3 analyzes French policy over the past 2 years in three key dimensions: the Atlantic Alliance, the European security identity, and France's global military role in the wake of the Persian Gulf War. Section 4 assesses the prospects for near-term change in French security policy and analyzes three of the most plausible scenarios that could follow the legislative elections scheduled for 1993. Section 5 concludes by examining the implications of French policy for French-American relations and offering some recommendations for U.S. policy toward France. Despite momentous geopolitical changes in Europe since lae 1989, the basic elements of French security policy have not changed much, as revealed both in France's relations with Europe and NATO and in its response to the Gulf War. The study finds that a major reorientation of security policy is unlikely in the near term. It is not in America's interest to marginalize or isolate France by focusing solely on its Atlantic allies in Europe. While immobilism is more likely than major change in French-U.S. relations, the United States should not oppose attempts to create a European security and defense identity, and it should do more to show France that the rejuvenation of NATO is not meant to replace everything els7