France in Search of Security

Toward a New Transatlantic Pact

The end of the Cold War calls for redefining major countries' ranks and roles. That challenge is most painful for two nations--the United States and France. The two countries were the great beneficiaries of the geopolitical freeze of the Cold War, and both stand to lose the most after the thaw. The United States enjoyed an unchallenged status as leader of the Free World, while France benefited from a divided Germany and a strong Western alliance without incurring the full costs of Western discipline.

Yesterday's world was fundamentally structured around nuclear weapons, which also boosted the American and French roles. The United States now has to define for itself a new role in a world where military force alone will no longer be the principal criterion of power. The relative political and economic weight of the United States will be closer to its pre-World War II situation than to the postwar decades. The French too are awakening, reluctantly, to a messy Europe, where most of the basic foreign policy and defense guidelines laid out by General Charles de Gaulle 35 years ago are simply no longer relevant.

Because both nations face such an arduous redefinition, the potential for friction between France and the United States will be quite considerable. Yet never before have the two countries' strategic interests been so complementary. If this convergence of interests were to be wasted through mismanagement of the political process, the reconstruction of a stable Europe would be impossible.

Focusing on Strategic Concerns