An American political scientist argues that the Gaullist version of modified independence-to which he is sympathetic-has gradually won for itself a consensus in France itself and that the trend toward a more pluralist Alliance in the 1970s has approximated some of de Gaulle's aims. A useful study that ends with the initial Western response to the invasion of Afghanistan but basically reflects a time when détente characterized the climate and when inter-Allied conflicts over economic issues were less ominous.