"American happiness over President Sarkozy’s defence activism might have become less ecstatic, but the US state department has welcomed the new proposals on the assumption that strengthening European defence serves Washington’s larger objectives. In fact, Britain, the only other serious EU military power, has expressed greater reservations on the French European plans because, psychologically and otherwise tied to American apron strings as it is, it smells an independent European defence policy. The French objective, now marred by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty promising "permanent structural cooperation," is to build a European pillar in Nato."
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by S. Nihal Singh
(June 27, New Delhi, Sri Lanka , Sri Lanka Guardian) They call it the new French revolution, and President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to shake up his country’s defence structure and policies are a radical departure from the past. Yet at the heart of the hyperactive leader’s new vision lies a riddle. The man dubbed by many of his countrymen as "the American" for his professed love for the American way of doing things, stoops to conquer. His methods are different but he remains at heart a proponent of French exceptionalism enshrined, above all, in Gaullist philosophy.
President Sarkozy has proposed to cut his country’s armed forces by 54,000 in the next six to seven years, retire old heavy equipment and focus on 21st century threats from terrorism, nuclear proliferation and unstable developing countries. The focus will be on better intelligence gathering capabilities, space assets, drones and mobile forces. The French aim to have 30,000 troops to be able to be deployed in combat for six months.
The most controversial of the new French proposals is the promise to reintegrate France into Nato’s military structure, perhaps next year.
One of the most iconic post-World War II moments was General Charles de Gaulle’s decision to leave the Cold War organisation’s military structure in 1966 to protest against its domination by the United States, in league with Britain. Since then France became a licensed dissenter in the Western camp.
President Jacques Chirac toyed with the idea of returning to Nato’s military structure during Bill Clinton’s presidency, but gave up the attempt because Washington was unwilling to pay the price of having French generals in senior command positions. President Sarkozy’s present plan is better thought out and starts with the premise of declaring an ostentatious friendship for the United States.
The French President has spelled out his motto: "The more we are friends with the Americans, the more we can be independent." Indeed, he is demanding an independent defence planning structure for the European Union, once vociferously opposed by Washington.
His plan is for a strong France in a strong Europe and he hopes to energise the failing European Defence and Security Policy by proposing an initial six-nation force of 10,000 troops contingents by each of the six — the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain — who would promise to spend at least two per cent of their GDP on defence.
American happiness over President Sarkozy’s defence activism might have become less ecstatic, but the US state department has welcomed the new proposals on the assumption that strengthening European defence serves Washington’s larger objectives. In fact, Britain, the only other serious EU military power, has expressed greater reservations on the French European plans because, psychologically and otherwise tied to American apron strings as it is, it smells an independent European defence policy. The French objective, now marred by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty promising "permanent structural cooperation," is to build a European pillar in Nato.
President Sarkozy faces formidable problems in selling his new policies at home.
Cutting troops is never a popular measure, and although his goal is to put the money he saves on buying better equipment and making his troops more agile and equipped with newest weapons, a number of generals has already come out in opposition. Two Socialist members resigned from the committee framing the defence white paper.
Apart from Britain’s suspicions, the newer members of the European Union, the former Communist states, are inclined to view President Sarkozy’s decision to rejoin Nato’s military structure as a Trojan horse. Although they get their bread and butter from the EU, these states lean on the US in seeking security assurances.
Indeed, President Sarkozy’s conditions for reintegration with Nato are the same as Chirac’s.
He seeks US acceptance of an independent European defence capability and a leading French role in Nato’s command structure. The American attitude has changed because it desperately needs a greater European defence effort with its own troops overstretched, and here is a European leader not only singing American praises but agreeing to send some 700 additional troops to Afghanistan to fight in the most dangerous eastern areas, unlike the war-shy German troops.
Despite the uphill struggle President Sarkozy faces in selling his defence strategy to his countrymen and Europe, there is inherent logic in most of his proposals. The last French defence review was undertaken 14 years ago and the post-9/11 world is strikingly different. Second, France is simply not in a position to fight significant wars alone. Third, the new threats it faces need new policies.
President Sarkozy has, in effect, retained the essence of Gaullism while abandoning its rhetoric.
For instance, he foreshadows the shutting of most French bases in Africa opting for more combined European interventions than the traditional bilateral efforts. He has posed the threat of terrorism as the most potent of the new challenges facing his country. But in the traditional Gaullist mode, he has refused to give up command over French troops for a long duration even in peacetime and the country’s nuclear arsenal remains under exclusive French command.
President Sarkozy has shown great capacity to roil placid waters. Imagine the brave new world the European Union sought to build not so long ago. It promised to give the world 60,000 troops able to be deployed in a combat zone within a year. Several deadlines later, such a force is nowhere on the horizon. The French President is now attempting to reach this goal by apportioning an equal burden on six major EU nations. In essence, France and Britain are the major military powers in the grouping, underlined by the St. Malo agreement concluded during Tony Blair’s time.
The dissonance of views and outlook between the two will remain a serious problem.
President Sarkozy’s journey to reach his goal will be monitored with interest on both sides of the Atlantic and in the rest of the world. For a change, he is hogging the world’s headlines for reasons of state.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
(June 27, New Delhi, Sri Lanka , Sri Lanka Guardian) They call it the new French revolution, and President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to shake up his country’s defence structure and policies are a radical departure from the past. Yet at the heart of the hyperactive leader’s new vision lies a riddle. The man dubbed by many of his countrymen as "the American" for his professed love for the American way of doing things, stoops to conquer. His methods are different but he remains at heart a proponent of French exceptionalism enshrined, above all, in Gaullist philosophy.
President Sarkozy has proposed to cut his country’s armed forces by 54,000 in the next six to seven years, retire old heavy equipment and focus on 21st century threats from terrorism, nuclear proliferation and unstable developing countries. The focus will be on better intelligence gathering capabilities, space assets, drones and mobile forces. The French aim to have 30,000 troops to be able to be deployed in combat for six months.
The most controversial of the new French proposals is the promise to reintegrate France into Nato’s military structure, perhaps next year.
One of the most iconic post-World War II moments was General Charles de Gaulle’s decision to leave the Cold War organisation’s military structure in 1966 to protest against its domination by the United States, in league with Britain. Since then France became a licensed dissenter in the Western camp.
President Jacques Chirac toyed with the idea of returning to Nato’s military structure during Bill Clinton’s presidency, but gave up the attempt because Washington was unwilling to pay the price of having French generals in senior command positions. President Sarkozy’s present plan is better thought out and starts with the premise of declaring an ostentatious friendship for the United States.
The French President has spelled out his motto: "The more we are friends with the Americans, the more we can be independent." Indeed, he is demanding an independent defence planning structure for the European Union, once vociferously opposed by Washington.
His plan is for a strong France in a strong Europe and he hopes to energise the failing European Defence and Security Policy by proposing an initial six-nation force of 10,000 troops contingents by each of the six — the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain — who would promise to spend at least two per cent of their GDP on defence.
American happiness over President Sarkozy’s defence activism might have become less ecstatic, but the US state department has welcomed the new proposals on the assumption that strengthening European defence serves Washington’s larger objectives. In fact, Britain, the only other serious EU military power, has expressed greater reservations on the French European plans because, psychologically and otherwise tied to American apron strings as it is, it smells an independent European defence policy. The French objective, now marred by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty promising "permanent structural cooperation," is to build a European pillar in Nato.
President Sarkozy faces formidable problems in selling his new policies at home.
Cutting troops is never a popular measure, and although his goal is to put the money he saves on buying better equipment and making his troops more agile and equipped with newest weapons, a number of generals has already come out in opposition. Two Socialist members resigned from the committee framing the defence white paper.
Apart from Britain’s suspicions, the newer members of the European Union, the former Communist states, are inclined to view President Sarkozy’s decision to rejoin Nato’s military structure as a Trojan horse. Although they get their bread and butter from the EU, these states lean on the US in seeking security assurances.
Indeed, President Sarkozy’s conditions for reintegration with Nato are the same as Chirac’s.
He seeks US acceptance of an independent European defence capability and a leading French role in Nato’s command structure. The American attitude has changed because it desperately needs a greater European defence effort with its own troops overstretched, and here is a European leader not only singing American praises but agreeing to send some 700 additional troops to Afghanistan to fight in the most dangerous eastern areas, unlike the war-shy German troops.
Despite the uphill struggle President Sarkozy faces in selling his defence strategy to his countrymen and Europe, there is inherent logic in most of his proposals. The last French defence review was undertaken 14 years ago and the post-9/11 world is strikingly different. Second, France is simply not in a position to fight significant wars alone. Third, the new threats it faces need new policies.
President Sarkozy has, in effect, retained the essence of Gaullism while abandoning its rhetoric.
For instance, he foreshadows the shutting of most French bases in Africa opting for more combined European interventions than the traditional bilateral efforts. He has posed the threat of terrorism as the most potent of the new challenges facing his country. But in the traditional Gaullist mode, he has refused to give up command over French troops for a long duration even in peacetime and the country’s nuclear arsenal remains under exclusive French command.
President Sarkozy has shown great capacity to roil placid waters. Imagine the brave new world the European Union sought to build not so long ago. It promised to give the world 60,000 troops able to be deployed in a combat zone within a year. Several deadlines later, such a force is nowhere on the horizon. The French President is now attempting to reach this goal by apportioning an equal burden on six major EU nations. In essence, France and Britain are the major military powers in the grouping, underlined by the St. Malo agreement concluded during Tony Blair’s time.
The dissonance of views and outlook between the two will remain a serious problem.
President Sarkozy’s journey to reach his goal will be monitored with interest on both sides of the Atlantic and in the rest of the world. For a change, he is hogging the world’s headlines for reasons of state.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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