Can the tattered relationships between France and the USA be repaired?

Résumé du document

When Benjamin Franklin came to Paris in 1776, as the ambassador of the young and helpless British colony, he asked one of the most powerful countries in the world to help the thirteen soon to become "United-States" to emancipate and get rid of the unfair tax domination of the British Empire. Since the 4th of July and the "birth of a nation", France and the USA have treated each others with respect and gratitude. Nevertheless, the diplomatic relationships have not always been tender. This is why, at a time of great uncertainty in the two countries, with a Republican President on the go one the one hand, and with a brand new, so-called "centre-right" President on the other, it can be interesting to analyze whether the damaged relationships between France and the USA can truly be repaired and established on sound basis.

Extraits

[...] Lessons from the past have shown that what makes the Franco-American relationships so unique is the ability of the two countries to say to each other what they think, no matter the consequences. But is this motto still a reality, and do the US really care for a country which has lost a lot of its influence. De Gaulle, who had certain idea of France”, has been an important actor of the stormy relationships between France and the US. He is the one who struggled against the American government during WW2 in order to make the French voice heard in the world. [...]

[...] To put it in a nutshell, the relationships have obviously been better, but they are not tattered and they never have. Moreover, the well-known admiration of Sarkozy for the USA and the coming 2008-elections in the USA will definitely give a chance to the two countries to improve their communication and cooperation. Bibliography Les relations franco-américaines au XXe siècle : Colloque de l'Observatoire de la politique étrangère américaine et 25 mai 2002 par Pierre Melandri, Serge Ricard, et Collectif (1er novembre 2003) Les Relations franco-américaines, Avec présentation de A. [...]

[...] Can the tattered relationships between France and the USA be repaired? When Benjamin Franklin came to Paris in 1776, as the ambassador of the young and helpless British colony, he asked to one of the most powerful country in the world to help the thirteen soon to become “United-States” to emancipate and get rid of the unfair tax domination of the British Empire. Since the 4th of July and the birth of a nation, as a famous film depicted it, France and the USA have treated each others with respect and gratitude. [...]

[...] But the French revolutionaries put the Law at the heart of their democratic system, unlike Adams, Washington and Jefferson who put the Constitution above all. It is obvious that France and the US have benefited from each others, but their relationships have not always been as good as Atlantists may want to advocate. Around 1830, Madison pronounced a famous speech which was to influence to whole American foreign policy till WW1. Since then, the USA considered that the American continent was to become the “backyard” of the country, and therefore America had no other worries than itself. [...]

[...] One can argue that the relationships between the countries had never been so cold. On the contrary, I think that De Gaulle respected the American people very much and took into account their views, without forgetting the interest of his country. Today, these relationships work the same way. When Jacques Chirac refused to give support to the American invasion of Iraq, he talked in the name of a lot of other Nations which didn't dare to challenge the omnipotence America. [...]