<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > France's gas dissipated after the call between the French and American heads of state? </h1>
On September 22, 2021, US President Joe Biden had a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, and France's anger seemed to have subsided somewhat. The French presidential palace Elysées issued a statement on the evening of the 22nd local time, saying that Macron and Biden jointly examined the consequences of the so-called trilateral "security partnership" announced by the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. Both agree that open and honest consultations among allies on this issue, which concern the strategic interests of France and its EU partners, would have avoided the current situation.
Biden made some promises and statements in response to the appetite of France and the European Union, and in response, the French ambassador to the United States will return to Washington next week.
A brief review: On September 15, under the leadership of the United States, the United States, Britain, and Australia announced the establishment of a new trilateral security partnership, the United States and Britain will support the Australian Navy to establish a nuclear submarine force, and Australia will cooperate with the United States and Britain to build nuclear submarines in Australia. Subsequently, Australia terminated a contract with France for submarines worth $50 billion ($36.5 billion) at the time of the contract. Allies stole the "submarine order", France said that Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom were "stabbed in the back", and French Foreign Minister Le Dreyon described their behavior with harsh words such as "lies, duplicity, treachery, and no one in sight". As a countermeasure, France has made a series of moves:
Step 1: Recall the ambassadors to the United States and Australia. This is the first time in History that France has recalled a U.S. ambassador.
Step 2: Cancel the meeting between the French and British defense ministers. The two defense ministers had planned to meet in London a week after that, but the French side canceled it.
Step 3: Claim against Australia. French government spokesman Attar said on the 19th that France has started compensation procedures and claimed compensation from The Australian side.
In addition, France has even threatened to block the negotiation of a planned free trade agreement between Europe and Australia.
Comic source: Liu Rui
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="33" What did the Franco-American summit talk say >? Is it "sweet talk" or "trading"? </h1>
Judging from the content of the conversation, in order to comfort the injured allies, the United States has indeed shown a lot of "sincerity":
First, Biden acknowledged that there should be more detailed consultations before announcing the submarine deal. I guess the Possibility that the United States might get France to join some kind of submarine-making cooperation and give France some benefit on the order cannot be ruled out.
Second, Biden pledged more support for The Sahel,000 operations by French-led European countries in Africa's Sahel region. In August 2014, France officially launched the so-called "crescent dunes" operation, stationing 5,100 troops in five countries in the Sahel region of West Africa, including Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad, to combat the terrorist activities represented by the Islamic State. Since the start of the operation, 51 French soldiers have been killed. In June, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would end its "crescent dunes" counterterrorism operation in Africa's Sahel region, close its military bases there, and instead continue fighting terrorism by supporting the so-called Takuba Special Forces formed with European and African partners. The support of the United States is naturally very important, and Biden just took advantage of France's current needs to make this commitment to support France and other European countries in counter-terrorism in West Africa, which can alleviate some of the pressure on France.
Third, Biden also reiterated the strategic importance of French and European involvement in the Indo-Pacific region and the importance of European independent defense. This statement actually pays lip service to France's important position in the Indo-Pacific and its leadership in Europe.
Because before the new security agreement between the three countries, the EU side also announced the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy, but there is a lack of convergence between the agreement and the United States. This is a very important reason why EU countries such as France are not satisfied with the United States. Then Biden's statement affirms that France and EU countries can play a greater role in the future development of the Indo-Pacific region.
Some media believe that Biden's "sweet words" seem to have worked, and Macron not only decided to send back the ambassador next week, but also promised to meet with the United States in Europe at the end of October and start an in-depth consultation process. Asked by the media whether Biden had explicitly apologized or offered remedies, the White House's response was like a tai chi, and White House press secretary Psaki said that Biden did admit that it should be better to seek the opinion of the French, and "the president hopes that this is a step toward the return to normalcy of long-term, important and lasting relations between the United States and France." ”
In the view of Washington reporter Nomia Iqbal, Biden's operation is a "non-apologetic apology" trick that Americans are good at, that is, to apologize only for the lack of a negotiated process, but not for the agreement itself. But the reporter believes that the joint statement shows that the leaders of the two sides have reached a consensus on certain aspects of the call, whether it is at the beginning that the call was initiated by Biden, or the two leaders agree on the importance of public consultations to promote the relaxation of the situation, which should be something that France wants to make clear with the United States.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="37" > Why is France so angry at the agreement between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom on the new security alliance? </h1>
France feels that it has lost both "face" and "big orders", mainly three points:
Perfidy: Australia reneged on its previous contract with France for the construction of submarines. There are reports that France may seek $1 billion in compensation from Australia, as France has invested a lot of money in the early stages to build the equipment to build these nuclear submarines for Australia.
Business grabs: Americans blatantly grab business, and the French originally thought that Biden would be better than Trump after taking office, but now it is found that Biden is not much different from Trump after taking office. This is also a lesson for France, where expectations of trust in Biden need to be lowered.
Deceived: The French believe that for 18 months before the trilateral reached an agreement, France had been kept in the dark, feeling that its self-esteem was hurt and that it was necessary to make a strong statement.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" > Summary:</h1>
First, international politics is naked power diplomacy, and strength is the foundation of everything. France and Europe are significantly weaker than the United States. On key security issues, Australia prefers to spend money on U.S. protection. As the BBC reminded the French in a report, there is no point in crying about being treated roughly. The United States, britain, and Australia only care about their own interests.
Second, France is not without cards to play, these cards are contained in the United States, and the United States must also take into account the face of France. France is the leader of the European Union, with greater political influence than the economic power Of germany; France is an important member of NATO, if France no longer participates in NATO, then nato's role will be greatly reduced; the EU can play a greater role in regional security and global affairs, and can choose a different policy from the United States. However, how well these cards are played depends on the extent to which France and Europe are determined to invest in the construction of military power and the protection of overseas interests. From the current point of view, Europe shouts a lot, and the actual investment is not much, which is the weakness of Europe, and the United States has also seen through this. This delicate relationship exists between the United States and Europe. From the current point of view, the European Union and France are still struggling to get rid of the influence of the United States.
Third, the Tripartite Alliance, France was played, in fact, exposed the essential difference between France and the United States, they are mutually using each other, in fact, the interests are very different. In the long run, France and the EU must follow their own path, strengthening autonomy should be a long-term goal, and this incident and the hasty withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan are not well negotiated with allies, and it will be very difficult to expect the United States. To this end, France must also strengthen the development of more independent relations with regional powers such as China, Russia, India, and Iran. Judging from this round of actions, France has not taken the initiative to contact China and improve relations for various reasons in order to contain the United States. This also shows that the current Sino-French relations are relatively cold and need more efforts to improve. But in the long run, it is possible for France to further enhance interaction with China, of course, diplomatic work requires patient work and interest exchange.