Reconcilable Differences U.S.-French Relations in the New Era

by Brenner, Michael; Parmentier, Guillaume

• ISBN13: 9780815712534
• ISBN10: 0815712537
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-29
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Summary

The U.S.-French relationship is unique in mixing elements of rivalry and cooperation. Historical allies and comrades in arms, the United States and France are often fractious and quarrelsome. Their promotion of competing visions for a post-Cold War Europe gives a sharp edge to disputes over security and trade issues. Yet their mutual interests as partners in multiple collective enterprises compel them to find ways to put their relations on a surer footing. Doing so is also the key to meeting the larger challenge of reconciling America's dominance as the global superpower with the aspirations of a strengthening European Union. The authors of this study examine how national identity, political culture, and diplomatic style strain ties between Washington and Paris. They prescribe a set of policy and procedural remedies and lay out a strategy for sustaining more constructive collaboration.

Author Biography

Guillaume Parmentier is head of the French Center on the United States (CFE) at the Institut Francais des Relations Internationales in Paris and professor at the University of Paris II.

Table of Contents

A Unique Partnership	1	(5)
Single Superpower versus Multipolarity	6	(32)
The Power of History	7	(3)
The European Vision	10	(8)
France's Multipolar Perspective	18	(6)
The Globalization Issue	24	(5)
The Erratic Partner	29	(9)
NATO: Lost Opportunities	38	(31)
A Clash of Two Conservatisms, 1990-95	43	(5)
The Chirac Years: An Earnest Attempt to Adapt NATO	48	(4)
Mutual Disappointment	52	(4)
Combined Joint Task Forces and the European Security and Defense Identity	56	(6)
Kosovo: Toward Europeanization	62	(7)
High Tension: The Economic Dimension	69	(47)
Head to Head?	71	(3)
The Uruguay Round	74	(7)
The Boeing Affair	81	(5)
U.S. Triumphalism	86	(3)
Europe Redux	89	(3)
Economic and Monetary Union	92	(9)
The Defense Industry	101	(15)
A Rekindled Alliance	116	(11)
The American Perspective	117	(3)
The French Perspective	120	(1)
The Existential Question for France	121	(2)
U.S.-French Bilateralism	123	(4)
Notes	127	(18)
Index	145