France Going Rogue?
France has always been loathe to fully follow American leadership. It started especially with Charles De Gaulle and has continued ever since. From American led wars in Vietnam and Iraq to the French complaining about the US Dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. But French President Emmanuel’s Macron’s cozying up to China is especially concerning.
It is no secret that Emmanuel Macron wants France to have some noticeable foreign policy independence from the US. While the French president will generally align with the US led West against bad actors, he is not always reliable to make the right decision. France, along with Germany, has been slow to fully support the Ukrainian effort against the Russian invasion. Both nations have slacked on their obligated commitments to NATO.
More recently, Mr Macron went to China to meet Xi and claimed that Europe needed “an independent foreign policy from the US.” While those words ostensibly are reasonable, if taken in a literal sense, that Europe shouldn’t be a complete vassal state to the US, the practical result is Europe going a different way than the US, in a manner that would make coordinated Western responses to authoritarian nations less efficient.
“European independence” on foreign policy usually means taking a weak, ineffective position in the face of Russian or Chinese aggression. It usually involves giving the two nations more room to throw their weight around. Had Germany or France been the leader of the West, Ukraine would be getting much less and much slower support. The two nations practically had to be shamed into providing even the subpar support they are giving now.
When French President Macron went to China, he proposed a vision of Europe as a third “pole” in the world, separate from the US and China. All that is doing is dividing, and thus weakening, the Western alliance. But beyond that, Macron preposterously suggested that it might not even be in Europe’s interest to help defend Taiwan, should China invade.
This must have been music to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s ears. The French have a long history of shockingly disloyal foreign policy moves related to the US. To be fair, they ended up being right about not participating in the Iraq War. But generally, these exercises of disloyalty come more from a sense of disconnect from the US and our “Anglo” allies than a coherent sense of principle.
It is easier for the UK to take on a more subservient role to the US than for France, or so the French would say. This is because the UK feels more cultural, and, obviously, linguistic, kinship with the US than does France. The UK had their time as world leader before handing off that mantle to the US during the 2 World Wars. The US and UK have what is called a “Special Relationship.” The UK feels more identification and connection with the US than does France.
For France, a nation proud of their history, culture and influence, it is a matter of pride to have their own voice on the world stage. This is understandable, but not when the effects of it are weakening the alliance that keeps the liberal democratic world order dominant. The French would likely argue that their actions are not weakening this world order. I said “likely,” because it is also possible that the French would reject the merits and effectiveness of what the would call the “Anglo American order” entirely. They might even argue that it would be better to weaken this Anglo American order.”
Regardless of France’s exact motives, Macron’s visit to China provided a propaganda victory for the anti West coalition. Russia and China have been using bot armies to push their propaganda nonstop since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their bots and trolls seized upon Macron’s remarks to claim another “example” of America’s grip on world hegemony weakening. They have claimed that it is another example of a nation “standing up to American domination of the world.”
A united Western front, adhering to American leadership, is essential. Why does America get to lead? Because America is not only the most powerful country in the world, but also gives by far the most aid and weapons. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t take a back seat in giving aid and supplies, but then also demand an equal amount of say in the coalition.
The French might argue that they aren’t doing this, that they are charting their own course on the world stage. But the effective goal of France, liberal democratic countries existing in peace, is not really that astronomically different from that of the US. Therefore, the most efficient thing to do is combine US and French efforts. We already have that, it’s called the NATO (or, less formally, the Western) alliance.
As difficult as it may be for the French, they must swallow their pride and get in line with America’s course of action. The same goes for Germany, but Germany doesn’t have the same military capabilities. And Germany doesn’t seem to have the same desire for influence projection outside of Europe that France does. For the good of the democratic world, France needs to wake up from their rogue state and come back into America’s orbit.