One thing about
international relations that we have learned since 9/11: a mutual terrorist
threat is not a strong enough foundation for two countries to establish a brad
strategic partnership. In my blog
post following the Boston bombing, I highlighted the fact that mistrust
between Russia and the US hindered cooperation on a very real threat. The
France-US relationship, while generally good, has not always been smooth.
Perhaps my fears are misplaced, but I wonder if the US may not cooperate as
much as we should with France because of fractures in our relations. I write
this today to make an appeal against this possibility.
The France-US relationship
is unique among America's bilateral relations. It is not nearly as smooth as
the Canada-US or UK-US relationship, nor is it as antagonistic as the current
state of Russia-US ties. But neither is it complicated in the same way that the
so-called Pakistan-US alliance is (I personally consider Pakistan to be an
outright enemy, but that is neither here nor there). The France-US relationship
is peerless in the level and nature of it complication. Some authors, such as
John J. Miller and Mark Molesky have gone as far as to call France "our
oldest enemy", and I have also written on this blog about French
intelligence operations against the US.
The most recent wave
of Francophobia in the US came around the time of the invasion of Iraq. Of
course there were general expressions of it such as the famous "freedom
fries", and it even took on political undertones in the bitter
presidential election of 2004 (I distinctly remember driving home from school
one afternoon and seeing a bumper sticker that said "John Kerry for
president of France", implying that Kerry was weak, as the French
supposedly were). It seems that we quickly forgot how, shortly after 9/11, the
prominent French newspaper Le Monde published
a headline stating "Nous sommes tous
Américains (We are all Americans)".
I'd like to take
a moment and make an appeal, one that is partly based on the emotion of anguish
I feel at the loss of life and shaken sense of security in France, on the
security imperative of combating terrorism, and also on the basis of history.
As an American, while pondering the deeper meaning of the attacks yesterday, I
was struck by the fact that France played a major role in helping the United
States to secure our own right to free speech. During the American
Revolutionary War, French commanders such as La Fayette and Rochambeau played
critical roles in securing the US victory, culminating in the surrender of Lord
Cornwallis at Yorktown. With this, the US was able to enact its First Amendment
guaranteeing free speech. For better or worse, this means that we have to
suffer the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus, but we are also able to openly
criticize our government and not have to worry about repercussions.
Later, Alexis de
Toqueville traveled the nascent American nation and wrote his famous Democracy in America in which he
extolled America's dedication to liberty. The work had a major impact on the
political development of modern France. So in some way, we managed to return
the favor, but not by a longshot.
The France-US
relationship has deep roots, and what's more important, it is grounded in the
preservation of liberty, the very fabric of our civilization. The US may not
always see eye-to-eye with France, and we may often feel that the French are
intransigent or difficult. Many on online discussion threads have even implied
the French "had it coming" with its policy of allowing so many
Muslims into the country. All that aside, I implore my fellow Americans to look
back at the common bonds of history and the values we hold with France, and to
support and assist our friends the French. This may be on a governmental level,
or it may be on more of a people-to-people level. This is a moment when we must
put aside our differences, and recognize that, at the end of the day, France
really is our friend.
If I may take a
leaf from Le Monde's book, I'd like
to say "Nous sommes tous français."
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