From independence to cooperation: France, NATO and European security

Abstract

The end of the Cold War necessarily called into question the role of Europe's security institutions, and the attitudes of the major Western powers towards them. After 40 years of monotonous stability, reform became a necessity. Yet whereas its partners (notably Britain and the United States) pressed ahead with the reform of NATO structures in order to ensure the survival of the alliance after 1989, France, although having criticized the workings of the transatlantic security system for many years, was unable to stamp its influence on the shifting European security landscape. French policies towards European security institutions are, however, undergoing a major transformation. Although the roots of this change can, in part, be traced back to previous Socialist governments, it was under the Balladur government that it became most marked. Yet belated adjustment to the security imperatives of post-Cold War Europe has come too late to aid the realization of the French vision of an independent European defence identity emerging out of the ashes of the Cold War.*