Part V - International Relations and Diplomacy
The relationship with the United States
The Franco-American relationship is one of the oldest and most complex in modern diplomatic history. Exiting NATO clarifies this relationship without breaking it: it restores it to what it should always have been, a partnership between sovereign states that share common interests without sharing the same interests on everything. The struggle against Islamist terrorism, the stability of global maritime routes and resistance to a unipolar global hegemony are partially shared interests that justify targeted cooperation, without obligation of general alignment. On the other hand, trade policy is structurally conflictual: extraterritoriality of American law, unilateral sanctions, use of the dollar as an economic weapon. Policy in the Middle East diverges structurally; France defends there a balanced posture founded on its own historical and strategic interests, not on unconditional alignment. African policy is a terrain of direct competition that France assumes without aggression but without naivety.
The extraterritoriality of American law: a red line
The extraterritoriality of American law does not apply on French territory. French companies cannot be prosecuted by American jurisdictions for activities conducted outside American territory. France develops its own legal instruments of resistance: effective activation of the blocking regulation, refusal to cooperate with foreign judicial procedures targeting legal commercial activities in France.
Progressive de-dollarization
France works to reduce its dependence on the dollar in its international transactions: not through brutal rupture, but through progressive diversification toward the franc in bilateral agreements, development of alternatives to American payment systems, constitution of diversified foreign exchange reserves.
What France says to the United States
The message is simple and direct: we are long-standing friends, we share fundamental values and common interests on many subjects, we are ready to cooperate closely where our interests converge. But we are not vassals, we do not accept your strategic tutelage, and we reserve the right to diverge when our interests demand it.