Former allies of France and the United States face new threats

French and American presidents have often grappled with deep personality and policy disparities behind a veneer of allied friendship dating back to 1776, when France supported the American struggle for independence from Britain. As they have discovered over the past four years, Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron are no different from their predecessors.

Biden has been a pillar of the American political establishment since he entered the Senate more than fifty years ago. Macron, who at 46 is thirty-five years younger, became president in 2017 as a political neophyte in his first-ever bid to lead an upstart centrist movement that shattered the traditional left and right-wing parties. right, the socialists and the Gaullists.

Their relationship got off to a rocky start when France lost a $60 billion submarine contract with Australia after the United States compromised the deal by promising to build faster nuclear-powered ships to Canberra, inflicting a heavy blow on French economic interests. The United States formed a new Indo-Pacific alliance with Britain and Australia, which clearly left out France, which maintains five military bases in the region to protect nearly two million of its citizens living in Polynesia. In response, Macron abruptly withdrew the French ambassador from Washington, a serious diplomatic rebuke almost unthinkable between allies. The rift was only bridged more than a year later after Biden publicly admitted that the White House had acted clumsily in mistreating America's oldest friend.

Since then, the Biden administration has sought to make amends. Macron was treated to the first state dinner hosted at the White House by Biden in December 2022, during which he was showered with lavish accolades for the close strategic partnership that their two governments have developed over the years, despite their clashes casual on politics.

In return, Macron rolled out the red carpet for Biden last week during a state visit commemorating the 80th anniversary of the landings in which American soldiers scaled the cliffs of the Normandy coast to launch the offensive that ultimately resulted in the defeat of Nazi Germany. In his welcoming speech, Macron told Biden that the bond of blood shed for freedom that binds France to the United States can never be broken. The American president, for his part, declared that France is not only a strong ally but the first friend of the United States.

At a lavish four-course state dinner at the Palais de la Lyse, Macron effusively celebrated more than two centuries of Franco-American partnership. United we stand, divided we fall, Macron said in his toast to Biden. Allies we are and allies we will remain.

Yet amid the alliance's warm bonhomie and solidarity, Biden and Macron have been unable to hide their lingering differences on several important issues, including support for Ukraine, how to stop the war in Gaza and Europe's aspirations to exert greater influence on the world stage at a time of crisis. renewed rivalry between great powers.

Biden openly disagrees with Macron's expressed desire to send French soldiers to help train Ukrainians near the front lines with Russia and to ease conditions on Western weapons sent to Ukraine so they can be used to retaliate against Russian territory.

French officials said Macron and Biden had reached an agreement that frozen Russian assets held in the West could be used to finance a $50 billion aid program for Ukraine, which has been blocked for several months. The deal is expected to be unveiled at the G7 summit of major Western industrial nations in Puglia, Italy, June 13-15.

In contrast to Biden's reluctance to challenge Israeli conduct of the war in Gaza, Macron did not hesitate to criticize Israel for not opening all checkpoints to humanitarian aid deliveries. France has also been in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state, which the United States opposes in the absence of a negotiated settlement with Israel.

France has also strongly opposed the Biden administration's trade policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which increases support and subsidies for U.S. companies that penalize European Union competitors in ways it says the EU, violates global trade rules.

For these reasons, Macron has repeatedly emphasized the need for the European Union to adopt a posture of strategic autonomy that would reduce its economic and security dependence on the United States. His frequent comment that France and Europe must avoid becoming vassals of the United States is often seen in Washington as a brazen rejection of American leadership in the Western alliance.

Yet during Biden's visit, the two presidents found common ground in their determination to uphold democratic values ​​against the assaults of autocratic leaders abroad and demagogic opponents at home. They both called on their compatriots to emulate the courageous example of D-Day veterans in opposing modern threats to freedom and democracy.

In the presence of other allied leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden and Macron drew strong comparisons between the heroism of the D-Day landings and the defense of Ukraine's homeland against Russia's unprovoked invasion . Indeed, Zelensky's presence at the Normandy events was a stark reminder of the thematic connection between Ukraine's persistence in fighting for its freedom and independence and the kind of bravery and sacrifice the allies demonstrated in pushing back the Nazi occupation.

During his five-day visit to France, the longest Biden has undertaken as president, he made repeated allusions to the ongoing threats to democratic freedoms posed by populist nationalists and demagogues among Western countries who have gained strong popularity among disaffected sectors of the population.

Calling his trip the most remarkable I have ever taken, Biden seemed visibly moved by the 21-gun salute he received at the Normandy American Cemetery that billowed smoke over the 9,388 headstones in white marble where American soldiers are buried. He said the courage demonstrated by U.S. leaders during the D-Day landings served as a reminder that alliances make the United States stronger, calling it a lesson I pray we Americans never forget.

Just before leaving France, Biden paid his respects at a U.S. military cemetery that Trump did not visit when he was president. Biden laid a wreath in honor of more than 2,200 soldiers who fought in World War I and are now buried at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, about an hour from Paris. In Aisne-Marne, Biden said the trip surprised me how much it made me understand why these alliances were so valuable. Why is it so critical. This is how we stop wars, not start them.

Biden's reaffirmation of the need to maintain the unity of the alliance in the struggle between democracy and autocracy was welcomed by Macron and elsewhere in Europe, where the prospect of a change of administration in November has raised fears that the United States abandons Ukraine and withdraws from the North Atlantic Treaty. Organization.

Macron warned that the Western alliance may not be able to survive such measures, so he called for urgent action so that Europe can assume greater control over its own destiny. Biden remembers the first time he met with NATO leaders early in his presidency, when he declared that America was back. He said Macron immediately asked him: But for how long? How long?

Just hours after Biden left office, Macron was stunned by European Parliament election results that showed the far-right National Rally party, led by his nemesis Marine Le Pen, won a landslide victory in garnering 31.5 votes. Macron's centrist alliance won less than 15 percent.

Macron went on national television and shocked the nation by calling for early elections for a new National Assembly, with the first round set for June 30. He said he could not sit idly by after a major victory for the Le Pens party and urged French voters to think about the consequences of allowing a xenophobic far-right party to come to power. The rise of nationalists and demagogues constitutes a danger for our nation and for Europe, Macron said.

It was yet another example of Macron's penchant for gambling on the house in the face of adversity. If the National Gathering If the party obtains a similar score in the legislative elections, it could claim control of the next French government. Macron can still govern as president until 2027, when he will resign due to term limits, but having to do so with a Le Pen-imposed prime minister leading a right-wing government could mean the collapse of its ambitions for France and Europe. .

By the end of 2024, political analysts predict that ten of the EU's 27 member states could be governed by coalitions backed by far-right nationalist or populist parties. The European election results and Macron's call for early elections show why this visit focused well beyond current bilateral relations and on the transatlantic future.