re: Prime Minister of France: US lying about Australian defense pact.

quote:

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Well, over the past 30 years, there has been a struggle between the old Gaullist school of foreign relations and a younger group that was more open to firmer relationships with the Anglosphere. More express defense pacts, other than NATO, were a result of the younger school beginning to win out in some ways. The proposed deal with Australia was also part of one of these pacts. Our interest in promoting this younger school was wanting France’s help with things such as European immigration issues, terrorism, particularly in Africa, and a more firm stance against China.

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This is a good summary of the factional divide in French politics, but there is also an aspect related to Alstom SA and their nuclear turbine technology, a bribery charge by the US, and the acquisition of that specific division by GE in 2014 at a fairly low price. The French felt hard done by then, and the stipulation that these new subs are nuclear adds to their internal suspicion that the US acted less than honestly with regard to the Alstom case. The timescale involved between all these events suggests little civilian involvement and is more indicative of how security apparatuses in these countries interact.

Whether it is in the interests of each of these individual countries is a different story. The 'countering China' reasoning seems it is going to be a popular excuse for the governments to justify spending on military hardware, but given the strategy of Chinese investments in Australia and other key regions, countering with just military contracts doesn't seem like it would work long-term.