{
  "id": "RL30646",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30646",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101973,
      "date": "2000-08-15",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:34:08.397941",
      "title": "France and the United States: Allies and Rivals",
      "summary": "France, while a key ally, has developed policies in pursuit of its national interests that challenge\nthe\nUnited States on issues of importance to both countries. The end of the Cold War has altered a\nbalance that once placed security above political and economic competition. The leading European\nUnion members, including France, are enhancing political cooperation, raising questions about\ntraditional areas of U.S. leadership in Europe. At the same time U.S. and French interests often\nintersect, and the two countries cooperate in important endeavors.\n  France, like the United States, believes that it has a special role in the world. For many years,\nFrench leaders have believed that France has a \"mission\" to encourage human rights and democracy. \nFor the past half-century, a version of France's mission is that the country must play a key role in\nshaping the European Union.\n  Key French leaders are critical of U.S. culture and the U.S. government, including Congress. \nThey have described Congress as isolationist and \"unilateralist\" on such issues as sanctions and\nnational missile defense. They also believe that U.S. leaders have a tendency in foreign policy to\nseek to \"fix things,\" or find a full solution, when at best in their view a particular problem can only\nbe managed but not eliminated. Some French leaders and intellectuals view U.S. cultural and\neconomic influence as materialistic and insidious. \n  The European Union is central to French political and economic life. France wishes to see\ninstitutional reforms in the EU to make the Union more flexible in decision-making. To wield\ngreater influence in the world, the EU, in the view of France and some other member governments,\nmust have a military capability. To this end, France and Britain have taken the lead in building a\nEuropean Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). \n  While some U.S. officials believe that ESDP could enhance burdensharing and encourage\nstability in Europe, others fear that it may marginalize NATO by assuming current NATO tasks and\nreducing the role of the United States in Europe. In addition, some Congressional and\nAdministration critics believe that ESDP will create a \"hollow force\" that borrows U.S. assets and\ndegrades the readiness of U.S. forces.\n  A range of regional issues are on the U.S.-France bilateral agenda. France often buffers U.S.\ninterests by assuming peacekeeping responsibilities in different parts of the world and through other\nmeans that encourage stability. At the same time, the two countries sometimes compete for political\nand economic influence in the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere.\n  The common interests of the United States and France remain greater than their differences. \nIn instances where the two countries' interests have been seriously challenged, they have tended to\nwork together. In European security issues above all, France is seeking to bear a greater burden, with\nthe trade-off that Washington must, in the French view, cede a greater measure of influence to Paris.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL30646",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "European Affairs",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}