France and America. Condi’s charm offensive

Dreams of Franco-American rapprochement may be just that

IT HAS been a good week for symbolism. Condoleezza Rice, America's secretary of state, dropped in to deliver a “landmark” European speech in Paris, chosen because of the intensity of past Franco-American disagreement. Then Donald Rumsfeld, the American defence secretary, arrived in Nice for an informal NATO defence ministers' meeting, the first that France has hosted since de Gaulle pulled out of NATO's integrated military command in 1966. As political theatre, the message of mutual seduction could not have been clearer.

For Ms Rice's visit, the atmospherics were faultless. Michel Barnier, the foreign minister, called her “Condi” and she smiled back “Michel”. Speaking in a student hall on the left bank, the heart of anti-American intellectualism, Ms Rice talked of a “new chapter” in Franco-American relations and of a need “to turn away from the disagreements of the past”. She stressed America's commitment to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. She even said that “America has everything to gain from having a stronger Europe”. It was a world away from George Bush's sniping at “countries like France” in his election campaign.

Yet behind the tender words, big differences remain. Ms Rice stressed matters on which the French and Americans are co-operating - Kosovo, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Syria - but she ducked the issue of the EU plan to lift its arms embargo on China. Nor did she persuade her interlocutors that she had a clear strategy on Iran. On Iraq too, she side-stepped sensitive topics, including disappointment at France's military contribution. The French have offered to train 1,500 soldiers, but only outside Iraq.

Moreover, Ms Rice's expressions of support were conditional. America backed “a stronger Europe”, she said, but “as a partner” engaged in “a common effort ” - -a knock at President Jacques Chirac's repeated calls for a “multipolar world”. Her comments welcoming “the growing unity” of Europe carried a sting for the French, for whom the price of the spat over Iraq was a divided Europe.

“It's not really a rapprochement,” says Franois Heisbourg, of the Foundation for Strategic Research. “We've both decided it's not in our interests to be at each other's throats. But that does not mean we now have a common purpose.” A German Marshall Fund poll last month duly showed that, while 47% of Americans approved of Mr Bush's handling of international affairs, only 11% of the French did; fully 88% disapproved.

Will there be a Franco-American rapprochement? Article is sceptical.

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