Make no mistake, I was born in Romania, a formerly Francophone country, I hold a master's degree from a French university and I am a great admirer of French gastronomy.
The submarine crisis, however, is overblown. France's neo-Napoleonic dream of becoming top dog in the Indo-Pacific region is naive. The French cannot conceivably guarantee Australia's security in case of troubles with China: only the United States could. What's more, France's diplomatic relations with Australia have been tepid until a few years ago, when Francois Hollande and a misguided Australian prime minister decided to sign a contract for 12 French-built submarines in order to upgrade the Australian fleet. Unlike the UK or the US, France has been a continental - not a maritime - military power. As Charles de Gaulle astutely pointed out to Macmillan, on the other hand:
"the sense of being an island remains very strong with you. England looks to the sea, towards wider horizons. She remains very linked to the United States by language, by habits and by certain agreements. The natural course of your policy leads you to seek the agreement of the Americans because you are ‘mondiaux’ … .”
Looking back in history, one should not forget that Napoleon even planned to invade Sydney in 1814 and to evict the newly-established British colonists from New South Wales. To date, Australians have contributed far more to the security of France during the 2 world wars than the French will ever contribute to Australia's security, now or in the future.
The Australian government has a duty to its citizens to choose from all possible strategic partnerships the one that best ensures the security of the country in today's tense Indo-Pacific strategic environment. Accordingly, Australian leaders should not feel compelled to apologise for changing their minds and putting their country's interests first.
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