Europe as a power multiplier for French security policy: Strategic consistency, tactical adaptation

Abstract

Successive leaderships during the French Fifth Republic have sought to manipulate Western Europe into assuming the strategic objectives of security policy that France could no longer attain alone but which it was not prepared to forsake: national grandeur and an elevated global rank. Hence, there was a transferral of French ambitions to the European level; the latter would act as a power multiplier for France. Within this, three distinctive periods can be discerned. First, the promotion of an autonomous European security and defence identity (ESDI) directed by France. Second, the pursuit of ESDI within the structures of the Atlantic Alliance. Third, the relocation of ESDI within the European Union. The phases highlight a strong coherence in that they represent tactical shifts in the quest for strategic goals in response to shifting external factors.