Why has France,a traditional ally, seemed to have distanced itself in the past two decades?

Answer 1

France sees itself as a historical global power, often one at odds with the British empire. The U.S. is - to them - more of an extension of the historical British power. I believe they see themselves in a fight for their global relevancy.

Beyond that, France has a very different culture than the Anglo-Saxon U.S. (and U.K.), and a completely different legal structure (the do not operate under "common law). France is different, and proudly so.

Answer 2

Hey T4, cultures are DIFFERENT. I know most Americans think that a total Americanisation of the world is a good thing, or even wanted by most countries - but that is wishful thinking. For the sole reason that the cultural ways of one can rub the cultural ways of an other.

France, as most other western countries, was a natural ally of the US during the cold war. With this era and its common enemy and common goal gone, France, as any other country, is again concentrating on the differences with the US rather then what we have in common.

It's not just France, it is most European countries.

And the distance is not that big. You just have to let other countries have their own personality from time to time. You would not wish to have lap dogs.

Answer 3

They've had no reason to get involved.

The thing many people (Americans, in particular) believe, that the allies had a kind of idealistic "All for one and one for all" attitude toward one another, which is just completely false.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a good, patriotic American, but the ONLY reason we joined the World Wars was because they finally affected us directly. The sinking of the Lusitania was what actually got us involved in World War I. We were involved in the Great War for the very end of it (joined in 1917, three years after it started) and only joined after the Germans sunk an American ship. By the time we got involved, France had been torn apart cobblestone by cobblestone.

Same kind of thing happened with WWII. We didn't get involved while Hitler and his swarm of Nazis systematically took over Europe and took away the basic human rights of millions of people. We got involved because, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the war had finally come to us.

We became allies with France and Britain and Russia not because we really cared about each other, but because we had to in order to win. However, even as areas of Europe were liberated, the Russians were stepping back, and of course, a decade or two later, relations between Russia and America just turned ice cold.

America didn't step in just to help France or any other country. We stepped in after we were attacked.

For some reason, though, Americans these days look down on the French for not stepping in to our fight, a fight that so far has not effected them. Not being involved is working out pretty well for them. They are not under constant terroristic threat.

It's hypocritical to expect them to get involved in our fight when they aren't directly effected, since we didn't do that for them.

I've heard jokes before about how the French would be speaking German if it weren't for us, blah, blah, blah, but the fact is, while we were fighting one of the more advanced countries in the world at the time as far as military is concerned, it was France who helped us become a nation in the first place.

Sorry, I know it's rambling. Short answer: Because they have no reason to get involved.

Answer 4

Why has the United States, a traditional ally, distanced itself so much from the EU in the past 8 years?

Actually France has had a very independence-minded outlook versus the US ever since the Suez crisis, 1956. France and the UK had tried to flex their muscles together, against Egypt and in favor of themselves and Israel. The UK concluded from the Suez crisis that it had to work intimately together with the US in foreign policy to retain any influence in the world. France concluded that it would not gain anything from choosing sides too much in the cold war or any other conflict. Any attempt to influence foreign affairs would only be made if it benefited France directly. The only reason some of you guys think France is doing something strange is because you keep comparing it with Britain. But what Britain is doing, a fairly powerful nation that subjects its foreign policy completely to the foreign policy of another country, is actually really unusual. The only allies that are as reliable to the US as Britain are much less powerful: Poland, the Netherlands... France is not the exception, Britain is. And I would be very surprised if it stays that way for much longer.

Answer 5

I think Ray's answer to this and Elphin Knights response provide a great insight to France's foreign policy. I dont think France has distanced itself from the U.S - but however the U.S and France see resolving the world's problems by different methods.

Since the inception of the EEC and the EU in developing closer European co-operation, both France and Germany are more focused on the development of International bodies and organisations for the resolution of global problems, such as support for the United Nations.

While both the French and the Germans have developed a more liberal view of resolving issues in international relations, the opposite has occured with the United States whose foreign policy is much more realism in its outlook and has a strong distrust of international organisations as the United Nations for resolving international disputes.

The United States is much more reluctant to concede its global hegemony after world war 2, increasingly seeing short term military power rather than long term diplomacy as being the key to resolving international problems.

France and Germany are much more wary of military power as being a real solution to long term problems, from which they have learned that lesson from their own long historical experiences. This is something that the United States is only just starting to learn.

Answer 6

Because France has learned the hard way the futility of imperialism, and does not want to get involved in the US's present futility.

Answer 7

They only ally themselves when they are going to need military help since they have a loooooong history of being cowards. They have a superiority complex combined with an arrogant attitude (that's not to say Bush doesn't either but before him we actually tried to get along with the rest of the world) and don't try to associate with the rest of the world.

In fairness, the USA has grown increasingly conservative and non-progressive in the last few decades (not counting Clinton) and since Europe is a secular, progressive union we have become increasingly culturally discordant.

Answer 8

because they are freakin frenchies and they always have to lose
thats why they are helping the terrorists in iraq and selling them weapons to be used against us it it were up to me then france would be next after iraq is done

Answer 9

they want to look good in the public eye.