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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 30, 1985
politicians call for greater defense cooperation with West Germany." This
article did not appear in _the U.S. edition. Here are key excerpts:
Ever since Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the military
wing of NATO in 1967, French military strategy has focused on·
protecting France's own borders. Now, however, the era of "For
tress France" may be coming to an end. In recent weeksFrench
politicians of all�tripes, except the beleaguered Communists,
have endorsed the notion of defending West Germany if war breaks
out.
Last month French Defense Minister Charles Hernu told his West
German counterpart, Manfred Worner, that Paris now believed their
two countries "had security interests in common." Former Presi
dent Valery Giscard D'Estaing's center-right UDF group declared
� France's "frontier of independence is� the Elbe," not the
Rhine••••
According to the new strategy, in the event of war the 46,000-man
French rapid-action force would mobilize. Within hours its heli
copters would reach the front. The 50,000 French troops already
based in West Germany would then abandon their defense positions
and move forward to reinforce them. Still, even under the best
of circumstances, the proposed reconciliation will have its
limits_. French officials say there will be no earth-shattering
public announcement, such as an extension of the country's
nuclear umbrella to cover West Germany, and Bonn's NATO commit
ments will still take first priority. But the change will pre
sent important new opportunities for broader European military
cooperation.
"!!
France and Germany have� common strategy, then
a European defense becomes possible;,r--says Andre Brigot of the
Institut Franca1s de Polemologie, a strategic think tank•..•
France, in particular, has had good reasons for wanting to
improve cooperation on defense. In the French view, the outpour
ing of pacifist sentiment over the installation of U.S. cruise
missiles was an unsettling indication of West Germany's sometimes
tenuous loyalties to the concept of Western solidarity •••• In his
new book, "The Future of War," Pierre Lellouche, a NEWSWEEK
INTERNATIONAL columnist and associate director of the Institut
Francais des Relations Internationales (IFRI), argues that France
has an obligation, out of self-interest if nothing else, to
contribute to West Germany's defense.... "There is widespread
fear of what's going on in Germany," says Dominique Moisi, also
of IFRI. "We cannot stay in our selfish nationalistic position.
We must pay a price for Germany to stay in Europe."
·Paying the price--literally--of protecting itself is becoming
increasingly difficult for Paris. Some officials say privately
that France simply can no longer afrord an independent defense.
By some estimates,�nventional-force spending will plunge 25
percent by 1988•••• "If we want to maintain a credible defense,
we must cooperate with West Germany," says Moisi. "The political
logic combines wi�h the economic logic."