{"id":66134,"date":"2004-11-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2004-11-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/2004\/11\/17\/qui-en-eut-doute-ils-sont-faits-pour-sentendre\/"},"modified":"2004-11-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2004-11-17T00:00:00","slug":"qui-en-eut-doute-ils-sont-faits-pour-sentendre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/2004\/11\/17\/qui-en-eut-doute-ils-sont-faits-pour-sentendre\/","title":{"rendered":"Qui en eut dout\u00e9 ? Ils sont faits pour s’entendre<\/em><\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Qui en e\u00fbt dout\u00e9 ? Ils sont faits pour s’entendre<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t17 novembre 2004 Blair ne garde aucune rancune \u00e0 Chirac de ses remarques de lundi<\/a>. Il faut \u00eatre po-si-tif. Un article du Financial Times de ce matin<\/a> ne nous laisse aucun doute l\u00e0-dessus.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tDirectement inspir\u00e9 par Downing Street, cet article met en \u00e9vidence tous les terrains d’entente n\u00e9cessaires entre les deux hommes, en plus de leur sympathie commune bien connue (\u00ab Whatever the ups and downs . . . Blair and Chirac get on each with other, said a Downing Street aide. Blair often says that whatever their differences he especially likes talking to Chirac. And there are good reasons to think that the president feels the same way about Blair.<\/em> \u00bb) A le lire, il appara\u00eet \u00e9vident qu’on pourrait bien voir s’ouvrir une nouvelle \u00e8re d’Entente Cordiale, au moment o\u00f9 on boucle les c\u00e9r\u00e9monies du centenaire de cette Entente (raison protocolaire de la visite de Chirac \u00e0 Londres demain et vendredi).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tOn appr\u00e9ciera le ton de l’article du Financial Times<\/em>, rarement aussi amical et bienveillant pour un pr\u00e9sident fran\u00e7ais. Le FT<\/em> arrive m\u00eame \u00e0 trouver dans la position fran\u00e7aise sur les relations transatlantiques un utile compl\u00e9ment pour la politique transatlantique de Tony Blair. Cet optimisme est remarquable bien qu’il coupe un peu le souffle Tout va tellement bien que les proches de Blair sugg\u00e8rent qu’il y aurait presque une doctrine originale du pr\u00e9sident fran\u00e7ais (le chiraquisme, ou chiracism<\/em>, certes).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\u00ab As they prepare for Mr Chirac’s arrival, the mood in Downing Street on Tuesday was upbeat. If journalists ask Chirac what he thinks about the Iraq war, then he will say what he thinks, said an aide to the prime minister. But there is no doubt, either, that Chirac will want to accentuate the positive aspects of our bilateral relationship.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbIn a meeting with British journalists this week, Mr Chirac confirmed this impression. He said the UK and France must seize the occasion to strengthen Europe and work towards their common global goals.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbHe also said France was prepared to consign its sometimes bitter disagreements with the UK over the Iraq war to history. Britain took one position that it felt reasonable. France took another. That’s a fact, he said. But one should not become obsessed by the idea of one particular problem, even if it was important.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbThere are several reasons why both men think this is a propitious moment to develop the bilateral relationship. Mr Blair and Mr Chirac strongly back the EU’s constitutional treaty and the opening of accession talks with Turkey. But both men face a tough job carrying their own voters on these issues. France is due to hold a referendum on the constitutional treaty, probably in the second half of 2005, while the British government will call a vote in early 2006.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbBritish and French officials also suggest both governments are keen to forge a common agenda on numerous fronts: African development; climate change; the pursuit of the Middle East peace process; and the strengthening of the transatlantic relationship, the backbone of our security. We have converging ambitions with Tony Blair, Mr Chirac told the British press.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbBut there are differences, too. Mr Chirac’s vision of Europe appears far more ambitious than that of Mr Blair and he remains far more wary of the Bush administration; hence the French president’s scepticism about whether the UK’s special relationship with the US had yet resulted in any payback.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbMr Chirac is also wedded to the vision of building an alternative model to US power out of Europe’s diverse member states. His vision is to make Europe a laboratory for a global democracy embracing different nations and cultures, a senior French official said, suggesting this was why Mr Chirac was backing Turkey’s entry into the EU despite stiff resistance among French voters.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbMr Chirac said this week that Europe must grow more united as new poles of power developed elsewhere in the world: in China, India, South America and Africa. The French president said it would be essential to strengthen multilateral organisations in an increasingly multi-polar world.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbBut he also stressed that Europe and the US shared the same values and must work ever more closely together. He said it was absurd to suggest that Europe was being built in opposition to the US. It is absurd because, quite simply, it does not conform to the interest of mankind and the evolution of history, he said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bbMr Blair’s aides believe President Chirac’s comments on transatlantic relations this week are helpful. The French will play hard-to-get and they won’t dispense with the essential elements of Chiracism, said one UK official. But there is no doubt either that they will want to get back in with the new Bush administration.<\/em> \u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\tA c\u00f4t\u00e9 de l’amoncellement de confidences et de d\u00e9clarations de pure relations publiques, on distingue, parce que c’est une \u00e9vidence, une volont\u00e9 britannique (partag\u00e9e plus discr\u00e8tement par les Fran\u00e7ais) de rapprochement. La cause en est simple : m\u00eame Blair commence \u00e0 s’apercevoir de ce que certains conseillers lui disent discr\u00e8tement, et de ce que la presse \u00e9crit r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement : que ce soit sur le Moyen-Orient<\/a> ou sur d’autres questions, GW et Washington sont aujourd’hui encore plus unilat\u00e9ralistes qu’hier et ne c\u00e9deront rien de substantiel \u00e0 Blair. Blair obtiendra encore moins que ce qu’il a d\u00e9j\u00e0 obtenu, c’est-\u00e0-dire moins que rien, et m\u00eame l’establishment<\/em> commence \u00e0 partager cette analyse, comme l’exprime le Times du 16 novembre<\/a>. S’il veut effectuer une courbe rentrante vers l’Europe, les Fran\u00e7ais l’aideront sans trop appuyer sur ses erreurs. La rencontre de demain sera peut-\u00eatre l’occasion de l’amorce de cette manoeuvre.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tMais le vrai sujet europ\u00e9en, \u00e9voqu\u00e9 par les Fran\u00e7ais et moins par les Britanniques, c’est la d\u00e9fense europ\u00e9enne. C’est l’enjeu principal, surtout lorsque les Fran\u00e7ais et les Britanniques parlent entre eux. C’est l\u00e0-dessus qu’on pourra \u00e9ventuellement mesurer une \u00e9volution de la position britannique. On notera cet avis int\u00e9ressant du pr\u00e9sident du Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), perdu dans un compte-rendu g\u00e9n\u00e9ral<\/a> des r\u00e9actions des Europ\u00e9ens apr\u00e8s la nomination de Rice comme secr\u00e9taire d’\u00c9tat. Certains pourraient consid\u00e9rer cette appr\u00e9ciation comme un appel du pied, ou une pr\u00e9vision.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\u00ab Not everyone was convinced that Rice’s appointment is all bad. While predicting that a U.S.-Europe partnership is going to be difficult in the next four years, Victor Bulmer-Thomas, the director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, said there was a silver lining for Europe.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\u00bb Europe also wants to develop a unified security and foreign policy, he said. Paradoxically, a bad relationship with the United States is an opportunity for Europe. Coming up with a unified European policy will be made easier by not having a sympathetic person as secretary of state.<\/em> \u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Qui en e\u00fbt dout\u00e9 ? Ils sont faits pour s’entendre 17 novembre 2004 Blair ne garde aucune rancune \u00e0 Chirac de ses remarques de lundi. Il faut \u00eatre po-si-tif. Un article du Financial Times de ce matin ne nous laisse aucun doute l\u00e0-dessus. Directement inspir\u00e9 par Downing Street, cet article met en \u00e9vidence tous les… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faits-et-commentaires"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}