In politics, symbols cement a story, but they are not enough. On January 20, Joe Biden took an oath on a Douai Bible, a detail noted by the Elysee. We can see it as a nod to France, but certainly not an assurance of bilateral complicity on all the issues to be dealt with. On January 24, Emmanuel Macron spoke with Joe Biden, after congratulating him on his victory a few weeks earlier. The Elysee report simply lists the main topics covered, but the use of the term twice “Convergence” illustrates the working atmosphere, studious and peaceful.
The French president no longer claims, alone, the role of spokesperson and promoter of liberal democracies, as was the case under Donald Trump. It is both a relief and a change of scope. And this in no way alters the project of European strategic autonomy, claimed by Mr. Macron, whose sails have yet to swell. This observation will be at the heart of the intervention of the French president, who will speak on February 2 by videoconference with American experts brought together by the think tank Atlantic Council, in Washington. “Merkel will retire from the scene this year, the UK is isolated because of Brexit, so the dynamics are favorable for Paris, says Benjamin Haddad, European director of the Atlantic Council. This Biden team will not play as much as Trump at dividing the Europeans. “
It is about celebrating reunion with open eyes, being aware that a clock does not go back four years. “We are still in this ambivalent relationship with the United States, pleads Tara Varma, director of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). We belong to the same family, but we become an adult. “ During the Trump presidency, Franco-American cooperation was very close in the areas of defense, intelligence, and the fight against terrorism. Politically, the record is much duller. Trumpian unilateralism has caused damage. Despite the setbacks on the climate or the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA), from which Washington has withdrawn, Emmanuel Macron has never ceased to engage in the particular dialogue established with his counterpart. It was made of familiarity, symbolic gestures such as the invitation to the military parade of July 14, 2017, a strategy of bypassing the “hawks” around the American president.
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