France’s return to NATO’s military command overturns a historic decision made in 1966 by President Charles de Gaulle. Fed up with what he saw as the undue dominance of the United States over the Alliance, he took France out of the military command.

On Tuesday March 18, the French assembly approved Sarkozy's decision to return to NATO 329 votes to 238. But this change in France's international stance has led to much heated debate (including within the French right, and even among Sarkozy's colleagues at the UMP). A debate that touches upon France's self-image as a strong, independent voice in the concert of nations and that could carry on well after April 4.

For many critics, the Alliance itself is not relevant to what world politics has become. In a multipolar world, staying outside NATO was the smartest way for France to remain influential. "We're going against the current here by hanging on to the logic of 'blocs' which is at the root of the tensions in today's world", declared former Socialist prime minister Laurent Fabius, who spoke for his party during the parliamentary debate that preceded the vote.

The question here is how wise it is to sign up to an Alliance which embodies the might of the West, making France a more likely target for terrorist attacks. "We are signing up for a ‘ready-to-wear’ diplomacy which will tailor all of France’s foreign affairs choices to the needs of an imagined Western camp which doesn’t really correspond to the rules of the international game at present”, Bertrand Badie, of Paris’s Institut d’études politiques told Lemonde.fr website.

In recent years, France's decision not to participate in the Iraq war was widely approved by the French. Some critics of the return to NATO, most significantly Dominique de Villepin (UMP), Foreign Affairs minister at the time, argue that this stance would be harder to maintain with France back in NATO's military command.

"I know that it can be extremely hard to resist American pressure… Opposing a NATO decision, not just refusing to accept it, requires a very strong independence. And that has been the French position until now”, the politician told Canal + television weeks before the vote. Along with Germany and Belgium, he staunchly opposed George Bush’s efforts to take NATO into Iraq in 2003. His speech at the United Nations General Assembly drew warm applause from the world's representatives.
 
“What are we getting in return?”

“I consider that France is abandoning something extremely precious that was a sign of its independence. What are we getting in return? Nothing,” declared François Bayrou, leader of the centrist MoDem party on Tuesday.

But Sarkozy is getting something in exchange. Concretely, France gets to appoint a general to one of four NATO military commands, and will head the A.C.T. in Norfolk, NATO’s think tank in charge of reflection and development.

Sarkozy has also argued that France’s presence in NATO would allow Europe to build a stronger defence, something he's been arguing for since his campaign for the presidency. Up until now, many EU countries have shirked at participating in a European defence scheme which could appear to antagonise the United States. “We must stop this zero-sum game which pits NATO against European defence”, argued Prime Minister François Fillon.

And the president's team has argued that the change is not such a hard one on a more pragmatic level.

“Today, our troops are fighting with NATO in Kosovo and in Afghanistan. We are NATO’s fourth contributor in terms of forces and are present in practically all NATO committees," Fillon told MPs. "Facts and political will have taken us towards increasing participation in the structures of NATO. Today, we’re taking the last step”.
 
What would De Gaulle do?

The shadow of France’s former president and war hero, Charles de Gaulle, lurked high over the dispute. On both sides of the political spectrum, MPs speculated on what the right-wing statesman’s opinion of the present day debate would be.

“He had a vision of how world affairs would evolve. He was opposed to a bipolar world and hoped for a multipolar one. That is what we Socialists are defending,” proclaimed Laurent Fabius, paying homage to the late president.

“One thing that we should remember from General de Gaulle is to never look at the present with the eyes of the past”, declared Prime Minister Fillon before adding, “Today what counts is the rank and the interests of France. Nothing is more contrary to our influence than nostalgia”.