Sarah Sands: France and us: the new special relationship?

 
Moving in: French troops in Mali's capital
AP Photo/Jerome Delay
29 January 2013
WEST END FINAL

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Talk of the European referendum harks back to 1975 when Harold Wilson held one. But a politically acute Frenchman I lunched with the other day saw the Suez crisis of 1956 as a more interesting historical reference.

A joint English-French military intervention, Egypt in turmoil, Algeria seething and America unwilling to intervene. Looks familiar?

My French theorist said it was the outcome of Suez that was crucial. Britain chose to tie itself more closely to America and discarded its colonial heritage, while France went cold on Nato.

As America now becomes more isolationist and President Obama more interested in the Pacific, the military relationship between France and the UK is getting closer. Nuclear secrets are shared, French and British officers wander freely into each other’s military institutions. Shared ties of colonial heritage, dormant since Suez, are relevant again. We were with the French in Libya and we are supporting them again in Mali, now agreeing to send 200 troops to West Africa within weeks. Our influence in countries such as Nigeria is significant.

The dynamic potential of the relationship was explained to me as follows: Germany and France have the economic partnership but Germany, because of its past, has no interest in being a foreign power. It is Britain and France who have a shared view of world events at the moment. It is a “special relationship”. If so, what a turnaround for a nation described in America during the Iraq war as “cheese-eating surrender monkeys”.

But when the facts change, opinions change. The French are aware that they now have al Qaeda on their doorstep in North Africa. It is a far greater and more immediate threat to them than Afghanistan.

We are an island race with a different experience of the shattering world wars than mainland Europe. Yet the waning of the special relationship with America does alter our position. America wants us in Europe and Europe wants us in Europe. It looks like Europe or alone at the moment. It was clever of David Cameron to postpone the referendum until 2017 because it allows for the shifting landscape. If it had been last year, we would have looked at the eurozone with horror. Now the euro is looking stronger than sterling. Perspectives change along with economies.

About five years ago I spent a couple of weeks at an American military camp, shared with some Brits, in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa. The French Foreign Legion were next door and flew their jets over the American camp each morning. An American soldier told me through gritted teeth that the French seemed to choose the exact moment at which the American national anthem was being sung beneath the flag. Which camp are the Brits going to join now?

These lavish parties have some purpose

Sun or snow, Necker or Davos. Guests to each — or both, since there is a Venn diagram on this one — have rushed to Twitter or print to give the rest of us a tantalising glimpse. Over the weekend, a writer described the glamour of Necker. It is a cocktail of cocktails and cocktails. Host Richard Branson chooses to moon at his guests as they fly away, a reminder of what they are leaving behind. If only Scott Fitzgerald lived at this time.

As for Davos, guests have been meticulous at recording their arrivals and departures and who else was present. The event itself remains a blur. But one non-invitee told me (and her evidence may therefore be bitter and unreliable) that Davos is basically a dreary hall. It is like being snowed in at a nightmarish party conference.

I refuse to join in the chorus that Davos is a waste of time. Power and glamour can rub off. As an American political journalist once sighed to me: “You want to be with rich people because you think they may suddenly give you a lot of money.” The same works with countries.

There is a deep satisfaction to be had from attending the best parties. But there is an almost equal pleasure in not going. The grand thing about Davos and Necker is that everybody wins.

If you don’t like Harry’s way, don’t talk to him

Prince Harry returns from the frontline and seems to be in trouble with everyone. Too much Fulham and not enough barracks. Too much Army, not enough Air Force. Why so harsh to someone who has tried so hard to avoid heirs and graces? Lefty newspapers respectfully quote a “Taliban spokesman” who distorts Prince Harry’s self-deprecating observation that his dexterity at Fifa equips him for Apaches, to mean war is a video game.

Commentators rebuke him for being bloodthirsty and vulgar because he wants to see action and does not use euphemisms for fighting. A wry Army source murmurs that Prince Harry is sitting in the front seat of the Apache. The Top Gun pilot he would love to be sits in the back.

The Prince’s main enemy is not the Taliban but the British press. In his media interview, Prince Harry identified himself with his army mates over civilians. If a civilian media does not like his use of language, let’s leave him alone.

Another email from a public relations firm. They all start by hoping I am well. How kind — but I notice it is only people with a distant interest in my health who now enquire after it.

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