Jungtinės Amerikos Valstijos ir Prancūzija ; The United States of America and France : allies and rivals

Abstract

The United States of America and France are states that have much in common. The USA has the greatest political, economic and military power in the world, and France held this position before the Second World War. Both, the Unites States and France, were the sources of democratic values in the eighteenth century. Currently the two countries have the same values and objectives for the world community: defence of human rights, promotion of democracy, maintenance of international stability and peace, fight against terrorism. However, France has always opposed the United States on one issue or other. It may be in the realm of international diplomacy, where one can discern a distinct distaste for America's oftproclaimed sole-superpower status, or on matters of culture, where France is always the first to denounce American "cultural imperialism." Lately, Franco – American friction has manifested itself most visibly in the UN Security Council over the Iraq war. Both countries realized the necessity to disarm Iraq yet France opposed the resolution authorizing the war against Iraq. France's antipathy to war, pessimism to crate stability in Iraq and refusal to recognize the leadership of the United States can be conceived as the reasons of the opposition. France is no longer the superpower that it was, and that leads to a strategic difference in how the two countries pursue their goals. [.].