Australia’s Submarine Slap To France Exposes Brutal Truth About Europe
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a G7 meeting in Cornwall on June 12 — Photo: Andrew Parsons/Avalon/ZUMAAvalon/ZUMA
The Australian fiasco teaches us something else: our allies are less scrupulous than us in transferring their technologies. France has always refrained from exporting its nuclear-powered ships, because it sees them as the key to its independence and expertise. By agreeing to share theirs with the Australians, the Americans are breaking a major taboo.
History provides only one precedent, when Washington had offered its atomic expertise to the British. It was 1958, at the height of the Cold War — which says a lot about the anti-China front that is building up today. Will the American-Australian cooperation encourage other countries to develop their nuclear, civilian or military arsenals? Many fear so.
What's most cruel about this whole affair is to realize how much Europe's influence is eroding. Our hesitation vis-à-vis China is pushing the United States to forge alliances elsewhere, and without us. At the same time, they give Boris Johnson a great opportunity to achieve his ambitions to create a "Global Britain."
By contrast, Europe doesn't give any real weight to the common defense it calls for. The resistance of many countries, especially Poland, should push us to establish mini-alliances, as the United States is doing right now. We can only hope that the German election next week will choose a more proactive chancellor than Angela Merkel to actively support this strategic autonomy.
