Saying 'Oui' to NATO

When he first sat at the NATO summit table in Bucharest just a month ago, President Nicolas Sarkozy knew he was going to make history. By announcing a significant reinforcement of French forces in eastern Afghanistan and, more importantly, by signaling his intention to lead France back into NATO's integrated military command within a year, Sarkozy was breaking, in just a few hours, with no less than 42 years of French diplomatic history.

Candidate Sarkozy had promised a clean break with the French past, and here it was, striking at the most sensitive part of France's sovereignty—its independence from the U.S. and NATO. Marking a complete reversal of General de Gaulle's 1966 decision to leave NATO's command and expel NATO headquarters and all bases from French territory, Sarkozy's announcement was no less than a revolution for NATO and transatlantic relations.

Both moves, of course, were warmly welcomed in the U.S. and by many allies. NATO is not winning in Afghanistan. Some allies are reluctant to fight (like Germany), and most are tempted to cut their losses and leave (like Canada). Yet leaving would simply invite the Taliban back into Kabul, and increase the risk of a recreating a terrorist state at war with the world's democracies.

France's choice was therefore seen as a crucial step both politically and militarily, since French forces, reknowned for their expertise, are much needed. Bravely, Sarkozy decided to rescue NATO's operation, despite attacks from the Socialist opposition, by leaders who called him Bush's new poodle and accused him of dragging France into a new Vietnam.

Even more ambitious—and risky—was Sarkozy's decision to fully rejoin NATO. But there's a sound argument for the move. First, ever since the fall of the Berlin wall nearly 20 years ago, NATO is a totally different alliance. No one is threatening to invade Western Europe anymore, and no one is arguing about who should press the nuclear trigger to stop thousands of Soviet tanks. Thus much of the reason for France's non to NATO 40 years ago has vanished along with the U.S.S.R.

Second, today's threats arise from terror, proliferation and conflicts (many internal) waged outside Europe's borders, sometimes thousands of miles away, where NATO often acts on behalf of the United Nations, such as in Kosovo and Afganistan. That is why France has been one of the main contributors to such Alliance operations since the end of the cold war, with French generals actually taking command of NATO troops in the Balkans or in Kabul.