ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Soviet analysts’ perceptions of French security policy since the establishment of the independent nuclear force in the mid-1960s. General Charles de Gaulle sought to create a security policy for France that would give greater independence than had been provided by the Fourth Republic’s close ties with the Americans in the NATO alliance. Georges Pompidou was perceived to have gained ascendency primarily as the intellectual heir of de Gaulle. Despite an emphasis on the European dimension in his foreign policy, President Giscard d’Estaing also reduced the level of tension with the Americans. Despite their hopes, the Soviets recognize that concrete Franco-Soviet relations deteriorated during the 1980s. Soviet analysts perceive French nuclear forces, although an expression of a desire for independence, to be integral components of NATO’s nuclear forces because of France’s continued commitment to its Alliance treaties. The significance of French security policy for Soviet analysts is its effect on American options and on West European possibilities.
