Today's Date:

France and the United States: Cooperation that Counts.

1. Drawing the optimum benefits from the new situation in the Mideast

The disagreement between France and the United States over the war in Iraq is in the past; the unanimous adoption of Security Resolution 1483 confirmed that the two countries want to see the international community stand united on the challenges of reconstruction.

In the Mideast, France shares President Bush's vision of two states, Israel and Palestine. It is concerned both for Israeli security and the Palestinians' national aspirations. It supports the Quartet's road map and is pleased to note President Bush's personal involvement. A global peace settlement in the Mideast should also eventually include Syria and Lebanon. France has sent the appropriate messages to these countries and to Iran.

2. The fight against international terrorism: the number-one priority

Like the United States, France has been the victim of terrorism at home and abroad (11 French nationals were killed in Pakistan, three in Morocco, Yemen) and intends to bring a global and coordinated response to this effort.

After the tragedy of September 11, France supported Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan (some 5,500 French soldiers were deployed to the region).

France is the only country, alongside the United States, to have sent bombers to Afghanistan, from Kyrgyzstan and the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. French forces provide logistical support to the Afghan theater, transporting coalition troops and equipment with the assistance of French detachments stationed in Uzbekistan, and resupplying U.S. warships and U.S. Navy fighter planes.

French and American inter-agency cooperation on terrorism is ongoing (in Africa, notably East Africa; in North Africa; in the Mideast; and in the Caucasus, where several terrorist organizations with links to al Qaeda are based, as uncovered by the French anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguière). U.S. authorities have emphasized that France's cooperation is exemplary.

3. France: an ally with the will and means to act on the ground

France is not a "pacifist" country: More than 11,000 of its soldiers are deployed abroad in various operations.

Contrary to a general trend in Europe, France will substantially boost its military expenditures in the coming years (+ 12.4 percent in 2002/2003; +7 percent in the following two years) to prepare for future interventions (OTAN, EU, Berlin Plus agreement).

Over the past 10 years it was the second-largest contributor of troops to NATO operations after the United States.

From the very beginning, France supported the American proposal to create a NATO Response Force. It supported the NATO intervention in Afghanistan (ISAF III and IV) and supported Poland's request to use NATO capabilities (multinational force to secure Iraq).

-Afghanistan: France takes part in ISAF (539 French troops maintain the security of the Kabul airport and its environs). Only the United States, France and the United Kingdom are providing officer training for the new Afghan army.

-The Balkans: French military participation is significant: in Macedonia (the EU's Operation Concordia: 53 percent of troops); Bosnia-Herzegovina (10 percent of troops, the second-largest contribution after the United States); Kosovo (15 percent of the troops, the second-largest contribution, following Italy; United States number 8).

-Africa: France and the United States have a similar approach to several major issues (the Great Lakes region, the Horn, Sudan). France is leading a European humanitarian mission to secure Bunia (the eastern DRC).

-Côte d'Ivoire: France deployed a continent of nearly 4,000 men, whose intervention saved American lives, in order to restore peace to that country and support African ECOWAS forces to which it, along with the United States, provides the greatest support.

-Liberia : France evacuated about 100 Americans from Liberia on June 8 and 9, 2003.

-Asia: France and the United States are working together closely to help ease tensions between India and Pakistan.

4. Challenge represented by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is particularly troubling (possible connections with terrorism, certain dictatorial regimes or failed governments). France is constantly coordinating with the United States through exchanges of information, by nature discreet. It has proposed a Security Council meeting on this subject at the level of heads of state and government.

-With regard to North Korea, France, like the United States, is working within a multilateral framework to pressure that country to respect its commitments and proceed with the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of its military nuclear program.

- Paris and Washington agreed to ask Iran to respect its obligations with regard to the NPT and show all the necessary transparency with regard to its nuclear programs.

-France and the United States are participating jointly in the G8 global partnership against proliferation, which is working to dismantle nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union.

5. France: a partner for a better world

France and the United States believe that the least developed countries' share of international trade should increase and that development aid should be enhanced. France has pledged to increase its PDA by 50 percent in five years. France and the United States have also launched a joint initiative to reduce the risks of famine in Africa.

France and the United States are also active in the fight against AIDS. France hailed President Bush's decision to earmark $15 billion over the next five years to fight this scourge. It decided to triple its contribution to the World Fund against AIDS and numerous bilateral cooperation programs with specific components to fight that pandemic.

6. France and the United States: interdependent economies

France is the fifth-largest foreign investor in the United States (fourth ahead of Japan and the United Kingdom in terms of 2001 flows). The United States is the second-largest investor in France.

Subsidiaries of French companies employ some 650,000 people in the United States (American companies provide some 550,000 jobs in France).

French exports to the United States amount to € 26.1 billion (2002). The United States is France's third-largest supplier (€ 25.7 billion in 2001).