Bilateral Relations between France and Germany during the Cold War as a Foundation of Modern International Political Relations: the Security Aspect

Svrha ovog rada jest prikazati vaţnost sigurnosne suradnje izmeĊu Francuske i Njemaĉke za vrijeme Hladnog rata kako bi se bolje shvatio utjecaj njihovog odnosa na oblikovanje suvremene europske sigurnosne scene. Naime, nakon Drugog svjetskog rata glavni cilj francuske sigurnosne politike bio je da se Francuska ponovno etablira kao velika sila na meĊunarodnoj sceni i da nadzire Njemaĉku, no zbog materijalnih ograniĉenja taj cilj nije mogla postići sama već kroz proces europske integracije. Prenoseći svoje ambicije na europske partnere, zalaganjem za razvoj Europe koja bi trebala postati globalni politiĉki ĉimbenik pod francuskim vodstvom i izlaskom iz NATO-a za vrijeme de Gaullea, Francuska je ţeljela stvoriti protuteţu ameriĉkom unilateralizmu. S druge strane, ideja europskog ujedinjenja postala je vrlo bitna u zapadnonjemaĉkim politiĉkim krugovima jer bi tako Njemaĉka mogla lakše izaći iz meĊunarodne izolacije i otkloniti meĊunarodni nadzor, ali bi isto tako mogla teţiti ponovnom ujedinjenju. Dakle, i Francuzi i Nijemci su teţili sprjeĉavanju daljnjih neprijateljstava i postizanju trajnog pomirenja, svaki iz svojih skrivenih ţelja i vizija buduće Europe. Nakon kraja Hladnog rata i pada Berlinskog zida te ujedinjenja Njemaĉke meĊunarodni se odnosi više nisu zasnivali na bipolarizmu pa su Francuzi smatrali kako NATO nije potreban. MeĊutim, europski se partneri nisu sloţili jer bi to znaĉilo da bi, ako se SAD povuĉe, morali više izdvajati za obranu te isto tako nisu htjeli zamijeniti ameriĉko vodstvo mogućim vodstvom Francuske ili Njemaĉke. Nakon toga Francuska je promijenila taktiku i pokušala se vratiti u vojnu strukturu NATO-a, ali je taj pokušaj bio neuspješan (vratila se tek 2009.). MeĊutim, Francuska je i dalje bez obzira na taj neuspješan pokušaj, umjesto povratka na hladnoratovsku sigurnosnu politiku, nastavila vojnu suradnju s NATO-om jer nije odustala od svoje vizije jedinstvene europske obrambene politike u kojoj bi imala znaĉajnu ulogu. S druge strane, Njemaĉka je nakon ujedinjenja postala relevantan ĉimbenik europske sigurnosti, meĊutim svoju je sigurnosnu politiku nastavila graditi unutar EU-a i NATO-a te je preferirala nevojna rješenja temeljena na diplomatskim nastojanjima. Na poĉetku 21. stoljeća Njemaĉka se suprotstavila namjerama SAD-a da vojnom silom riješi pitanja iraĉkog reţima, ali je za vrijeme kancelarke Angele Merkel ponovo poĉela graditi bolje odnose sa SAD-om. Dakle, Njemaĉka je paralelno radila na izgradnji europske obrambene strukture i povećanju sposobnosti NATO-a što joj je omogućilo veći utjecaj u NATO-u i u Europi. U radu se predviĊa kako se Europa ipak neće tako lako i skoro riješiti ovisnosti o NATOu, a jaĉanje francusko-njemaĉke bilateralne suradnje na sigurnosnom planu neće ugroziti poloţaj SAD-a u Europi.The goal of this masters thesis is to demonstrate the importance of security cooperation between France and Germany during the Cold War in order to better understand the impact of their relationship on the formation of modern european security scene. Particularly, after the World War Two the main objectives of French security policy was to reestablish France as a great power on international scene and to oversee Germany, but because of material limitations France could not achieve this goal on its own, rather through European integration. By carrying over its ambitions on European partners, by advocating for the development of Europe that should become a global political factor under the French leadership and by leaving the NATO during the de Gaulle era, France wanted to offset American unilateralism. On the other hand, the idea of European unification became extremely important in western political circles since it would allow Germany to put an end to international isolation and international supervision, and it could also pave the way for reunification. Particularly, France and Germany wanted to prevent further hostilities and achieve permanent reconciliation, each out of their own hidden agendas and visions of future Europe. After the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin wall, as well as after the unification of Germany, international relations ceased to be based solely on bipolarism, so the French believed that NATO was not necessary. However, European partners disagreed, since the withdrawal of US would mean higher defense expenditure and also they did not want to replace American leadership with possible French of German leadership. Afterwards France changed its approach and attempted to return into the NATO military structure, but that attempt was unsuccessful (France returned to NATO in 2009). However, despite its failure, instead of returning to Cold War security policy France continued its military cooperation with NATO, never abandoning its vision of unique european defense policy in which France would play a significant role. On the other hand, after the unification Germany became a relevant factor of european security, continuing to build its security policy within NATO and EU and preffered non-military solutions based on diplomatic endeavours. At the beginning of the 21. century Germany opposed to the intention of US to solve the Iraqi regime question with military force, but during the era of German Chancellor Angela Merkel Germany began to build better relations with US. Hence, Germany worked in parallel to build European defense structure and to increase the capabilities of NATO which in turn strenghtened Germany's influence in NATO and in Europe. In the thesis it is predicted that Europe will not, however, easily or quickly work out her dependence on NATO, and that the strenghtening of the Franco-German bilateral cooperation on the security field will not endanger US's position in Europe