Abstract:

The second half of the 1990s will be seen to have changed the state of Franco-British relations; the shared trial by fire in the Balkans and the marked improvement in military co-operation, which culminated in the 1998 Saint-Malo summit, were the decisive factors. Likewise in the political arena where, in the same period, a rapprochement of French and British views on most foreign policy issues took place, each country moving towards the other on such sensitive issues as the role of the European Union and the transatlantic relationship. The two countries have nurtured a new way of approaching issues in the form of a general overview of the global state of affairs. This collusion leads to targeted «global partnerships», notably in Africa. However, the risk of isolation that France is running, especially within the EU, could disturb British pragmatism and make London wary ofthe underlying interest of this new «Entente Cordiale».

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