2004 Programs & Events
DCM Alejandro Wolff Digital Video Conference
December 3, 2004
Deputy Chief of Mission Alejandro Wolff attended a Digital Video Conference with International Political Science Graduate Students from Toulouse, Dec. 3, 2004.
Institut d’Etudes Politiques director Laure Ortiz requested that a cycle on US foreign policy be initiated in cooperation with the US Embassy to give I.E.P. students direct access to US diplomats.
The theme chosen to open this series of DVCs is “An overview of the key foreign policy issues between the US and the rest of the world.” The DCM addressed 40 students enrolled in the I.E.P.’s Master’s of Political Science and majoring in International Relations, as well as 4th and 5th-year I.E.P. students. He delivered his remarks and then took questions for the remainder of the hour.
It is a pleasure to speak with you today from Paris. Although I would have enjoyed a trip to Toulouse, our new technologies enable us to communicate despite the distances involved.
I would like to thank Professors Olivier Philippe and Michel Martin for organizing this session and Director Laure Ortiz for bringing to our attention that the students of IEP would welcome more direct conversation with diplomats at the American Embassy. I also express my appreciation to Professor of Political Science Bernard Labatut for his support. It is always a pleasure to meet with students, and I am looking forward to our exchange today on the vast topic of U.S. relations with the world.
I hope to devote most of our time together to answering your questions, but, as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in France, I thought it would be appropriate to give a short overview of U.S.-France relations, and our hopes for a strong European partnership.
From our perspective at the U.S. Embassy, the issue of Iraq has unduly clouded the generally good relations and cooperation between the U.S. and France. Too many of the ongoing areas of agreement and daily coordinated efforts have been obscured because of the intense interest in Iraq.
The 60th anniversary of the Normandy landings this past June was a timely and appropriate moment for both sides to re-affirm our long friendship and alliance, and both Presidents Bush and Chirac emphasized that point during the D-Day commemorations. Their talks in Paris prior to the events in Normandy, which they continued at the G-8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia, and at the following NATO Summit in Istanbul, allowed them to exchange views directly, on Iraq and on other subjects of concern.
On November 2, President Bush was re-elected, and during the following week, he and President Chirac spoke by phone, with both indicating a firm desire to cooperate more closely on all fronts. I believe that both sides intend to work constructively on our relations and the many common issues that confront us on the global stage.
NATO, in our view, remains the key instrument for ensuring trans-Atlantic security and we believe it can play an expanded role in global security generally. We favor political and military reform of NATO to increase its effectiveness. Part of the reform is to reorient NATO away from the Cold War posture where states were aligned against states and instead make NATO better able to respond to the threats posed by failed states or non-state belligerents such as terrorists. Such threats may threaten Europe, but have their source outside of Europe, requiring NATO to become more globally oriented in order to be effective.
Some specific American objectives regarding NATO include: reinforcing NATO’s peacekeeping assignment in Afghanistan; examining NATO's role in Iraq, where we have already seen progress with NATO's decision to help train Iraq's security forces; further defining relations between NATO and the EU to achieve maximum cooperation and effectiveness; and strengthening NATO's relations with Russia.
The United States and Europe have long been partners in addressing many global issues, and the U.S. and Europeans, along with the rest of the world, benefit when we work together. President Bush has stated on several occasions that a strong Europe is in U.S. interests. As Europeans pursue their process of integration, the United States looks forward to a stronger and more confident Europe that will work with the United States in taking on the common challenges we face.
France's expressions of solidarity with the United States after the September 11 attacks were greatly appreciated, as is the active role France has played in Afghanistan from the beginning and which continues to this day. As Iraq continues its progress to becoming a stable and productive member of the international community, we hope that all nations, including France, that share our values of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights, freedom of expression, and open societies will join in supporting Iraq's reconstruction. It is in all of our interests to see stability in that region. We are encouraged by the recent decision by a number of our partners, including France, to forgive significant portions of Iraq's debt accumulated under the former dictatorship.
The United States and France enjoy excellent cooperation in many other areas: in Haiti, the Balkans, Cote d'Ivoire and elsewhere in Africa, and in diplomatic initiatives with respect to Iran, North Korea, and Sudan. We also cooperate very well in intelligence sharing, anti-terrorist law enforcement issues, transportation security matters, and international crime and narcotics trafficking, which are often linked closely with terrorism finance.
The United States and France share close commercial and economic ties. France is our 9th largest overall trading partner. In 2003, France was our 10th largest export market and our 9th largest source of imports, with a total of 46 billion dollars in two-way trade. From the French perspective, the United States remains France's most important trading partner outside the European Union. In 2003, exports to the United States amounted to 20.1 percent of France's non-EU exports and 6.8 percent of France's total exports. In the same year, imports from the United States accounted for 18.3 percent of France's non-EU imports and 6.6 percent of France's total imports.
Another measure of the closeness of our economies is the extent to which we invest in each other. In 2003, cumulative French direct investment in the United States totaled approximately $143 billion, with American investment in France amounting to over $48 billion. According to the most recent estimates, the approximately 2,500 French companies operating in the United States employ about 515,000 people there, making these French companies, collectively, the third largest foreign employer in the United States. Approximately 2000 U.S. companies have facilities in France, with that figure rising to 3000 if American subsidiaries are counted separately. These companies are a major source of employment for the French people. American visitors are a vital segment of France's tourism industry -- over 2.2 million Americans visited France in 2002. About 689,000 French visited the United States in 2003, contributing an estimated $1.9 billion dollars to the American economy.
The United States and France do not always agree, with Iraq being a case in point. But our very long relationship is based on many shared values and a closely tied economic and commercial relationship. We have worked closely with France for centuries, and our common devotion to democracy, human rights, free trade, open societies, and the rule of law I think ensures that our relations will remain close and supportive.
And now, I welcome your questions.