French Ambassador to the United States Pierre Vimont spoke yesterday of the importance of American and European relations in combating the challenges of a changing world in a lecture at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Although the presentation was originally intended to address representing the European Union (EU) in America last year, when France held the EU presidency, Vimont took a broader approach. Saying his intention was to give "food for thought," the diplomat expounded on what he called a lack of collaboration between the United States and Europe and the need for greater cooperation in the face of global challenges.
"I think the story of trans-Atlantic relations since 1990 … may be a story of lost opportunity, of discovering new reality and having difficulty to adapt to it," Vimont said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy appointed Vimont as head of the French embassy in Washington in August 2007. From 2002 to 2007, he served as chief of staff to the French minister of foreign affairs and prior to that was the French representative to the EU.
Beginning with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Vimont gave examples of how U.S. and European cooperation could lead to great results. He cited how the Persian Gulf War, waged with collusion between the United States and Europe, had a decidedly different result than the current Iraq war, which was carried out unilaterally.
Vimont believes part of the reason the United States and Europe have not been working as effectively together as they once did is because the world is becoming an increasingly complex place where more countries want to play a global role.
"If we look now where we are today, new challenges are coming out again," Vimont said. He referenced challenges relating to the global economy, terrorism, illegal immigration, food prices and availability of energy, specifically bringing up the recent gas standoff between Russia and the Ukraine.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, "we thought the Western alliance would be able to solve any problem," but that has not been the case, Vimont said. He mentioned the failure of the trans-Atlantic alliance to stop human rights abuses by governments in Zimbabwe and Burma, as well as piracy in Somalia and drug trafficking in the Caribbean.
"We have been facing a new reality that we have had difficulty adapting to," Vimont said, explaining the cause of the United States and Europe's decreasing effectiveness in dealing with global issues.
Vimont cited failures to reform the United Nations Security Council as examples of a broader failure to adapt to the new global paradigm. "We are stuck with a Security Council that does not really represent the international community," he said.
Events now transpire at a more rapid pace than they did in the past, Vimont said, such as last year's war between Russia and Georgia. In that case, he feels, it was necessary to go through non-traditional channels to end the crisis before it was too late.
The French ambassador also discussed differences that arose from the War on Terror and the Iraq war.
As for the future of U.S. and EU relations, Vimont suggested that the two entities create a roadmap for future cooperation — one that fully acknowledges today's hurdles. This plan could be implemented in Afghanistan, where "we don't know what the purpose of our presence [is]," he said.
The new Obama administration and increased awareness in Europe of the role that the continent can play make increased collaboration possible, Vimont added.
"Today is a turning point," he said.
Vimont's lecture was sponsored by Fletcher's International Security Studies Program.
