WHEN US secretary of state Dean Acheson remarked that "Britain has lost an Empire, but has not yet found a role", he tellingly captured and defined British diplomacy in the post-war era. Some would say his insight is still valid. But now France too has had its own Acheson moment, this time delivered cruelly from within, by a démarche– surely the collective name for ambassadors? – of diplomats.
On Tuesday, a complaint endorsed anonymously by several serving and retired diplomats appeared in Le Monde,bemoaning the parlous state of France's international outreach. It was scathing of the responsibility of politicians and President Sarkozy for this, specifically the usurping of the role of their HQ, the Quai D'Orsay, by the Élysée Palace. It speaks of "amateurism", "improvisation", and a "short-term media-inspired approach" driven by domestic political imperatives.
The immediate cause of this extraordinary letter, from a group of quintessentially loyal and silent officials, was embarrassment over Tunisia and Egypt. France, home to five million Muslims mostly from North Africa, prides itself on its relationship with the region. That it should fail to predict the events, was to demonstrate uncomfortably that it was as fallible as other powers. But that it should take so long to disengage from the regimes – foreign minister Michèle Alliot-Marie even offering the know-how of France’s security forces to its former protectorate, Tunisia – was more, humiliating . Particularly, the letter points out, as a “French Wikileaks” would show how diplomatic advice had been ignored.
But the critique runs far deeper, to the core of the state's foreign policy, not least Sarkozy's rapprochement with the US which belatedly stepped into the North African void left by the French. " Plus grave, la voix de la France a disparu dans le monde. [France's voice in the world is no longer audible]. Our trailing behind the US has confused many of our allies." France's distinctive Cold War position, part of the western alliance, but yet independent, has been lost in its return to Nato, they argue. "We have lost our visibility and our room for diplomatic manoeuvre," the letter says, insisting that blame for "the loss of influence can not be laid at the door of diplomats but at the choices made by politicians".
"Contrary to the announcements trumpeted for the past three years, Europe is powerless, Africa escapes us, the Mediterranean won't talk to us, China has cowed us and Washington is ignoring us!" A cri de coeur.
Who speaks for France, Mr Sarkozy?