The French Defence Debate : Consensus and Continuity in the Mitterrand Era

Anti-Ballistic Missile ASLP Air-sol longue portee (air-to-surface long range missile) ASMP Air-sol moyenne portee (air-to-surface medium range missile) AWACS Airborne Warning and Control System CCRAN Convention des cadres de reserve pour Varmee nouvelle CDS Centre des democrates sociaux CEA Commissariat a Venergie atomique Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-8 Front Matter....Pages 9-9 Years of Discord....Pages 11-28 Towards a Defence Consensus?....Pages 29-47 Mitterrand and Defence: an Overview....Pages 48-70 Front Matter....Pages 71-71 Defence Planning in the First Term....Pages 73-92 Military Intervention in Lebanon and Chad....Pages 93-112 The Security Challenge of the 1980s....Pages 113-132 The End of the Cold War: a Crisis for French Military Planning?....Pages 133-158 Towards a European Defence?....Pages 159-178 The New French Interventionism....Pages 179-198 Conclusion....Pages 199-209 Back Matter....Pages 210-300 The French Defence Debate examines assertions of consensus and continuity in, and surrounding, France's defence since 1958, with primary reference to the political career of François Mitterrand. Mitterrand's influence over defence and security, before and after his election to the presidency, is often underestimated. Nonetheless his impact was substantial, if ultimately for his lack of concern to preserve consensus and his reluctance to instigate necessary changes in France's defence - despite the end of the Cold War, and the military deficiencies and limitations of national independence it exposed. The French Defence Debate examines assertions of consensus and continuity in, and surrounding, France's defence since 1958, with primary reference to the political career of Fraṅois Mitterrand. Mitterrand's influence over defence and security, before and after his election to the presidency, is often underestimated. Nonetheless his impact was substantial, if ultimately for his lack of concern to preserve consensus and his reluctance to instigate necessary changes in France's defence - despite the end of the Cold War, and the military deficiencies and limitations of national independence it exposed