On June 19th, 2017, Mr. Brandon Weichert gave a lecture at The Institute of World Politics titled, “Where is France in the Moscow-Berlin Axis?” Brandon Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and founder of The Weichert Report. He is authoring a book on national security with a focus on space policy. Mr. Weichert has his B.A. in Political Science from DePaul University and is an Associate Member of The New College at Oxford University. He received his M.A. in Statecraft and National Security at The Institute of World Politics with a specialty in Defense Policy. He is considering pursuing his Ph.D. in International Relations. Currently, Mr. Weichert is sponsored by the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies and the Center for Intermarium Studies.
Mr. Weichert spoke about France’s role influencing Russian-German relations. To fully expound upon what France’s role is, Mr. Weichert began with its historical significance in several wars, starting with the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s. After, he spoke about what happened during World Wars I and II, discussing how the Anglo Americans came to France’s aid in their time of need. The main cause for France’s desire for all of this was to keep Germany at bay. France’s main concern was that Germany would rise again and pose an extreme threat to France’s independence.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union posed a major threat to France. Charles de Gaulle jealously guarded French Sovereignty, understanding that Russian aggression was on the horizon. Thus De Gaulle came up with the idea of Force de Frappe. This was a triad of air, sea, and land-based nuclear strikes meant to deter Soviet invasion.
Mr. Weichert ended the presentation with a discussion on France’s role in the modern post-Cold War era. Today, France, Russia, and Germany are balancing their sovereignty as American unilateralism rises. The French, German, and Russian cognoscenti divide themselves into two different sides of the political spectrum. On one side are the Gaullists who believe in strong nationalism and a multipolar world that, under the Primakov Doctrine, prevents any one country from dominating. The other camp is labeled as the Atlantists who favor closer relations and integration with other European nations and the U.S. in particular.