The Australian submarine affair shows once again that the United States is not embarrassed by sentiment in order to impose its military, economic, cultural and judicial hegemony.
France has just recalled its ambassadors in Washington and Canberra. Big deal! Two days after the announcement of a strategic partnership between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, the AUKUS (as it is called) resulted in the unilateral breach of a contract for the delivery by France to Australia of twelve conventionally powered submarines for a price of about $50 billion. The “contract of the century” thus eluded Naval Group. On the other hand, the United States will equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. A new war in the Pacific has begun. While China denounces “a Cold War mentality”, the most informed observers are worried about a more real war over the future of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Strategic interests
This affair is a slap in the face for France that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drain, translates in undiplomatic terms as “a blow in the back. But it should open our eyes to the attitude of the United States towards its French and European “allies,” who are now called upon to play the role of stooge.
The formidable economic and therefore military power of the United States has made them masters of the sky, the sea and space. Thanks to this, they have become the masters of the world, imposing their laws on the rest of the planet. Armed conflicts “in the name of freedom” in Vietnam, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere were only intended to preserve their economic and strategic interests. And to ensure the supremacy of the dollar!
America first!
In fact, American power allows it to impose its rules on foreign companies and states. Under the guise of fighting corruption, the Americans are weakening certain strategic companies in order to better position themselves on world markets. It uses the law as an economic weapon. Two examples among many others.
In 2015, the bank BNP Paribas was fined $8.9 billion. Its fault? Having used the dollar in its transactions with “enemies of the United States,” in particular Iran and Cuba.
In April 2013, Frédéric Pierucci, president of Alstom’s boiler subsidiary, and three of his employees were arrested in New York by the FBI for a corruption case in Indonesia. On December 22, 2014, the French company was ordered by the U.S. justice system to pay a record fine of $772 million. In the aftermath, Alstom is bought by the American General Electric, under the nose of the French government.
Piracy
The Alstom affair raises real questions of independence, because it is a strategic company, particularly in the nuclear sector. “The sale of Alstom to General Electric deprives us of strategic autonomy in two essential areas: turbines for nuclear submarines, surface ships, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, as well as civil nuclear power plants,” explains the director of the French Center for Intelligence Research (CF2R) Éric Denécé, who has investigated this affair.
In short, an act of modern-day piracy.
The universal language, the greenback, the GAFAM
Thanks to their gigantic power, multinationals such as Gafam (Google, Appel, Facebook, Amazon) have managed to conquer the world. They are reaping fabulous profits. The extra-territoriality of American law is there to protect them. All you have to do is use an electronic chip, an iPhone, an American host or server to find yourself under American law. Let’s remember that it is a Californian private law company, the Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) that allocates domain names and addresses on the Internet.
Thanks to Gafam, America is gradually imposing the Anglo-American language on the rest of the world, conveying American ideas and culture, and controlling everything that is said on social networks…
In his book published in 2008 by Seuil, Frédéric Charpier already warned that, since 1947, the date of its creation, the CIA has intervened everywhere in France. Its agents act under official cover to carry out clandestine operations “infiltrating, financing and manipulating trade unions, political parties, foundations, institutes and cultural organizations”. The Central is present in the high French administration and keeps a close watch on sensitive sectors such as aeronautics or nuclear power.
The Australian submarine affair is finally only one aspect of this asymmetrical economic war which illustrates once again the weakness of France and Europe in the face of the challenges of the coming world.
Our leaders should know that America does not have allies, it only has interests that it defends without any qualms.
America First or America über alles?