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New Caledonia or the Gallic Rock on the Anglo-American playing field
Hello everyone,
The APROFED association is back with you this week to share a series of articles from another association called “Les Yeux du monde” (The Eyes of the World), written by Yoann Lusikila, a political science graduate from the University of Lausanne. This series of seven articles is entitled: New Caledonia or the Gallic Pebble on the Anglo-American Playing Field
You can find this entire series of articles directly on their association’s website at the following link: Home – Les Yeux du Monde
To summarize, we learn in particular that:
– New Caledonia is whetting the appetite of competing powers in the region, the United States, China and even Australia.
– New Caledonia acts as an island in a zone of influence highly dominated by the United States.
– If New Caledonia became a French colony, it was above all in response to the overall domination of the British in the South Pacific and to counter the uncontested rise to power of the British.
– Washington was the primary arbiter of international relations in the Pacific region. Maintaining this state of affairs would become one of the central concerns of Americans in the post-1945 world.
– The emancipation of the archipelago (NC) from French control would rhyme with the loss of a significant competitive advantage for the economy of France.
– By losing New Caledonia, France would lose access to a highly strategic mineral resource (nickel) for its industry. This, in addition to losing a potential highly competitive advantage over China.
– behind the question of New Caledonian independence lies the redefinition of influence and the sharing of markets, essentially between France and the United States.
– under Napoleon III, New Caledonia became a French colony, first and foremost, to compete with the growing commercial influence of the British in this part of the world
– France has repeatedly accused Australia of supporting Kanak independence fighters. This was indeed the case during a vote at the United Nations (UN) assembly in 1986. On that occasion, Australia voted for the inclusion of New Caledonia on the list of non-self-governing territories and to be decolonized. This led France to expel the Australian Consul from Noumea.
– the alliance of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS) easily revealed the will of the Americans and its two traditional allies, the United Kingdom and Australia. It was, after all, about ousting any form of French influence within the South Pacific. A geographical area that has always been, since the 19th century, essentially an Anglo-Saxon playground.
– Following World War II, Roosevelt made no secret of his intention to annex New Caledonia to the United States, in exchange for lend-lease to France. De Gaulle refused.
– New Caledonia is a French archipelago located in the middle of the South Pacific on a historically Anglo-American playing field. This territory appears like a Gallic pebble in the shoe of the Americans.
– we must now also analyse the question of whether or not New Caledonia should gain independence, and its long-term consequences in the balance of power in the region, particularly between France and the United States.
– Washington cannot count on a military-strategic alignment from France as close as that which it obtains from military powers such as Korea, Japan, Australia or even the Asian dragons.
– China’s spectacular military expansion has allowed the Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS) alliance to drastically reduce French influence, to the benefit of the United States, within the Indo-Pacific.
– The AUKUS alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States has not only pushed France out of the regional arena, but has also strengthened American influence over Australia.
– While Beijing and Canberra ease their trade tensions, Paris sees its few levers in the region receding.
– The accession to independence of New Caledonia, in such a context, would be the final blow inflicted on France and the final victory of the United States.
– Thanks to AUKUS, the United States has increased its influence over Australia, while at the same time removing significant influence from France in the Pacific.
– More than Chinese expansionism, it seems that it was France’s diplomatic, military and commercial presence that the Americans were targeting.
– Faced with the AUKUS alliance and the warming of Sino-Australian relations, Paris has lost everything in this affair.
– Australia is now in a situation of military and security dependence on the United States.
– for 47% of the Australian population surveyed on this subject, the systematic alignment of Australia with the United States in the event of conflict, within the framework of the AUKUS agreement, is more of a concern, than that of a hypothetical confrontation with China.
– New Caledonia risks finding itself, in turn, vassalized by the American power.
– New Caledonia is a military and economically strategic asset and weapon of war for the French. In the eyes of the Americans, it serves as a coveted spoil of war and a means of undermining French influence in the Indo-Pacific.
– Since 1945, this Rock has served as an obstacle to American interests and strategy in the Pacific.
– New Caledonian independence would sound the death knell for the existence of the old Gallic Rock on a playing field that has become essentially American.
– Thus, in view of the situation, everything suggests that the process of New Caledonian independence would therefore be, de facto, only a transfer of ownership between France and the United States.
We wish you a good read and remind you that federalism is the only solution to reconcile unity in diversity.
The APROFED association