Soviet Union 1991

"This condition is a little difficult to accept, because this is a French circle, and we cannot accept the intervention of the United States. Moreover, it is a circle dominated by France. Letting the United States become a provider of funds, isn't that bad?"

There is no free lunch in the world, and Barouan immediately heard the real intention behind the Americans.

This was originally the French government's calculation, to continue to exploit the colonies along the Mediterranean coast in a different way, but if the Americans intervene, it is equivalent to forcibly taking a share. This is something that the French side cannot tolerate. When Chirac used the funds of the European Union to enrich his own small circle with great difficulty, he was ready to eat alone.

Now the Americans want to forcibly change the rules of the game with the help of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which is simply to kill them. On the issue of whether the United States should also forcibly join the French interest camp, Barouan and Madeleine had a disagreement in their conversation.

Among the European countries, France has always disliked the intervention of the United States. They uphold the proud tradition of the six major European countries and believe that France's policies should be based on its own position, rather than letting the United States and NATO dictate to them. It is also because of this that France feels constrained everywhere after withdrawing from NATO's military integration.

This is the price they pay. When all European countries surrender to the United States, the centrifugal policy seems a bit inappropriate.

Baruan was a little embarrassed. He didn't expect to encounter such a thorny problem at the beginning. But Madeleine didn't seem to care about the French's embarrassment, but seemed to be a little light.

"It doesn't matter. France can think about it. Maybe you will change your mind? Americans are very patient..."

"Besides, the Mediterranean Alliance is not something that can be negotiated in a short time. This is a long-term multilateral trade cooperation dialogue. It's just that the funding issue is the main issue that restricts development."

What she didn't say was that she was afraid that you French people would not be patient enough.

And the Americans have grasped the lifeline of France, because he knew the one thing that the other party cares about most, funding.

President Mario had discussed this with Madeleine in the White House before. They believed that in order to get a ticket to the French club, they had to instigate Britain and Germany to put pressure on them. The two countries were firmly opposed to the French Mediterranean Alliance. Chirac, who could not withstand the pressure, would naturally succumb to the other party's request and let the United States join their club.

"As a loyal ally of France, the United States is fully capable of persuading obstacles from third parties. This is our strength guarantee."

Madeleine was elegant and decent. She said very calmly, "We can also instigate third parties to strengthen their opposition to France."

"So the French side still wants to force the United States out?"

Baruan understood that the United States had already made two preparations. If they were not allowed to participate, then the other party would rather ruin France's ambitions than watch a powerful and ambitious regional organization appear again after the European Union. In addition, they always like to adopt insurance double-sided measures: inducement and coercion.

As the president who inherited Charles de Gaulle's legacy, Chirac also inherited the centrifugal policy of implementing France as the main force. He could not succumb to the threats of the Americans, but he would not allow the Americans to control the organization they had worked so hard to establish.

The first meeting ended in a bad mood.

The two sides could not reach a consensus on the actual controller of the organization.

After the meeting, Barouan called the French president's landline and told him the unfortunate news.

"President Chirac, I'm very sorry that the Americans are unwilling to compromise on the issue of the actual controller. Although we exchanged opinions, the arrogant and rude United States still rejected our request. Moreover, the United States also proposed to use international financial organizations to make plans for themselves."

"I see."

Chirac did not give Barouan any instructions, but just hung up the phone silently.

He turned around and said to Prime Minister Jospin beside him, "What do you think about this?"

"The Americans must not get involved. This is our bottom line. An organization led by France should not have the presence of the United States."

Chirac nodded and thought so, but now Germany is facing a collapse, and France is unable to hold the overall situation alone. So the Mediterranean Alliance is our only hope. As long as this plan can be launched perfectly, we don't need to look at the Germans' faces anymore. "

Jospin shook his head and sighed, "It's difficult. First of all, there is a lot of opposition within the EU. We can't pass this proposal on the grounds of expanding trade, and Western European countries have raised the entry threshold to Eastern Europe, not to mention our former Mediterranean colonies. "

"What should we do?" Chirac glared at him helplessly, "Is this plan aborted? Since the Charles de Gaulle era, we have planned to build a great circle and return to the glory of the colonial era. "

The Mediterranean, Suez Canal, and Red Sea route have become the most convenient sea route in the world.

Therefore, the importance of the Mediterranean to France and even Europe is extremely precious. More than 75% of the total oil imported into Western Europe is transported through this waterway. The Mediterranean Sea has an extremely important strategic position economically, politically and militarily. For a long time, the Mediterranean Sea has become a battleground among the great powers. Since World War II, the U.S. Sixth Fleet has been based in the Mediterranean. Fleets from other Western countries also cruise in this sea area. In terms of the number of ships, today’s Mediterranean has become the largest concentration of Western military warships. sea ​​area.

President Chirac has given very thorough consideration. From a geo-political perspective, the Mediterranean is a priority area for France's security strategy. Going east through the Mediterranean is the Middle East and the Gulf, and going south is North Africa and French-speaking Africa. These areas are France's traditional sphere of influence. Sarkozy emphasized that France's goal is to become a powerful Mediterranean power again.

Secondly, the countries on the southern coast of the Mediterranean have great market potential for products and investments. France also particularly hopes to develop the nuclear industry market in Arab countries. Countries in North Africa and the Middle East, as well as Sudan and the Gulf of Guinea, which are adjacent to this region, are all sources of energy such as oil and gas, as well as various raw materials. If the Mediterranean region builds an extensive free trade zone, it will be a great way to ensure and develop new energy and An important means of supplying raw materials.

The third point, and a very important point, is that the competition between the United States and France in Africa is very fierce. The United States is aggressively "offensive" to compete for France's traditional markets and raw material suppliers. France's influence in Africa, especially black Africa, is weakening. The Mediterranean Alliance will allow France to strengthen its influence in North Africa and then expand to western Black Africa, thus maintaining its traditional status as a former French colony in Africa.

The ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny.

The struggle between Germany and France has laid terrible "landmines" for the future development of the Mediterranean Alliance. France, Italy and other "EU southward factions" have relatively high expectations for the "Mediterranean Union" due to geographical and other factors, but Germany and other Central and Eastern European countries have less urgent needs in this regard. Therefore, even if the EU member states reluctantly reach an agreement on the southward policy, this agreement is still very fragile.

But the dream of imperial glory never ceased, even after the painful costs of World War II and the subsequent disintegration of a series of colonies.

Every president of the Fifth Republic has a dream of a European empire in his heart.

Idiot's dream?

For Chirac, this is even more unwilling.

Faced with a dilemma, Chirac finally said helplessly, "It will be up to the President of the United States and I to negotiate in person to resolve this disagreement."

Jospin nodded. Indeed, they had nothing to do when faced with the most devastating economic problem.

"Has the glory of the empire fallen?"

Chirac let out a slight sigh.

After the conversation, Madeleine reported the latest situation to President Mario in a very brief sentence.

"The French are unwilling to cooperate with us."

President Mario had long expected that the French would arrogantly reject their invitation, but he was not worried about Chirac's pitiful ambition and equally pitiful overall strength. For a European power that does not live up to its name and a loser in World War II, he has plenty of time to accompany the French to exhaust their patience.

France is just a pawn in his hands, something that can be abandoned at critical moments. The honor of all the six major European countries is just vanity. What about nuclear diplomacy? In terms of political intrigue, de Gaulle was also an isolated poor man.

In the White House Ring Office, Director Tenet is reporting to President Mario on the results of the color revolution. This is also the result that the CIA has been able to achieve and proudly claim since its failure in the war against the Soviet Union.

"Since the fall of Libya and Tunisia, the scope of influence will spread to France's former colonies and major Mediterranean countries. And considerable achievements have been made. When they fall into civil war or establish a democratic system, we will Establish a loose, pro-American regime.”

"In this way, the CIA's influence penetrated into the former French colonial countries."

President Mario nodded with great satisfaction and said thank you for your hard work.

For him, following the possible disintegration of the European Union, controlling the Mediterranean Union and driving a wedge into it is the top priority of President Mario's European mission. The strategic position of the Mediterranean connecting the two continents of Europe and Africa, and its The surrounding area is rich in oil and natural gas resources, which not only induces the EU, especially France, to move south, but is also the driving force behind the efforts of major countries such as itself and Yanayev to expand their influence in the region. The establishment of the Mediterranean Alliance will definitely affect its own interests. In this case, it becomes important to join the French game and become the rule maker.

But first he has to deal with French President Chirac, who is as difficult as de Gaulle.

The French who were unwilling to put down their dignity gave President Mario a bit of a headache. He still followed the plan and started to force Chirac to surrender step by step.

“But can the Mediterranean plan really be realized?” Director Tenet expressed his doubts. “The Turkish government believes that France intends to win over itself and hopes to form a Mediterranean alliance and let Turkey play an important role in this alliance in order to arouse the resentment of other EU countries and achieve the goal of more effectively preventing Turkey from joining the EU. Moreover, there are conflicts between many countries around the Mediterranean. For example, Morocco and Algeria have long been at odds over the issue of the Western Sahara Desert and have blocked the borders of both sides for more than ten years; there is no need to elaborate on the conflicts between Israel and the Arab countries around the Mediterranean. Under such circumstances, it is simply an impossible task for Chirac to pass a unanimous agreement.”

President Mario listened to Tenet’s story very seriously. He asked the other party, “Who said that the United States wants to help France establish a Mediterranean alliance?”

Mario’s words surprised Tenet, “But President Mario’s move?”

“We just try to find opportunities to divide Europe.”

Mario’s answer was convincing. Now it is not only the Soviet Union, but even European countries have become their targets. Suppress those who are unwilling to cooperate and completely conquer those who try to resist. In order to maintain the status of the United States as a superpower, he has promoted conservatism to the fullest.

The Axis of Evil is not a fantasy that remains in Yanayev's secret report, but a real thing.

The greedy policy of the United States has created this terrible monster.

"The Red Soviet Union has become a thing of the past. Although they were behind the plot to split Germany, and after the desperate attempt to counterattack, they did not station troops in East Germany on a large scale. What does this show?"

"It shows that Moscow no longer has the strength to interfere with East Germany as before. The current framework is just to turn the federation into a confederation, and there is no situation of two Germanys. Now the comprehensive strength of the United States can still guarantee the situation of one dominant country, so it must severely suppress Europe, instigate Eastern Europe to oppose the Soviet Union, and instigate member states to split the Soviet Union. Disintegrate the huge European Union and create divisions between Western European countries."

"So why do you think we support the French in establishing the Mediterranean Union at this critical moment?"

"It is to stab the European Union in the back."

"Clean up Germany's blood completely."

President Mario stood up from his seat, adjusted his tie, and said with confidence, "Now, it's time to discuss our conditions with the depressed President Chirac."

"Even if he arrogantly rejected Madeleine's suggestion, I think he will agree to the conditions I proposed." (To be continued.)8