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French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced two sweeping defense decisions May 27. First, he announced plans to close some of the country’s 182 military installations. Second, he will put off a decision on whether to fund a second aircraft carrier for four years, essentially delaying the decision — and, more importantly, the funding of it — until his next term in office (should he be so lucky).
The decision on the aircraft carrier is likely to carry consequences beyond a simple four-year delay; it could very well cement the status of the French fleet as a one-carrier navy. The longer France survives with one, the less pressing the need to operate two carriers will seem — and it is a capability that comes at a considerable expense, as the British Royal Navy is finding out.
The extent of the base closings remains to be seen. While the French president promised funds to assist the domestic cities and towns that will suffer the loss of military largesse, local authorities and citizenry are likely to oppose the closure of the installations in their own communities. They will not make it easy for Sarkozy.
Nevertheless, Sarkozy appears to be working toward two objectives. First, he wants to further refine the structure and disposition of the French military away from the Cold War paradigm and more toward a force suitable for France’s needs in the 21st century. Sarkozy specifically mentioned the need to reduce armor and artillery units, which are closely associated with the Cold War paradigm. Part and parcel with this is the second objective: to streamline French defense spending, getting as much value per euro as possible. French defense spending, already down from its 1994 level of 3.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), is expected to drop another .5 percent to around 2 percent of the GDP.
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