Power, Principles and Procedures: Reinterpreting French Foreign Policy Towards the USA (2001–2003) Pernille Rieker Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, C.J.Hambros plass 2D, PO Box 8159 Dep. 0033 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: pr@nupi.no French foreign policy towards the USA is often understood as particularly confrontational and based on traditional power politics, or a wish to re-establish ‘la grandeur de la France’. This article aims at investigating the validity of this widely held view. It further seeks to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the French positions by studying the arguments used by the French political leadership and the implications of the Iraq conflict for bilateral cooperation at lower levels. This study questions the common assumption of IR theory that national identities and/or interests are fixed and independent of structural factors such as international norms and values. It also questions the value of focusing exclusively on diplomatic or ‘top-level’ bilateral relations, without looking at ‘low- level’ or practical bilateral cooperation and/or conflicts. International Politics (2005) 42, 264–280. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ip.8800110 Keywords: French–US relations; Iraq conflict; power; political leadership; bilateral relations Introduction French policy towards the USA has always been particularly confrontational — or so it is commonly argued. This is often explained as the result of a wish to ‘balance’ the USA, and thus as being based on traditional power politics. French foreign policy is also viewed as being linked to an ‘inherent characteristic’ of national identity, characterized by ambitions of re-establish- ing the country as a great power in world politics. It is in this light that French policy towards the USA up until the Iraq war has been largely interpreted. Since that time, it is often maintained that the conflict over Iraq was more serious than any previous French–US disagreements (Hoffmann, 2003; Tardy, 2003). This article aims to investigate the validity of these widely held views. It further seeks to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the French positions by studying the arguments used by the French political leadership International Politics, 2005, 42, (264–280) r 2005 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 1384-5748/05 $30.00 www.palgrave-journals.com/ip