A Study On Path Choices Of De Gaulle's Foreign Policies(1958-1969)

The foreign policy in the period of Charles de Gaulle had a distinct personality of de Gaulle himself: his pursuit of France's greatness,the adherence to diplomatic independence,and his determination to break the bipolar world order dominated by the US and the former USSR,and restore France as a great power.In order to achieve his goals,he broke free from the colonial shackles with his tenacious determination.He used tactics of vertical and horizontal alliances to resist against the hegemony of America and the Soviet Union and was able to win sufficient diplomatic space for France in Europe and the entire world.This thesis affords to survey his major diplomatic triumphs and analyze his path choices behind all these with the game theory as the main method,so as to deepen our understanding of the French foreign policies at de Gaulle's time.Diplomacy with the United States was the most intense and abundant venue of Charles de Gaulle's diplomatic struggle.He tried to hitch a ride with the American nuclear deterrent in the form of Memorandum Diplomacy.Although he knew it was difficult to achieve,he made that plan to create the conditions for his next step.Focused on Europe's future orientation of the struggle,the two sides got in a dilemma because of their strong will to outdo each other.Based on the principles of the “game of chicken”,Charles de Gaulle decided to develop an independent nuclear deterrent regardless of American opposition.The climax of the competition came when de Gaulle withdrew from NATO's integrated military command in 1966.On one hand,the withdrawal from NATO's integrated military command was based on the strategy of the most and least risk,and on the other,it was based on the design of a free ride on NATO defense.Finally,subject to the change in French domestic society,economic crisis and international environment,Charles de Gaulle had achieved a certain degree of agreement with the United States in his late years in office.This was the optimal strategy for both sides at that time.Diplomacy with European Economic Community is the foundation and focus of de Gaulle's diplomacy.De Gaulle and his European partners have different opinions in the integration of Europe,mainly in the way of political integration.De Gaulle wanted to establish a “international EU” in order to safeguard the leadership position of France and the independence of the country.However,his partner countries insisted on the establishment of a "supranational EU".Eventually,the two sides could not reach a consensus because of their huge differences.The two sides can only stay on a low-level,loose,and inter-national integration and cooperation,and cannot make the transition to high-level political integration.De Gaulle's behavior is like the selfish hunter in the deer hunter's game.He only wanted to capture the rabbit and let go of everyone else's deer.De Gaulle pursued not only political interests,but also economic interests.In the formulation of the European Community's Common Agricultural Policy,he skillfully used the Prisoner's Dilemma to repeat the game indefinitely,threatening to use the trigger tactics to achieve France's pursuits.In dealing with the United Kingdom's joining the community and even European political negotiations,de Gaulle's optimal tactical choice was to reject.In the early days of his administration,in the face of the crisis and conflict between the Soviet Union and Western countries,de Gaulle always responded to the strategy of “meet on a narrow path Who Dares Win” in the “game of chicken”.In the later period of the administration,based on the Prisoner's Dilemma,the game was repeated indefinitely,de Gaulle chose to ease,understand and cooperate with the Soviet Union.Establishing diplomatic relations with China is a strategic move made by de Gaulle based on the idea of breaking the then bipolar world order.Before the establishment of diplomatic relations,the French side and the Chinese side were in conflict with each other because of the tit-for-tat nature of the so-called Taiwan question and the Algeria issue.Struck in a Prisoner's Dilemma,both sides wasted a lot of resources and no one was the winner.With the signing of the Evian Agreement,the settlement of the Algerian issue cleared the way for the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations.De Gaulle seized the opportunity to use the first-mover strategy to establish diplomatic relations with China,highlighting the characteristics of his independent foreign policy.De Gaulle's African policy focused on decolonization.Although his handling of Algeria's independence and the independence of sub-Saharan territories depended on specific policy implementation,the relevant parties ultimately chose to cooperate based on Prisoner's Dilemma featuring infinitely repeating games.That is,the realization of independence in the French territories and the freedom of the French from the colonial shackles,the two sides achieved a win-win situation.In short,de Gaulle's foreign policy embodied his uncompromising spirit of pursuing the status of big power status for France,and reflected his ability to adapt to changes in the environment and respond to these changes in a flexible way.