It uses big words (“deception, deception and insult”) to express how frustrated France is with the new security agreement between the United States, Britain and Australia. The country has angrily withdrawn its ambassadors from the United States and Australia – something France has never done before – and has angrily canceled a scheduled meeting of defense ministers this weekend.

The so-called Aukus Security Agreement is that, among other things, the three member states share information and technology with each other. But the key word: submarines. The United States is ready to share its nuclear technology to operate submarines with Australia, which it had previously done only with the UK. It will deliver eight advanced submarines to Australia.

Billion

An earlier agreement with the French meant that Australia had bought less sophisticated submarines from them, meaning France would lose billions of euros. In addition, Paris is angry because the deal was announced an hour before Australia announced it.

This is undeniably a wound for France, but there are some understandings from the Australian perspective: they have chosen the option of best serving their national defense. Nuclear-powered submarines are fast, can stay underwater for long periods of time and are very difficult to find. Moreover, it is a clear signal from Australia to China that it is flexing its muscles in the Indo-Pacific region, while the relationship between Beijing and Canberra has deteriorated significantly.

Priority

But this deal is, above all, a sign of a changing world. The United States has made China the absolute priority of its foreign and security policy, and is strengthening its alliance in the Pacific. But it is at the expense of another ally: Europe, especially France in this case.

Moreover, this is not the first time, after Afghanistan, the second time that the United States has shown that its Atlantic corporations are not their priority. Europe, with its diverse strategic interests, is difficult to come up with an answer in the short term, but it is something to be very careful about.