1974: La nécessité pour la diplomatie américaine de "ménager les sensibilités française et européennes"

In an article about declassified State Department telegrams from the 1970s, Corine Lesnes teaches us about international life 30 years ago, among other things, reports about a young brilliant technocrat (who, however, is lacking in humanity), platitudes in diplomatic life, and a French general scornful of the Americans who goes solliciting the American ambassador in respectful terms. (As we've always pointed out, there is quite a difference in high-falutin' public declarations about historic friendship and common causes on the one hand, and, on the other, what is said behind the Americans' back.)

Of the 11,300 documents concerning France (400,000 altogether), 26 (9,800 altogether) were considered improper to be declasified. Only the declassified titles give an idea of their content and show how close they are to today's concerns:

Le 21 novembre 1974, l'Iran signe un accord sur un réacteur nucléaire avec la France et la République fédérale d'Allemagne. La France et l'Inde coopèrent dans le domaine des matières fissiles...