Taking the Pulse of French Intelligence
Francois Heisbourg, a well-known French strategic thinker, is currently Chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He worked ...
Intelligence, Democratic Accountability, and the Media in France
This article examines the relationship between the media, the government, and its intelligence apparatus in contemporary France. In a country characterized by a traditionally strong state, the relationship between intelligence and the media has often been tense. The recent affaire des fadettes—in which the Central Directorate for Domestic Intelligence tapped a journalist’s phone to trace the source of an unauthorized disclosure of government information—epitomizes the precarious position of the press in France. Following recent reforms, the French system of intelligence accountability would benefit from a more collaborative relationship between the institutions of government and the media.
The Tide Turns
Autumn 1981 marked the halfway stage of the natural span of the Parliament elected in May 1979. It also turned out to mark the low-water mark in the government’s fortunes. Brave hearts were needed to see it that way at the time. An administration which had set out to release the national spirit of enterprise by cutting public spending and taxation had so far achieved a substantial rise in both. Inflation had been pulled back to where it started, but was now forecast to rise again. The private sector appeared to be flat on its back. The flow of funds to public corporations continued on a massive scale. Monetary policy, presented as the cornerstone of the government’s counter-inflation strategy, was threatening to escape control yet again. Interest rates across the world were rising steeply, promising to set off a secondary recession on top of the one of unprecedented postwar severity which had already occurred. Unemployment had passed the three million mark, and showed little sign of abating. According to the opinion polls, popular support for the government in general, and the Prime Minister in particular, was lower than hitherto recorded since the statistics had been first compiled.