France set to rejoin NATO command structure

President Nicolas Sarkozy has submitted a formal request to rejoin the NATO command structure following a 43-year absence.
A letter with the request was presented to NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, during an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. Submitting the letter was a formality but an essential step in France's return to the alliance, which celebrates its 60th birthday in two weeks.
In 1966, President Charles de Gaulle abruptly pulled France out of the NATO command and evicted all allied troops from French soil in an effort to assert French sovereignty. France has remained a NATO member but has stayed outside the decision-making core since de Gaulle's pullout.
Sarkozy, a conservative, has sought to mend frayed relations with the U.S. since taking office in 2007 and the election of President Barack Obama has boosted his efforts. This is the first genuine attempt to end the rift that has existed between Washington and Paris since De Gaeulle's actions.
Sarkozy's stance, however, have not been without criticism. Leftists and jurists at home have voiced their fears that a closer relationship with the U.S.-led alliance could limit France's prized ability to act independently on the world stage. Amid the opposition to Sarkozy's plan, Prime Minister Francois Fillon proposed a parliamentary no-confidence motion, which the government survived 329-238 in the Assemblée Nationale (France's lower house).
It must be admitted, however, that the UK's "special relationship" with the US has allowed it to play a disproportionate role in international affairs. France, of comparable size and strength to the UK, can now hope to do the same. The move will also allow better relations between the EU and the US.

Ní neart go cur le chéile

Earlier this month, Tony Blair had this to say about the Union;

"Our age is being shaped by the twin forces of globalisation and interdependence. In such an era, our Union is not a relic of a bygone age, but a quintessentially modern expression of how we find common bridges between diverse peoples and hold shared values while retaining distinctive identities. What a dismal message it would send to the rest of the world that we, on these small islands, cannot live together in a political, social and economic union."

Nationalism in all corners of the UK, even in England, must come to terms with what is a reality; the UK is a stronger force together than Scotland, Wales, England or NI as part of the Irish Republic could ever be. As the old Irish proverb tells us, "Ní neart go cur le chéile" (There's no strength without unity).