It is not just Europe and the European Union that have something at stake in the outcome of the French elections. One of French President François Hollande's legacies is the creation of the strongest Franco-American defense and intelligence relationships in living memory. Hollande's wise and cool-headed minister of defense, Jean-Yves Le Drian, steadily built this relationship in close partnership with four successive U.S. secretaries of defense, establishing a unique and warm bond with each.

The bonhomie began in 2013 with then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's pledge to provide relentless support to French operations in Mali. From that point until today, U.S. and French forces have been deep in the fight together in a crescent from Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Five years ago, our intelligence partners were split between the Five Eyes nations and everybody else. Now, with years of combat and counterterrorism activities together, it is Five Eyes plus France. Whoever wins the May 7 runoff election will inherit this defense and intelligence relationship, along with the responsibility to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to protect and nurture it.

The United States and France have had their difficult moments. From "Citizen Genêt" and the Quasi-War in the late 18th century to freedom fries in the 21st century, it seems the U.S.-France relationship is in perpetual marriage counseling. If nations had a genetic code, the U.S. and France would be genetically fated to always see the world differently as it did when President Charles de Gaulle kicked NATO out of Paris. However, when there is a scrape to be had, the U.S. and France often find themselves fighting shoulder to shoulder.

In the Middle East, the French military was one of the very first contributors in the U.S.-led coalition to counter the Islamic State group. French Air Force, Navy, and Army units are all playing a decisive role in the fight alongside U.S. forces. France has even gone above and beyond when the U.S. has been unable to do so itself, to include keeping the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier strike group on station in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf in 2015 and 2016 when the U.S. had no aircraft carriers available. In a strong symbol of how developed the relationship is, de Gaulle even served as the command element for U.S. naval Task Force 50, marking the first time a non-U.S. ship has held such a command. As U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson noted, this joint effort "is just so indicative of the partnership we share [with France], and the ability to perform at the very highest levels of warfare."

At the same time, the United States and France have also developed a durable defense relationship elsewhere around the world. In the Sahel region, France has taken the lead in fighting terrorist organizations across the continent while the United States has refueled French planes and provided key enablers. In Europe, both the United States and France have stood firmly alongside NATO allies to face down further Russian aggression, and both have deployed troops to the Baltic region as part of the alliance's enhanced forward presence.

Crucially, the U.S.-France defense relationship is not simply based on the fight against terrorism. It is deeper. Both countries have sought ways to advance the partnership across all domains — air, land, sea, cyber and space. As a consequence, there is concrete collaboration in many strategic areas such as operations and planning, exercise and training programs, intelligence sharing, military personnel exchange programs, cybersecurity, acquisition, and combating nuclear terrorism.

On both sides of the Atlantic, two new presidents will inherit a solid Franco-American defense and intelligence relationship that has been years in the making. However, both take on a special responsibility to protect the relationship from the transatlantic political winds that can quickly become stormy. This close defense relationship shows that despite the political spats, both nations share deeply held values and are willing to defend them. Indeed, the French national motto "liberté, égalité, fraternité" shares the same principles embodied in the American Declaration of Independence — principles for which both nations are willing to fight.

Jim Townsend and Jacqueline Ramos are adjunct senior fellows at the Center for a New American Security. Townsend previously served in the U.S. federal government as deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy. Ramos previously served in the federal government as senior adviser to the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

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