Nepal, March 25 -- The Franco-German relationship has always been complicated and never free of conflict or tension. Everyone understands that cooperation between these two key European Union countries is necessary and in the interest of the entire bloc. Nonetheless, they have never fully overcome their current-and historic-rivalry.

One reason is that France and Germany are equally strong, albeit in different dimensions. Over the past seven decades of gradual European unification, Germany-though divided between 1945 and 1990-was economically powerful but diplomatically diffident. France, by contrast, boasted military and cultural strengths and an unbroken tradition as a European power. Following Germany's defeat in World War II, Charles ...