The Scottish finance minister also launched an attack on Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont's review of universal services, like free bus travel, describing it as a "cuts commission".
In reaction to Suez, France had constructed a new identity as the ostensible leader of Europe, upholding a set of universal values in competition with the Americans.
This year's Oxford Debate features journalists Peter Hitchens and Simon Jenkins discussing drugs policy, while former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown will host a debate on universal values.