American policy toward france during washington’s administration can best be described as an attempt to:

Limit entanglement, after the revolutionary war france hit a rough spot and although we had made treaties with them for aid during the revolutionary war afterward washington became concerned that international relations would bog down the new countries growth so a policy of limited entanglement with no lasting ties was adopted in all essence we told france thanks for your help with are independance but you can go suck an egg for all we care 

Sometimes portions of a single country can fall into two distinct spheres of influence. ... The term is also used to describe non-political situations, e.g., a shopping mall is said to have a sphere of influence that designates the geographical area where it dominates the retail trade.