The right man at the right moment?
This afternoon, I attended a reception for French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the French embassy in Washington. Sarkozy looks even better in person than on television. In addition to leading-man good looks, he’s charismatic and energetic. In the previous 48 hours, he had visited Africa, returned to France to negotiate with disgruntled fishermen, and flown across the Atlantic. Yet he looked like he had just returned from vacation.
In his remarks, practically the first words out of Sarkozy's mouth consisted of an affirmation that the old days of a French government hostile to the U.S. are over, to be replaced by an era of cooperation. His second words were a reminder of all America has done for France. In both cases, he received applause from his French audience, though not from everyone.
Since Sarkozy is a politician, his third words promised what many in his audience wanted to hear most, the phasing in of free education at French schools in the U.S. for the children of French public servants. Sarkozy noted that since these children would receive a free French education in France, they should be able to receive one here.
Returning to the theme of cooperation with the U.S., Sarkozy said he would tell the president tonight and Congress tomorrow that the U.S. can count on France. Indeed, he considers the U.S. and France to be part of the same family. Then came the obligatory comment that there can be disagreements within a family. But instead of talking about foreign policy disagreements, Sarkozy alluded to an economic grievance. Simultaneously praising and chiding the American business community, he observed that American business shouldn’t need a weak dollar in order to compete with other countries. Refreshingly, Sarkozy isn't criticizing us for being naive cowboys, but for not being American enough in this instance.
With that off his chest, Sarkozy turned to the war on terror. Parting company with many if not most Democrats, Sarkozy said he was happy that after 9/11 the world saw a strong power in America. Now, he added, America and France must stand strongly against the development of nuclear weapons by Iran, which is unacceptable. He emphasized, however, that the effort to stop Iran from going nuclear should be based on diplomacy for as long as possible (he either didn’t say or I didn’t get whether sanctions are part of what he means by diplomacy, but I assume they are).
Finally, Sarkozy turned to a truly knotty problem – France. He began this portion of his remarks by stating that France has waited too long (in general, I think he was saying). As a result, an entire package of reforms is needed. The French can’t stop after one or two reforms out of exhaustion (here he gave a pretty good impression of an exhausted man). Without across-the-board reform, individual reforms won’t make sense to people (because the sacrifice won’t be shared, I think he was saying). He recognized that each reform will be difficult, especially those related to the retirement system. Of course this is a tough one, he said, that’s why it hasn’t been accomplished. In fact, he joked, his predecessors left all the tough problems to him, because they love him.
Moving out of his conversational tone, Sarkozy emphasized that he was elected to accomplish things, and that’s what he’s going to do. How? In part by invoking patriotism. In part by reaching out beyond his own party to form a diverse government which even includes Socialists. Flanking him on the stage were several members of his administration including his Socialist Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, and his Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, a pro-capitalist lawyer who worked for an American law firm and is the first female ever to hold this position in France. Also on the stage was Rama Yade, a strikingly attractive native of Senegal (and a Muslim) who serves as a junior minister for foreign affairs and human rights under Kouchner.
Sarkozy concluded by tying two of his themes – improved relations with the U.S. and his new look government – together. He said he looked forward to dinner at the White House, along with Kouchner, La Grande, and Yade, to show President Bush and Secretary Rice the new France.
A fine speech then, and even I’m not enough of a curmudgeon to pooh-pooh the value of a diverse government in France. But will patriotism, diversity, charisma, energy, and belief in freedom be enough to achieve mass reform (or even significant reform) in a hidebound country like France? Certainly, there’s plenty of room for doubt.
But one veteran French diplomat told me that Sarkozy’s cause is not necessarily a lost one. He contended that nearly all of Sarkozy’s main ideas have at least 60 percent support, and that the French are finally fed up with the status quo, and with obstructionist resistance to change by special interest groups. Of course, Sarkozy will face serious resistance, including lots of strikes (this diplomat had been delayed several days getting back to Washington due to an airline strike). But when that happens, Sarkozy can appeal to the people, the nation as a whole, with some hope of success. That, I suppose is where the charisma comes into play. Perhaps, then, Sarkozy is the right man at the right moment.
If not, at least he’s pro-American.
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