(photo: www.interet-general.info)
As a candidate, France’s Nicolas Sarkozy harped on the fact that
France was in dire need of change. Now, as President elect, he has the opportunity to enact those changes that he claims the French people have given him the mandate to make. It is only fitting that we should see some action with this vigorous campaign talk, correct? Well, not so fast.
Unfortunately forFrance, it is not likely that they will be seeing any of this needed change too quickly, for Mr. Sarkozy is remarkably realistic and savvy politician.
To begin with, it is clear that France, after 12 stagnant years with one of their political “dinosaurs”- Jacques Chirac, is in desperate need of an economic shake up. For one of the European Unions founding members, lackluster growth and an abysmally high youth unemployment rate have become the norm, so much so that these rates have become economic standards. It would seem, therefore, that Mr. Sarkozy, touting less taxes and a more robust economy, would be the natural fit.
But this is where things get tricky, for Sarkozy knows that, in a country entrenched in labor union politics, even dreaming about an economic shake up is bound to flood the streets with millions of angry Frenchmen and women.
For the past decade Mr. Sarkozy’s every move has been meticulously made with his eye on the prize – the Presidency of theRepublic of France. Now that he has attained his goal, I don’t see him want to get rid of it right away. The reality of the situation is, if he wants to see a second term after these first five years, he may have to put aside his wishes for an economic shake up aside, or at least find a way to implement them slowly. To speak generally, France does not take kindly to the idea of American-like open market reforms.
Speaking of “American-like”, Washington – and especially members of the Bush administration – has already found the tone coming across the Atlantic to be much lighter than that of Mr. Chirac’s. Does this mean we can look forward to a renewed cooperation with our oldest ally?
Sure it does. But don’t expect the Bush/Sarkozy relationship to be equal to that of Bush/Blair. While openly pro-American, Mr. Sarkozy has already taken the opportunity to disagree with Mr. Bush on
Iraq (no surprise there), and his stunted response to environmental changes.
Though Sarkozy will a vast improvement in terms of working with the United States on global problems and common interests, let’s not forget that the French still enjoy a certain amount anti-American rhetoric to accompany their leaders.
