US, France take stance

Nov. 6 saw the conformation of a quiet political revolution taking place in France. Newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined President and First Lady Bush for dinner at the White House to start a two-day conference on American-French relations and international policy. Sarkozy, touted as the anti-Chirac, has been a voice of support for the United States in Paris and has set actions in motion which will change the current face of French diplomacy.

President Sarkozy, 52, has wasted no time in his transition from politician to Head of State. The recent talks at Mount Vernon and his address of Congress are testament to the radical reversal of France’s foreign policy. Sarkozy has, in many ways, stepped into former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s vacant position as the European voice of American policy. He laments the stereotypical impression of anti-Americanism given by a minority of Parisian elite. He openly supports sanctions in Iran and was a known voice of dissent when Jacque Chirac opposed the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and he wants to bring France back into the folds of NATO.

The talks, running Nov. 6 and 7, set the tone for what Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. of The Heritage Foundation hopes to be “a newfound willingness to work together on an array of issues,” including Middle Eastern concerns in Iran and Darfur. In a release on Nov. 6, Gardiner hailed the promise of the talks as a new start for suffering U.S.-European relations and implored Bush/Sarkozy to issue a “stern warning to the Mullas of Iran” showing what will happen when the E.U. and U.N. joins the United States in heavily sanctioning trade and relations with the “rogue” nation. Patrick Basham of the Center for Representative Government agrees, suggesting that Sarkozy will “seek opportunities to support, rather than offend [President Bush].” These sentiments join with a welcome camp of support for the new President and his attempts to bring the United States back into the European circuit.

Iran is not, however, Sarkozy’s only goal. He is determined to bring France back into a principal relationship with NATO as a military command, a relationship not present since the country withdrew all military support from the organization in 1966. Along with re-asserting France in NATO, Sarkozy wishes to move a more supportive presence into Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as re-support current French efforts in Syria.

On an economic side, Sarkozy will likely present France’s support of a unified European state. While France denied ratification of the European Constitution in 2004, a new Reform Treaty and talks of another constitution both have support from the new French president. Through improving relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and continued support of Brussels and the former Soviet bloc, a new push to unify Europe as a political and economic equal to the U.S. is on the table.

President Sarkozy’s visit to Washington was capped with a joint press conference on George Washington’s front lawn. Summing the hope fostered by his election, Sarkozy said, “I can tell you that this visit I think has been very widely covered in France. So when I say that the French people love the American people, that is the truth and nothing but the truth.” It is a sentiment we’ll hopefully see fulfilled in the next few years.