Sarkozy’s Rise (Why French-American Relations may improve)

New York Sun ^ | 30 July 2004 | Claire Berlinski

[shrinkermd]

In the coming election, an unusually talented politician is likely to unseat his rival, restore international respect for a great nation that in recent years has seen its reputation stained,and rebuild America’s relationship with its European allies.

Fortunately for us all, that election is not the American election and that politician is not Senator Kerry. The election is the November contest for the leadership of France’s Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP, and the politician is Nicolas Sarkozy,France’s agile,conservative finance minister.

An inglorious conviction on corruption charges has forced Alain Juppé to resign the leadership of the UMP,opening the slot for the ambitious Mr. Sarkozy, who is now the most popular politician in France.

If President Chirac runs for re-election in 2007 — and there is little doubt he will, if only because his presidential immunity is the only thing keeping him out of prison — Mr.Sarkozy, as head of the UMP, will be perfectly poised to dethrone him.

[shrinkermd]

One can only hoper for this outcome; however, IMHO the problem with Europeans is they deny any necessity for the nation state and, basically, believe in a trans-national identity. Most Americans (other than liberals) believe otherwise and this difference is unlikely to change regardless of any election.

[happygrl]

This is the best news I've heard from France in my lifetime.

One can only hope that Mr. Sarkozy will bring France to its senses.

[Wonder Warthog]

"One can only hoper for this outcome; however, IMHO the problem with Europeans is they deny any necessity for the nation state and, basically, believe in a trans-national identity. Most Americans (other than liberals) believe otherwise and this difference is unlikely to change regardless of any election."

Not true. What the Europeans are attempting to do is meld a group of small nation-states into a much larger unitary nation-state---pretty much exactly what the US Constitution eventually did. The only real difference is that the Europeans are trying to "do the deed" in a few decades, while the process in the USA took a century and a half.

Do you, these days, think of yourself primarily as a citizen of the state you reside in, or primarily a citizen of the United States?? Before the Civil War, folks used to think of themselves as "state citizens" first, and "nation citizens" second.

Disclaimer---I do NOT agree that we here in the USA are the better for the change.

[happygrl]

Mr. Sarkozy adores America and has declared himself proud that critics call him more American than French.

!!!!!!!!!!

[vbmoneyspender]

One can only hope that Mr. Sarkozy will bring France to its senses.

Are you taking bets on that?

[FairOpinion]

I didn't know Sarkozy is conservative.

I vaguely remember reading just the opposite some time ago.

This article says he is a "conservative finance minister".

Hmm.

[happygrl]

Unable to exclude him from politics — Mr. Sarkozy is simply too popular — Mr.Chirac has tried to ruin him by giving him the beastliest jobs in the cabinet. In 2002, with French crime rates soaring, Mr. Sarkozy was made interior minister. He thrilled the French electorate by hiring thousands of police officers and insisting, to the new recruits’ dismay, that they actually enter bad neighborhoods.

He stepped up raids on suspected terrorist groups. He successfully cracked down on drunk and reckless driving, an important achievement in a nation with Third World rates of vehicular homicide. Crime statistics fell in 2003 for the first time in six years.

Mr. Sarkozy reached out to France’s Muslims, heretically suggesting that France adopt affirmative action, but had no fear of confronting them. He proposed expulsion for clerics who incite violence or call for the violation of French law. His most important achievement, however, was the enactment of forceful measures to combat a swelling wave of anti-Semitic violence perpetrated by Muslims of North African origin.

Prior to Mr. Sarkozy, the government had reacted tepidly to these outrages, dismissing them as trivial juvenile delinquency. Mr. Sarkozy formed a new police unit to investigate anti-Semitic crime, announcing that perpetrators would receive double sentences.

He banned demonstrators from displaying swastikas or other anti-Semitic symbols. Addressing a Unesco conference in Paris, he affirmed his “categorical refusal to explain the madness of anti-Semitism by the situation in the Middle East,” and repeated his zero-tolerance policy toward racially motivated attacks.

The phrase was deliberately borrowed from Mayor Giuliani, whose approach to law enforcement he has studied carefully. To Mr. Chirac’s horror, Mr. Sarkozy’s approval ratings continued to rise.

Take a look at this.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

I really think it goes much deeper into their national inferiority complex.

One small incident shows their morals while I was changing terminals in Paris.
I was on an airport bus and a baggage driver cut in front of the bus and lost a piece of luggage off a trailer.
He looked back and laughed.
Our bus driver swerved so he would run over the luggage.
Some of the people (who looked French) laughed and clapped for the driver running over the luggage.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

And a ping for those on Alouette's list, she's away from her computor.

[SJackson]

Not true. What the Europeans are attempting to do is meld a group of small nation-states into a much larger unitary nation-state---pretty much exactly what the US Constitution eventually did. The only real difference is that the Europeans are trying to "do the deed" in a few decades, while the process in the USA took a century and a half.

IMO the objective of the "melding" is to create a force capable of challenging the US, at least economically. From that perspective EU anti-Americanism is a given, the internal struggle likely to be between France and Germany for dominance, nationalism the only thing standing in the way.

I don't know where Sarkozy stands on the EU as something beyond an economic entity, maybe someone can fill us in.

[GSlob]

"Europeans... believe in a trans-national identity. "
That would be not too bad, if that identity of theirs was not such a crappy one.

[Grampa Dave]

We can help defeat ChIraq by continuing to boycott products made in France or by companies owned by the French.

The Brits have boycotted the French wines so effectively that in the list of top ten imported wines, no French Wines are in the top ten.

Also, real conservatives will not go to France for vacation, as two former friends found out from me after they were outed re a sneaky two week trip to the French Wine Country and a few days in Paris.

[Terabitten]

I didn't know Sarkozy is conservative.

Remember, conservative in Europe means something very different than conservative in the US.

[Grzegorz 246]

Don't forget that Chirac is also... "conservative".

[Wonder Warthog]

"IMO the objective of the "melding" is to create a force capable of challenging the US, at least economically. From that perspective EU anti-Americanism is a given, the internal struggle likely to be between France and Germany for dominance, nationalism the only thing standing in the way."

I suspect you are half right (i.e. challenging the US economically), but I think they will ultimately be all about also matching the US militarily. Thus far they are failing miserably on both counts.

I have long thought that all the "Euro-regulations" were more about having a "secret mechanism" to keep many US good out of Euro-markets without having to resort to the "open and above-board" mechanism of tariffs.

[SJackson]

I suspect you are half right (i.e. challenging the US economically), but I think they will ultimately be all about also matching the US militarily.

I agree with you completely, perhaps through a EuroArabic alliance, though that objective isn't out in the open.

[July 4th]

Sarkozy is not perfect, but he is the best politican to come out of France for quite some time. He even gets along well with Rudy Giuliani, who was invited by Sarkozy to France to talk about the changes made in the NYC police force.

There is an issue, however, with his ability to succeed in his drive for power. Chirac has set the inner workings of his party to make it difficult for any internal challenger. Sarkozy is clearly the better candidate, but the right-winger behind Chirac may have enough power to scuttle Sarkozy's bid.

The national popularity is there, though. I remember watching the election results from a while back when Chirac went against Le Pen for the presidency. Sarkozy was prominent on all of the networks, and clearly won the national poll when the French networks asked "Who would you like to have as Prime Minister?"

[McGavin999]

In 1993, when Mr. Sarkozy was simultaneously the mayor of the French suburb of Neuilly and France’s budget minister, a madman took 21 schoolchildren hostage in Neuilly, threatening to blow them up. While the minister of the interior and the prime minister remained safely in their offices, Mr. Sarkozy drove directly to the school and offered to exchange himself for the hostages. It is rather hard to imagine Mr. Chirac doing the same thing.

I have to admit, I'm impressed.