France’s New PM: Is there hope in 2007?
That is the question to ask.
WSJ reports: “Americans first heard of Mr. de Villepin in 2002 when he was Mr. Chirac’s foreign minister and traveled to developing nations that served on the U.N. Security Council stirring up opposition to the U.S. position on the Iraq war. The New York Post famously depicted Mr. de Villepin and his German counterpart with the heads of weasels and a headline borrowed from blogger Scott Ott: “Axis of Weasels.”
Blogger and clever satirist puts truth in humor.
“Now the haughty published poet and author of a laudatory biography of Napoleon has been charged by Mr. Chirac with reinvigorating confidence in France’s economy and foreign policy in the aftermath of last month’s sweeping repudiation of the European Constitution–and implicitly the country’s aloof leadership–in a public referendum. Given France’s key role in Europe, the success of his efforts will help determine how well Europe recovers from an economic slump and if relations with the U.S. will improve.His opening speech to France’s parliament was not auspicious. He said the country’s renowned “Gallic genius” would rescue it from its present funk. He assured his audience that his government would not adopt free-market policies of the sort that have made America a robust economy, rescued Britain from two generations of decline, and brought unparalleled prosperity to countries as culturally different as South Korea and New Zealand. Mr. de Villepin comes from an antimarket tradition in France that has long worshipped the centrality of the state.”
We wish them well.