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“I want to re-conquer the American heart,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a recent black tie dinner at the White House where guests (including George W. Bush) raised their glasses to him. Hours earlier that day, the French president received a standing ovation at the US House of Congress; the same House of Congress that put “freedom fries” on the menu in the building’s cafeteria during the Iraq War fallout.
Indeed, it seems that relations between the two countries have changed in recent months as a new leader now occupies the Élysée palace. Nicknamed “Sarko l’Américain,” the new president of the republic has attempted to rectify the relationship between the two countries. This was evident from the moment he took office.
"I want to reach out to our American friends," Sarkozy said at his inaugural address. "I want to tell them that France will always be at their side when they need her.”
Americans have noticed a difference. Mazzie Anouna is an American student studying abroad in Paris. Anouna has spent much time in France, including traveling to the country shortly after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq when relations were severely strained. Anouna noticed an immediate difference in the treatment she now receives as an American. She attributes this, in part, to Sarkozy being in office.
“I can’t recall a bad episode that I have had recently. I’ve had no negative experiences here,” said Anouna. “I think it is really good that Sarkozy is making an effort to settle things with the US. I think it is changing how we treat each other.”
Other Americans shared similar feelings. Pascale Hime is a tour guide for the American Council for International Studies, and has spent much time working in France. Hime, with an American father and French mother, also has duel citizenship and has followed Sarkozy’s presidency closely. Hime believes things have changed between the two countries since the beginning of the Iraq War, as, in her view, Americans held the majority of the bitterness.
“I truly believe that the difficulties between France and America in the past years have been more of an issue in the US than in France. I remember distinctly that while we were calling fries ‘freedom fries’ and dumping wine down the drains, the French were very hurt. They seemed to feel like we were getting political and personal issues confused,” said Hime. “It has been my experience that the French are good at separating politics and personal relationships. They didn't hate Americans in general for going to war or anything like that.”
Hime believes Sarkozy has helped the US move past this anger.
“I do think that Sarkozy is making a difference, but not so much on the French side as it is on the American side. Americans seem to perceive him as a president that would like to strengthen Franco-American ties, and they like that about him,” said Hime.
Renaud Girard, chief foreign affairs correspondent for the Le Figaro newspaper touched upon this in an 8 November 2007 interview with Inside Story.
“It is a message of reconciliation,” said Gerard.
Gerard believes this could not have come at a better time for the United States.
“America has never been so weak in the last 20 years,” said Gerard, citing the sliding dollar, the war in Iraq, and worldwide criticism of the Bush administration.
“When America is very weak he (Sarkozy) comes and says ‘We are a friend. We don’t forget that we have been friends for 230 years.’ I think that it will not be forgotten,” said Gerard.
However, not all are as confident about the French leader’s effort to repair relations with America.
William Safran is a Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Colorado, and has spent over 30 years writing on French politics. Safran believes that Sarkozy’s attempt at reconciliation is not as popular in France as in the US.
“Sarkozy has been overdoing his pro-Americanism a bit,” said Safran. “I am afraid that his reconciliation with the United States has not really worked in his favour, because the French, although in the majority are not particularly anti-American, are solidly anti-Bush. This has hurt him with the elite, and especially the left.”
Opponents have used his relationship with George Bush as a political tool. Posters of the two shaking hands were used against Sarkozy during his election campaign as critics have called him nothing more than a lapdog to the US.
French voters have not forgotten this. Michel Berthet is a linguistics professor at the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) in Paris. Berthet remains skeptical of Sarkozy’s attempts to repair relations with the US.
“It is only communication without big interest,” said Berthet in a reference to Sarkozy’s recent pledge to America.
Berthet also believes that no real change will come until there is another occupant of the White House.
“It is still too early to say if relations with the United States are better. In my opinion, the relations between the two countries will not change before the next presidential elections in the US. It is difficult for France to construct new relations with an administration that will no longer be in power next year,” said Berthet. “Most Americans do not even know the name of the French president.”
As for the future, some predict that Sarkozy’s honeymoon with the US may soon be over. Fred Conrod is a French citizen currently teaching at Nebraska’s Creighton University. Conrod believes that relations between the two countries will eventually become strained as Sarkozy peruses French national interests that will be in opposition to US policy. An example of this was Sarkozy publicly bashing Bush for not signing the Kyoto Protocols. Conrod expects more political differences in the future, as he believes France is gaining more global influence.
“The US is weak right now and western European countries like France are seeing a better economic future and more political power than before. France will have more influence in the future and does not need to obey Americans anymore. Sarkozy has come at a very good time," said Conrod.
The President is facing other issues as well. Mazzie Anouna, from her vantage point in Paris, offers the view that Franco-US relations may not be the most newsworthy item surrounding Sarkozy.
“I think people are paying more attention to him having a supermodel girlfriend than his policies right now,” said Anouna. Indeed, even as the president now has married Carla Bruni, his personal life and domestic issues continue to dominate news more than the current state of American-French relations.
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