Foreign Policy

The French wisely elected Nikolas Sarkozy, 52, to be their newest President. Saying adieu to Jacques Chirac could hardly have come soon enough, but there are far better reasons to be pleased with Sarkozy’s election.

I had the distinct privilege to meet with Sarkozy -- then the French Minister of the Interior -- as we were members of the opening session of the 2nd International Conference on "Educating for Tolerance: The Case of Resurgent Anti-Semitism" in Paris, May 12, 2003, sponsored by UNESCO and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. My speech that night is attached [link], and I only wish I had a copy of his.

Other than a name on the agenda, Sarkozy was a complete unknown to me. I was immediately and permanently impressed by his words of courageous denunciation of anti-Semitism, the link to Islamic terrorism, his unequivocal pro-American proclamations to a decidedly anti-American audience, and his law-and-order, right-or-wrong moral conviction. We visited briefly after our speeches and I learned of his aspirations. I also learned that he was already the favored successor to Chirac.

I was struck by his moral clarity and his courage to look his countrymen in the eye and tell them that France needed a course correction. Partly for his courage and perhaps also because they agreed with him, the heavily French audience gave Sarkozy a rousing standing ovation at the conclusion of his remarks. He apparently has not wavered in his message nor his courage. After Sarkozy’s victory, John Fund wrote [link] in the Wall Street Journal "His clearest break with much of French elite opinion came last week when he made a dramatic speech about a 'moral crisis' the nation entered in 1968, when the 'moral and intellectual relativism' embodied by the 1968 student revolt that helped topple President Charles de Gaulle from power the next year.

Sarkozy will have exceptions with the U.S., notably regarding global warming, but he openly spoke during his campaign about his desire and need for France to have a strong alliance with America. Making a clear departure from the anti-American Chirac, in his victory speech Sarkozy spoke directly to the American people saying "You can count on our friendship." [link]  and "France will always be by the U.S.'s side when it needs her." [link]. How refreshing!

Sarkozy is going right after France's anemic economy. He wants to lower taxes, stimulate capital investment, and get the French back to work. He'll have his hands full dealing with a rapidly expanding Muslim population (over 30% of the population under 15 are Arab Muslims) and increasingly violent culture clashes. While his victory was solid (53-47), it was by no means unanimous. Street demonstrations protesting his election and his policies have already occurred.

All that said, Sarkozy's win is another reason to be hopeful about a European continent that has given America far more heartache than comfort for a long time. John Fund summed it up well in his closing comments for the WSJ, "With the victory last year of Angela Merkel, the pro-U.S. leader of Germany, and the impending changeover in power in Britain from pro-American Tony Blair to equally pro-American Labor leader Gordon Brown, there is also at least a chance that Europe will begin to address its problems straight on and avoid needless scapegoating of the U.S. With Mr. Sarkozy's victory, France's government looks like it will finally have some energetic adult supervision."