Soccer Dad

Would walt and mearsheimer approve?

Usually I get worried when I hear the government is likely to adopt a more even handed approach to the Middle East, but when I read this, I was actually happy.

That's because the government in question is France.

Both Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal, the candidates of the center-right and Socialists, respectively, have promised major shifts in France's stance on the Iranian, Lebanese, and Israeli-Palestinian issues if they win. They are reacting against the regime of outgoing President Jacques Chirac, who for 12 years--following in the footsteps of predecessors back to Charles de Gaulle--has allied with such Arab dictators as Yasir Arafat and Saddam Hussein. By making France the Arabs' favorite Western state, Chirac and other Gaullists have tried to create an alignment to counter the great--and in France, much-despised--primacy of the United States.

Yet many say this strategy has brought little benefit to France, either directly or in terms of making it a credible world power. There are many contradictions. For example, French policy seeks to protect Lebanon while refusing to regard Hizballah as a terrorist organization. Moreover, last January, Chirac stated that Iran's possession of nuclear bombs would "not be so dangerous," reversing previous official positions.

The two main French newspapers, Le Figaro and Le Monde, have highlighted this debate in reviews of a new book entitled Chirac of Arabia: The Mirages of French Policy, by Éric Aeschimann and Christophe Boltanski, two journalists at the leftist French newspaper Libération. The authors underline French errors in particular on the Palestinian issue, which was perceived by Chirac solely through Yasir Arafat's eyes.

No doubt you'll say that that's because of the powerful Israel Lobby.

It should be noted that there is no question of appealing to a "Jewish vote" in such statements. Muslim voters vastly outnumber Jewish ones. Rather, there is a genuine conclusion that France's policy has not worked and indeed has undercut both French interests and ambitions.

Glad to hear that they're having that long needed debate in France.

French Elections, Middle East, Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal.