Category Archives: France

Sarkozy’s bare-chested war counsel

Posted on 3 April 2011 by craigjameswilly

Nothing inspires less confidence in the bases of France’s war against Libya than this photo of Bernard-Henri Lévy about to meet President Nicolas Sarkozy. It is in this state that France’s most media-savvy “philosopher” discussed the high politics of war … Continue reading →

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Inglorious French Diplomacy: Paris and the “Jasmine Revolution”

Posted on 19 January 2011 by craigjameswilly

Many of us abroad have been looking with lively and sympathetic interest to the unrest in Tunisia. Le Monde diplomatique has a good summary of Tunisia’s Ancien régime: an overbearing president in power for over two decades at the head … Continue reading →

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France’s Man in Baghdad Plays James Bond

Posted on 3 December 2010 by craigjameswilly

I was very tempted to entitle this post “Sarkozy’s Little Arabs” for two guests that appeared at the same time on the popular French talk show Le Grande Journal. The first was Amine Benalia-Brouch, a Frenchman of Algerian-Portuguese heritage. A member of Sarkozy’s … Continue reading →

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France’s “War on Terror”

Posted on 17 November 2010 by craigjameswilly

As is well-known, if the United States of America has something, then France must have it to. So it goes with Revolutions and Republics, atom bombs and aircraft carriers, not to mention flying presidential palaces. So it is, too, with … Continue reading →

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“Any chance we could station the aircraft carrier in the South Atlantic for three months?”

Posted on 4 November 2010 by craigjameswilly

Regarding the much-celebrated recent Anglo-French defense agreement, the Courrier international re-publishes a little English-French guide to atomic cooperation prepared by The Guardian. The Charles de Gaulle now forms part of the British defense plan for las Malvinas. So long as … Continue reading →

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“Thanks to men like him, France lives and will not disappear”

Posted on 9 October 2010 by craigjameswilly

The “Socialist-Gaullist” Jean-Pierre Chevènement (famous for his resignation as Defense Minister over France’s participation in the 1991 Gulf War) recently wrote a touching tribute to Pierre Gallois, a promoter and the principle theorist of France’s nuclear force de frappe. Gallois … Continue reading →

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