A "Pro-American" French President?

Headlines and official statements from the U.S. hailed Sunday's election of the "pro-American" Nicolas Sarkozy as France's new President, painting him as healer-elect of the trans-Atlantic friendship damaged by the Iraq war. Even the French themselves have begun to see him as a harbinger of a closer relationship with the U.S. But while the new President's foreign policy will feature some differences from that of his predecessor — even some surprises — analysts have poured cold water on the idea that in foreign policy, Sarkozy will be the "anti-Chirac."

"Sarkozy is a committed European and an admirer of America, but in the end he's going to do what's best for France's national interests — and his own political fortunes," notes Dominique Reynié, a commentator and political science professor at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques in Paris. "Sarkozy has yet to articulate a unified foreign policy view, and for a while will probably be making decisions pragmatically, based on the issues and interests at hand. That's going to involve some surprises — including some that may not entirely please the U.S."

For now, however, Sarkozy is keen to start diplomatic relations with Washington on a clean slate, as his Sunday night victory speech noted. In it, Sarkozy surprised observers who had expected a focus on domestic matters by dedicating nearly half his discourse to international topics — beginning with Franco-American ties. "I want to make an appeal to our American friends to tell them that they can count on our friendship, which has been reinforced by the tragedies of history that we've faced together," Sarkozy said to cheers of approval from his supporters. "I want to tell them that France will always be at their side when they need her." In doing so, Sarkozy's message was obvious: France wants to restore positive, mutually beneficial relationships with an America it respects and admires — and it would like those feelings reciprocated.

But Sarkozy then emphasized that repairing the relationship also depends on Washington. As Reynié notes, it was largely the Bush Administration that injected fury into the debate over Iraq, and tried to paint the general European and global opposition to the U.S. push for war as a betrayal inspired by Chirac and France. With that in mind, Sarkozy reminded America that "friendship also means accepting friends can think differently." He then offered an example of that by mildly scolding that "a great nation like the United States must not be an obstacle to the fight against global warming, but rather should take the lead in this fight." "France will make that struggle its first battle," Sarkozy pledged.....