Jaw, Jaw Not War, War
There are interesting changes afoot in the relationship between France and the USA now that President Sarkozy – more of a Bush man than an Obama fan – has been replaced by President Hollande. He and Obama have much in common, including their center-left persuasion and their shared background as university teachers. That said, one is American and the other is French so culturally there is much that separates them.
Hollande was elected on a left-wing agenda that included an earlier than planned withdrawal from Afghanistan and some new thinking on “growing” France out of the Euro-crisis. This has put him in direct conflict with his right-wing allies, David Cameron in the UK and Angela Merkel in Germany. It was informative that he made an immediate bee-line for Merkel in an attempt to shore up the Franco- German Euro axis – the Germans have it clear that they are unhappy with some of the policies that Hollande espoused during his campaign and it was right that he tried to make his peace. There was no hiding the awkward pauses and stilted body language between the two leaders. It is never easy to have your every word translated – that doesn’t help things – but nonetheless what you saw were two leaders dancing around each other, desperately trying to “spin” each other ’s words for the benefit of their own constituents.
What is clear is that all of the rhetoric in the world will stand for nought if they attempt to persuade each other of the “rightness” of their individual policies. Hollande may eventually have to give way; the French signed a binding agreement when they agreed to the austerity measures and a change in leadership counts for nought in a treaty. If the French persist though, the Germans may use a negotiating ploy called putting a price on demands. It is designed as a blocki