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September 26, 2003
Jacques Chirac The French President
Jacques Chirac
The French President Jacques Chirac, in his current role as multilateralist par excellence, arrived in New York this week and took center stage at the 58th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. It is Act II of the drama that began last winter casting Mr. Chirac as the front man for the international resistance to the United States’ policies in Iraq, and one wonders if this is the veteran French politician’s finest hour, or perhaps just his crowning non-achievement.On Tuesday, Mr. Chirac called on the United States to give the United Nations a “key role” in the rebuilding of Iraq and to establish a “precise deadline for the transfer of sovereignty” from the U.S.-controlled governing coalition to the Iraqi people. In so doing, the self-assured Chirac was all nuance and rapprochement, while nonetheless appearing resolute. On the subject of his refusal to send French troops to Iraq, he noted to the New York Times for example, that “of course everything could change. I don’t have a crystal ball.”
After more than 40 years in the political big leagues, Mr. Chirac is nothing if not a consummate professional. Give the man his due, he has outlasted virtually his entire class of international statesmen and is still going strong at the comparatively young age of 70. Now in his second term as French Président, he quite amazingly began his first stint as French Prime Minister in May of 1974.
Imagine that. In May of 1974 Leonid Brezhnev was the Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and Richard Nixon was still a few months away from making his farewell speech. The Prime Minister of Great Britain was one Harold Wilson, and The Towering Inferno was the big hit in the cinemas. In the world of democratic politics, 1974 was a long time ago. The only leaders from the class of 1974 still hanging around the world’s main stage are people like Yasar Arafat and Fidel Castro, not to mention Donald Rumsfeld who, like Chirac, was born in 1932 and rose to power that same year with the ascent of Gerald Ford. Rumsfeld’s current boss was still at Harvard in 1974, a year from getting his MBA.
Putting aside some pesky accusations of fraud stemming from alleged misbehavior during his 18 years as Mayor of Paris – so what if he took kickbacks on public construction projects or if he and his wife spent a half-million per year on groceries? -- Chirac currently finds himself with a presidency of remarkable power. After years of power-sharing arrangements with the French left, Chirac’s putatively right-of-center, neo-Gaullist “Rally for the Republic” (RPR) party now controls a majority of delegates in the National Assembly and the Senate.
Of course, this consolidation of power is due less to Chirac’s popularity than to the frightening appeal of extreme right winger Jean Marie Le Pen. Le Pen finished second to Chirac in the first round of the 2001 elections, knocking off Chirac’s establishment rival Lionel Jospin and stunning the otherwise disenchanted French electorate. Standing alone against the populist-with-fascist-tendencies, Chirac was perhaps rightfully seen as the embodiment of a kindler, gentler France, and he was able to ride anti-Le Pen fervor to a landslide victory and his current government majorities.
By hook or by crook, then, Jacques Chirac remains the pièce de résistance of France’s impressively entrenched old boy network. And he’s a likeable enough guy. You don’t last that long if you don’t have some charm. He’s a tall man, with a large head and generous features capable of rearranging themselves on demand to convey the full range of French sentiments, notably shock, hurt, and disdain. Moreover, he is known to be both a big eater and a onetime ladies man, the only two truly important credentials for a French powerbroker.
Like Mitterand the Endless before him, not to mention Napoleon or Louis XIV, Chirac now appears to see himself not so much as a mere government official but rather as the embodiment of some essential, non-partisan French will. His megalomania -- or perhaps it is political saaviness -- was evident in his 2001 campaign which he titled simply “My Commitment to France” and ran largely devoid of policy specifics.
But a lifetime of power politics have taken their toll on Mr. Chirac’s reputation, if not his actual character. The Paris corruption scandals are very real, and only the immunity granted to the French presidency by the country’s constitution have kept him out of court. In the court of public opinion, however, the verdict is in: witness the popular French television comedy, Les Guignols, which has created a hand-puppet in Chirac’s likeness named the “Super Liar.”
Also undermining his authority as a globalist is his own past penchant for unilateral action. In the mid-90s he alienated most of the southern hemisphere by authorizing nuclear missile tests in French Polynesia, despite the fact that these were categorically banned by U.N. nuclear anti-profiferation treaties which he had signed.
With the world at a trickier pass than it has seen in decades, and the “relevance” of the United Nations called starkly into question, there is no doubt that the international community needs thoughtful, seasoned, and principled leadership. Mr. Chirac has all the gifts and on-the-job experience required to rise to the occasion. But his long history of behind-the-scenes dealing and self-interested power grabs make the prospect of him taking a principled and effective stand on the questions of the United Nations charter or multilateralism in general seem unlikely. Perhaps this grand old boy will surprise us. Or perhaps this poster child for France’s insular, mistrustful nomenklatura will squander his opportunity.
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Posted by oliver at September 26, 2003 09:49 PM