The French-American Foundation Weekly Brief

France

On Sunday, March 7, French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised that "should Greece need financial help, the eurozone will stand by it," according to the Guardian.  Sarkozy also pledged to crackdown on financial speculators, a group on which Greece, plagued by huge debt, partially blames its situation. No specific details regarding potential figures have been given. On Thursday, Greece was paralyzed as thousands of workers went on strike to protest their government's austerity measures, halting most public services and travel in and out of the country.

Former French-colony Algeria and anti-racism groups have denounced new posters by the far-right National Front party. The posters depict a map of France draped with the Algerian flag and bedecked with minarets. Next to the map stands a woman wearing the full Islamic veil or burqa. Across the poster in bold letters are the words, "No to Islam." Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci has made an official complaint to the French government. In addition, anti-racism groups have been filing injunctions in an effort to have the posters banned.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's political allies are expected to suffer major defeats in March's local elections as he recently hit a new low in the polls. According to a CSA opinion poll in Le Parisien, Sarkozy's approval rating is 36 percent, the lowest level since his 2007 election. In a separate CSA poll, it was predicted that leftwing groups would win a combined 52 percent of the vote at the local elections, with only 28 percent going to center-right and rightist parties.

On Saturday, March 6, French president Nicolas Sarkozy pledged an additional €800 million in subsidized loans for farmers hit by the economic downturn, bringing the total package to €1.8 billion for the sector. Sarkozy also announced Saturday that aid to indebted farmers would be increased to €100 million. The French president was quoted by the AFP saying "I will do for the French agriculture sector -- a strategic and key sector -- what we have tried to do for the financial crisis."

On Monday, March 8, French president Nicolas Sarkozy urged developing countries to build nuclear power plants, while speaking at a Paris conference on nuclear energy. According to the Associated Press, the French leader opened the meeting saying, "Nuclear energy must be implanted in new countries" and that France hopes to play a key role in this expansion. Israel, which relies primarily on coal, announced the next day that it intends to build its own reactor-possibly as a joint venture with Jordan- under French supervision. The Wall Street Journal reports that nuclear power is the main source of electricity in France.

United States

United States Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel this week was marred by the announcement on Tuesday, March 9, that Israel plans to build 1,600 new housing units in disputed East Jerusalem. Biden was quoted in the New York Times slamming the construction as "precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now." On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Biden for the second time over the announcement. However, plans for the settlement expansions remain. Biden confirmed the U.S.'s "absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel's security." The Vice President is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit Israel, a staunch American ally, since President Barack Obama's 2008 election. On Wednesday, Biden visited the West Bank and met with Palestinian authority figures, where he said the Palestinians deserved a "viable independent" state.

On Sunday March 8, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the best director Academy Award, in the Oscar's 82 year history. Additionally, Geoffrey Fletcher who won for his screenplay adaption of "Precious" became the first African-American to win an Oscar for screenwriting, making this an Oscars of firsts.

The New York Times reports, that according to Andreas Schleicher, a leading expert on comparative national school systems, the United States is falling behind many other nations in terms of its education levels. Testifying before the Senate education committee, Schleicher noted that "Among O.E.C.D. (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, only New Zealand, Spain, Turkey and Mexico now have lower high school completion rates than the U.S.," meaning that the U.S. now ranks 26th out of the 30 nation group. In related news, on Wednesday, March 10, a panel of education experts proposed a uniform set of academic standards for U.S. public schools. It is expected that the move will be with opposition from some states that want to be able to set their own curriculum. However, the proposal was welcomed by groups such as the American Federation of Teachers, the Times reports.

Though the United States census forms being mailed this month ask no questions about religion, some American Muslims are expressing anxieties about the census' intent, leading community leaders to fear they may not fill out the surveys. According to the Washington Post, many Muslims, especially those who are recent immigrants, are wary about why the government wants to collect information about them. American Muslim leaders are mobilizing in an effort to address concerns and to make sure everyone is counted in the 2010 census.

Business

On Wednesday, March 10, Royal Dutch Shell confirmed that it has stopped selling gasoline to Iran, a move the company allegedly made sometime in 2009. A company spokesperson would not confirm whether the decision was related to U.S. talks of sanctions against Iranian oil imports. Despite its vast petroleum reserves, Iran's woefully outdated refineries force the country to rely on gasoline imports to meet domestic demands. It was also reported in the New York Times that Dutch-Swiss traders Vitol Holding BV and Trafigura also halted sales to Iran, as well as Glencore International AG, another Swiss-based commodities trader.

According to reinsurers Swiss Re and Munich Re, damage from the Chilean earthquake may cost the global insurance industry as much as $7 billion. However, analysts said that despite the size of the losses, they were probably not enough to reverse recent falls in the prices reinsurance companies charge insurance firms to cover natural disasters, meaning reinsurance prices are not likely to rise.

According to a ComScore mobile subscriber report issued Tuesday, March 10, Google's Android phone's share of the market has more than doubled since October, while Apple's iPhone's share grew by a 1.2 percent. The iPhone still has a total share of 25.1 percent, compared with the Android's 7.1 percent. Research in Motion's Blackberry continues to lead the pack with a whopping 43% of the total smart phone market.

Discussions have moved forward for a European Monetary Fund (EMF) to be launched by June 2010. Leaders from the European Commission are set to have their first meeting about the project on Tuesday, March 16. According to Business Week, the EMF would be intended as a counterpart to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, on Thursday questions began to arise over who would pay for the fund and how limited its powers would be.

February exports in China increased by 46 percent over the same period a year ago, beating analysts' expectations and giving hopes that a recovery of global trade may be on the way, according to the BBC. However, experts also noted that while the growth was strong, it was inflated by the fact that shipments fell by 25.7 percent in February 2009.

International

Nearly 500 people, including many women and children, were killed in the Nigerian city of Jos, on Sunday March 8.  The victims were members of a Christian ethnic group that had been feuding with the Hausa-Fulani, Muslim herders. According to the New York Times, the attacks were likely retaliation for January's anti-Muslim violence in which hundreds of Muslims were murdered. Nigeria, a country with large Christian and Muslim populations, has long been plagued by religious violence, though according to some sources quoted by CBS News, the latest fighting is mainly a struggle over land and resources, rather than specifically religion based.

Turkey was slammed early on Monday, March 8, with a 6.0 earthquake, killing 51 people and injuring 34. One village was completely destroyed, with four others severely damaged. A 5.6 quake hit the area soon after, causing even more destruction.

Burma's military junta recently renewed a law that bars pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Ky from running in the upcoming presidential elections. This move was assailed by the United States and Great Britain on Wednesday, March 10. The law may force Suu Ky's own political party to expel her. Suu Ky is currently serving a term for house arrest which began in August and is expected to end in November, 2010. The pro-democracy leader has spent 14 of the past 20 years under arrest.

On Tuesday, March 9, Japan ended nearly forty years of official government denial, acknowledging a secret Cold-War deal which allowed U.S. nuclear warships to dock at its ports, in violation of the Asian country's non-nuclear policies. According to the New York Times, while the information was an open secret, it has now officially been revealed as part of Japanese government moves to increase transparency, following the end of 54 years of rule by the Liberal Democrats.

According to a new report from the United Nations Security Council, as much as 50% of the food aid sent to Somalia goes to corrupt contractors, radical Islamist militants and even local UN staff members, rather than the needy for whom it is intended. The New York Times reports that the yet to be released document advises the aid program to rebuild the food distribution system in order to break the grip of corrupt Somali officials, many of whom are believed to be working with pirates and militants. Somali officials have denied that there is a problem.

Partial results in Iraq's historic election released on Thursday, March 10, show that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's coalition retains a slight lead over his rival. At stake in the vote held is the right to lead Iraq as U.S. troops prepare to leave. The numbers are only preliminary as votes from several provinces have not yet been counted. The official result is likely to be delayed, as the count was marred by accusations of fraud. Further complicating matters is the dispute over candidates barred from running under a law outlawing those affiliated with former dictator Saddam Hussein's Baathist political party.