The French-American Foundation Weekly Brief

Monday April 27^th:
Monique Saigal on Women in the French Resistance
Dr. Monique Saigal will speak on her experience as a Jewish child hidden with a Catholic family in Nazi-occupied France and will tell the stories of several women who served in the French Resistance from her book, Héroïnes Françaises, 1940-1945: Courage, Force et Ingéniosité.

The discussion will begin at 7:00 PM in the Skyroom at the French Institute: Alliance Française.
For more information and to register, click here: http://saigal.eventbrite.com.

Tuesday May 19^th:
Jacques Attali on Integrating the Principles of Microfinance into Global Financial Reform
Dr. Jacques Attali, founder and first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and president of PlaNet Finance, will discuss how the principles of microfinance can provide a sound, ethical framework for global financial reform.

The discussion will begin between 6:00 and 7:00 PM. The location will be confirmed shortly.
For more information, please contact Eliza Waterman, Associate Director of Development,
at [email protected].

Libération reported candid comments and criticisms allegedly made by President Nicolas Sarkozy about various world leaders at a parliamentary luncheon. The leaders mentioned included President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, according to the Associated Press. TIME described the reactions of the Anglophone press and the effect that the comments could have on the French president’s influence in diplomatic circles.

Ouest-France reported that Immigration Minister Eric Besson announced changes in the naturalization process for foreigners living in France, namely, allowing local prefectures to make decisions on naturalizations. Meanwhile, police arrested close to 150 migrants near Calais as they waited to cross the channel into Britain, according to Reuters. Besson promised to visit Calais and announce measures to provide better treatment for undocumented immigrants.

Le Monde summarized the continuing conflict over French university reform, a struggle moving into its third month of demonstrations and campus occupations. The paper also described the principal points of contention, including the decision-making power of individual university presidents and the status of professors and researchers. The French-American Foundation’s French Campus program explores many of the same questions such as the applicability of American university models in France.

Le Figaro described new “anti-gang” measures outlined by the Sarkozy administration. Reuters interviewed experts who questioned whether the laws would be effective, including Laurent Mucchielli, a senior fellow at the CNRS research center who studies crime and urban violence who spoke to the French-American Foundation on the same subject. Marianne argued that while youth violence is a problem in France, it doesn’t necessarily call for a spate of new laws.

See also:  
– The International Herald Tribune: André Glucksmann joins the French Legion of Honor.
– Defense Industry Daily: The French Navy orders its third Mistral-class helicopter carrier.

Slate.fr looked at recent gun violence in the United States in the context of the anniversary of the school shootings at Columbine. Le Nouvel Observateur described how the massacre at the high school in 1999 has changed police procedure and the way in which officers confront “active shooters.”

Secret U.S. Justice Department memos revealing the CIA’s harshest interrogation methods were released this week, methods that columnist André Pratte at Canadian Cyberpresse called “unjustifiable.” Le Figaro described the challenges facing President Barack Obama as he attempts to bring transparency to questionable practices but still protect American intelligence-gathering personnel from prosecution. Former Vice President Dick Cheney defended the practices and argued that they resulted in the United States acquiring critical anti-terror intelligence, according to Le Monde.

Kathleen Sebelius was confirmed as secretary of health and human services, according to Romanie.com, where she will likely be in charge of the Obama administration’s plans for massive healthcare reform.

Agence France Presse noted that Obama signed a new national service act that triples the size of AmeriCorps to 250,000 from 70,000 volunteers and expands the ways students can earn money for college through volunteering. The Economist looked at education in New York City in the context of Teach for America, a program that brings college graduates to teach in struggling state schools.

See also:
– Rue89: The international influence of American cinema.
– Brookings: Is the United States the new France?

A report from the International Monetary Fund put global bank losses at $4.1 trillion, a number that Les Echos called a “cold shower” for those who were looking for signs of economic recovery. The body also said that the global economy will shrink by 1.3 percent this year, its worst performance since World War II, according to Voice of America. At Project Syndicate, economist Nouriel Roubini argued that the global recession will last longer than the consensus suggests and that recent upticks in stock markets are simply a “dead cat bounce.” The Caisse des dépôts et consignations, France’s largest institutional investor, posted its first loss since its creation in 1816, said Bloomberg.

The Washington Post noted that the detaining of managers continues in France, as 40 employees invaded the executive suite of a Caterpillar factory in France and held five bosses inside. The Wall Street Journal profiled Xavier Renou, who as a “self-styled protest consultant” teaches clients how to chain themselves to trees, break into locked buildings or call the police to get their friends out of jail.

Reuters noted that strikes at French nuclear plants in Chinon and Dampierre in southwestern and central France have been extended and have already reduced power output to the rest of the country. L’Expansion noted that a workers’ blockade at a Toyota plant in Onnaing has ended, but not before the one hundred workers barring all entrances to the plant cut production in France by a total of 3,300 cars in recent days, according to the Associated Press.

The Deal profiled international business lawyer Pierre Servan-Schreiber and interviewed him on the state of the mergers and acquisitions in France and the United States. The number of new businesses created in France increased by 10 percent in March, according to Agence France Presse, a jump that was likely set off by a recently passed law simplifying business creation.

See also:
– Brookings: The economic crisis will forge a stronger Europe.
– The Wall Street Journal: Seven reforms we can all agree on.

The Durban Review Conference took place in Geneva this week with the stated goal of evaluating progress toward the goals set by a 2001 anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa. Radio Netherlands reported boycotts by numerous Western countries, including the United States, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands, who feared that the conference would simply by used as a platform to criticize Israel. News24.com noted that France chose to attend the conference, but L’Express pointed out that French representatives walked out during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s speech denouncing Israel. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner questioned the decision by the United States not to attend, said Reuters.

The Root argued that the United States should have attended the conference because it is a nation that is extremely open to the discussion of race and racial discrimination. The Israeli Haaretz published two editorials on the conference: one calling it “a self-righteous anti-Zionist jamboree” and the other arguing that an Israeli boycott merely “gives critics the upper hand.” The United Nations provided the concluding resolutions of the conference.

The alleged commander of the Spanish terrorist group ETA, known as “The Giant,” has been arrested in an operation by French police in southwest France, according to the Telegraph. Bloomberg noted that French and Spanish police are tightening their coordination in the struggle against ETA and that this is the third leader to be captured since November.

The New York Times reported that the Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi has been sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran for spying for the United States. The European Union criticized the conviction, arguing that the judicial process did not “meet the standards of a fair and transparent trial,” reported Deutsche-Welle. Iranian authorities indicated that they may “reconsider” her jail term, according to the Associated Press.

See also:
– Taiwan News: Improving relations between Martinique and France.
– Brussels blog: The founding fathers and the EU.

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