The French-American Foundation Weekly Brief

Representatives from France’s labor unions and employer federations met with the French government this week to discuss policy initiatives to help French workers suffering from the financial crisis, according to the Connexion. President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged €2.6 billion in new aid, according to the International Herald Tribune, including tax breaks for low-income families and new benefits for young workers.

Radio France Outre-mer provided hour by hour coverage of the continuing social unrest in French overseas territories. Le Monde described the causes of the conflict, noting that the economy in the territories is “on life support,” an analysis echoed by the BBC. CaribWorldNews.com reported that President Sarkozy met with leaders from Guadeloupe following the death of a union official during demonstrations. Radio Netherlands said that an agreement in principle has been reached on raising the minimum wage.

Le Monde noted that France’s putative reintegration into the command structure of NATO is raising hackles among some politicians on both the left and the right. In Newsweek, Leo Michael of the Institute for National Strategic Studies argued that NATO would benefit from France’s presence, as the French military is “one of Europe’s most experienced in complex stabilization missions.” France’s antiterrorism capabilities are among the best in Europe, according to the International Herald Tribune, where Judy Dempsey argued that reintegration into NATO is crucial to the development of independent defense capabilities for the EU.

The Conseil d’état, France’s highest judicial authority, formally recognized the state’s role in deporting Jews to death camps during the Holocaust, according to the Associated Press. TIME Magazine put the legal recognition in the greater context of France’s postwar historical debates.

See also:  
– Rue89: “Apologies to my colleagues, but I’m for university reform.”
– Associated Press: Nuclear submarines collide.

At Europe1, François Clemenceau commented on the latest Gallup poll, which showed that although Americans think world opinion of U.S. leadership has improved noticeably, U.S. citizens still believe that the image of their country as a whole could be improved.

Le Point reported that President Barack Obama signed a $787 billion economic stimulus plan less than a month after his inauguration. Additionally, the administration pledged $275 billion in aid to the nation’s ailing mortgage sector, include $200 billion in loan guarantees to state mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to France Info.

Slate.com said that the U.S. president may have to choose between idealism and realpolitik when dealing with Uzbekistan in Central Asia. Le Point described Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first diplomatic voyage to Asia. Der Spiegel interviewed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who discussed new “positive diplomatic signals” from the Obama administration.

The BBC described the looming California budget crisis, which includes forgone wages for state employees and delayed tax returns for California taxpayers. Le Monde noted that up to 20,000 state workers could lose their jobs. Boursier.com reported that officials finally came to an agreement and passed the budget along to the governor’s office.

See also:
– Detroit News: France versus U.S. for Great Lakes salvage rights.
– Le Monde: The difficulties facing the American press.

Libération reported that the U.S. auto industry is asking the federal government for additional aid, saying that the sector risks becoming a “Lehman Brothers of the real economy.” Meanwhile, La Tribune described the progress being made between the Big Three automakers in their negotiations with autoworkers unions.

In an interview with Le Figaro, Jean-Paul Agon, CEO and Director of L’Oréal, explained how the beauty-products giant is adjusting to a fall in consumer spending. Reuters reported that Société Générale posted lower than expected fourth-quarter profits.

Internetactu.net described the Office of Social Innovation, which is currently in development at the White House,  and went on to explain how social innovation could be applied in a French context as a way of responding to the economic crisis.

At Project Syndicate, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn wrote that Sub-Saharan Africa, which depends heavily on commodity exports, is being hit especially hard by the global economic downturn and that the international community should respond accordingly. Bloomberg said that Germany and France may “face a bailout of nations,” not just of banks.

See also:
– Telos: How to regulate hedge funds.
– McClatchy: Guess what, the New Deal worked.

EUobserver reported that the Czech parliament approved the Lisbon Treaty by a vote of 125-61. The Prague Monitor said that the Czech Republic “shouldn’t be afraid” of President Sarkozy, who is changing the tradition of his predecessors in foreign affairs. The Financial Times described the “Eastern Partnership,” an EU plan to develop closer relations with six former-Soviet countries.

Radio Free Asia noted the beginning of the long-awaited trial of Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, who was the lead torturer of the Khmer Rogue, the communist regime that ruled Cambodia in the late 70s and was responsible for 1.7 million Cambodian deaths.  The New York Times published an essay by François Bizot, a Westerner who survived imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge.

United Press International reported that President Obama plans to send 17,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan. At Slate.com, Fred Kaplan asked whether success in Afghanistan is contingent on the security situation in Pakistan. Maclean’s described the changing U.S.-EU relationship as it concerns the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Deutsche-Welle reported that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Baghdad this week in a surprise trip that is indicative of Iraq’s new engagement with countries that opposed the U.S. invasion.

See also:
– Daily Star: The EU and Kosovo.
– Notre Europe: Integration and identity in Dublin.

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