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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (111541)	8/15/2003 8:06:04 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 281500

LOL! You raise some good points. I just did it that way because I happened to be reading a Parisian daily online when I saw the news, and I have been translating occasionally to peek in at the chat on their end. The problem with comparing French to Chinese or Spanish (or Hindi, for that matter) is that French is the first or second language of a lot of people in charge of their countries, or at least in prominent positions, while Chinese and Spanish are mostly spoken by peasants. In a sense, Chinese is just Estonian writ large. France was a permanent member of the Security Council, of course, because of the fiction that it was an allied power during the Seconde Guerre Mondiale, instead of a state partially occupied, partially openly collaborationist, with a remnant of those unwilling to knuckle under. In terms of being the chief power in Europe, Germany certainly has a greater claim at this point. As important Asian democracies, India and Japan have good claims too, as you mention. And I am glad you reminded everyone of Gaullic hypocrisy over their own pursuit of national interest, in respect of Greenpeace. But any change will only come with a comprehensive reform of the institution, not just targeting France. As for "salutes", that may be my fault. Perhaps I should have said "welcomes". It is just that that is usually a different word, in French, so I stuck with the cognate........