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April 16, 2005
Chirac, French Voters and the European Constitution
Joseph Britt, who is the guest blogger at The Belgravia Dispatch while its proprietor, Gregory Djerejian is on a brief hiatus, made this interesting observation about French President Jacque Chirac's attempt to get a favorable outcome in the May 29, 2005 referendum on the European constitution. He said: Suppose French voters really do reject the new European constitution in the referendum scheduled for May 29. Dan Drezner outlines some of the difficulties Jacques Chirac and the rest of the French political elite are having in persuading voters that the greater glory of Jacques Chirac and the rest of the French political elite requires them to vote for this gigantic monstrosity. If it's rejected it could be resubmitted to the voters later, but would more likely have to be renegotiated.
Mr. Britt said, "Obviously this would have implications for the other European countries. A European political identity defined as much as anything by not being American would suffer a heavy blow indeed if French voters of all people decided that they do not really want what their president is commanding them to vote for. What could replace it"?
Good question although I can't imagine why any independent-minded European would support Mr. Britt's suggestion of "a new political party with a platform for making Europe more like the United States." If Europe becomes more like the U.S., then the U.S.' imperial mantle would be complete. European citizens would be expected to become docile spectators on the global stage, like many of their cousins on this side of the Atlantic, who support whatever adventures a U.S administration would choose to undertake.
As it now stands, Europe, or should I say France and Germany, offers a good counterweight to the U.S. The diplomatic role France played leading up to the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq was a good example of an effort to use diplomacy to prevent a war launched under false pretenses. This independent stance did not sit well with many Americans, who thought the world should fall in line behind the plan to attack an Arab nation that posed absolutely no threat to the U.S. Here's more of Mr. Britt's analysis.
Posted by Munir Umrani at April 16, 2005 04:42 PM
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