Jonah Goldberg has an interesting article in NRO French ambition and French appeasement. In some ways, his thesis is astute – he argues that French appeasement is designed to be a function of French superiority. By appeasing Iraq, Chirac hopes to thumb his nose at the US.
Looking at the situation, I think Chirac has made an absolutely fatal miscalculation. He’s operating on the arrogant assumption that the United States gives a rat’s ass about what France thinks. We don’t. France may have the airs of a great world power, but their alligator mouth doesn’t match their tadpole behind. The only effect this will have will to destroy any chance France had at being anything other than an international pariah.
The Axis of Weasels might have had a chance if they were willing to engage the rest of Europe in a public diplomacy game. Instead, the Franco-German attempts to control the Presidency of the EU quickly aliened every other European nation. Chirac’s latest outburst only added to the brewing hatred towards the Franco-German axis that is now sweeping across Europe.
The weasels attempts to forge a new superpower were certainly bold, but the way in which both Schroeder and Chirac have managed to screw themselves over ensures that the EU has a better chance of flying apart than it does of becoming a bona fide superpower.
