France's German Jitters
Some See New Great Power Ambition in Berlin
By John Vinocur
International Herald Tribune
PARIS - A leading figure of the French establishment says that France's great problem early in the next century will be Germany, and that he believes the French-German relationship risks becoming a confrontational one.
Maurice Druon, permanent secretary of the French Academy, sees the postwar given of close French-German cooperation diminishing into a thing of the past. Germany, he believes, is re-emerging as an imperial, dominant force in Europe.
"I realize I've broken a taboo in saying this," Mr. Druon said in an interview after publishing an article in Le Figaro that laid out his concerns about Germany. "I'm not the only one in France, obviously, to see things this way. But the others aren't saying it in print. "
The taboo Mr. Druon referred to is the nationally accepted notion that France's most inviolable postwar success is the establishment of a deep and permanent partnership with Germany as co-leader of Europe.
While considerable frustration exits here about vanished French leverage over German affairs since the end of the Cold War, there is no indication Mr. Druon's alarmed view of developments in Germany has an extensive base in
France. But the idea is widespread here that French-German ties are now cool at best, and that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, as the country's first wholly post-reunfication leader, has considerably less interest than his predecessors in keeping the French-German relationship at the center of European development.
The novelty in Mr. Druon's statement is that it goes dramatically beyond expressing a sense of vague concern about Germany's direction, always a constant in discussions about Europe's future, to assert, "we are going to see" Germany "become more and more demanding, dominating, and imperial again, and on top of that surprised and offended when this is pointed out."
A German official, privately dismissing Mr. Druon's remarks as a marginal outburst, said there would be no comment on them. Nonetheless, in a subsequent speech on German foreign policy, Mr. Schroeder made reference to considerable talk about the quality of France's German Jitters
Some See New Great Power Ambition in Berlin
By John Vinocur
Inlet-national Hey old Tribune
PARIS - A leading figure of the French establishment says that France's great problem early in the next century will be Germany, and that he believes the French-German relationship risks becoming a confrontational one.
Maurice Druon, permanent secretary of the French Academy, sees the postwar given of close French-German cooperation diminishing into a thing of the past. Germany, he believes, is re-emerging as an imperial, dominant force in Europe.
"I realize I've broken a taboo in saying this," Mr. Druon said in an interview after publishing an article in Le Figaro that laid out his concerns about Germany. "I'm not the only one in France, obviously, to see things this way. But the others aren't saying it in print. "
The taboo Mr. Druon referred to is the nationally accepted notion that France's most inviolable postwar success is the establishment of a deep and permanent partnership with Germany as co-leader of Europe.
While considerable frustration exits here about vanished French leverage over German affairs since the end of the Cold War, there is no indication Mr. Druon's alarmed view of developments in Germany has an extensive base in
France. But the idea is widespread here that French-German ties are now cool at best, and that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, as the country's first wholly post-reunfication leader, has considerably less interest than his predecessors in keeping the French-German relationship at the center of European development.
The novelty in Mr. Druon's statement is that it goes dramatically beyond expressing a sense of vague concern about Germany's direction, always a constant in discussions about Europe's future, to assert, "we are going to see" Germany "become more and more demanding, dominating, and imperial again, and on top of that surprised and offended when this is pointed out."
A German official, privately dismissing Mr. Druon's remarks as a marginal outburst, said there would be no comment on them. Nonetheless, in a subsequent speech on German foreign policy, Mr. Schroeder made reference to considerable talk about the quality of
