(Middle East Quarterly) Olivier Guitta - With just one-fifth the population of the U.S., France boasts the world's second largest contingent of diplomats, and its consulates and embassies number just eight fewer than the State Department's 260. While Chirac inherited a French foreign policy already tilted toward the Arab world, his pursuit of close personal ties to Arab leaders and his outreach to Islamists, rejectionist Arab states, and groups considered terrorists by the U.S. government is part of a broader strategy to increase French influence in the region.
2005-10-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive