QUESTION OF THE WEEK: World Politics

(Each "Question of the Week," an idea which I gleaned from A Republic If You Can Keep It, will remain toward the top of the blog until the next question appears. The previous Questions of the Week are HERE. Please scroll down for recent postings)

The dust has settled from the latest national election in France, and by now all who read the world section of the newspaper know that Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France by a significant margin in an election which saw a near-record turnout of some 84% of French voters and soundly defeated Socialist candidate Segolene Royal.

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Various political commentators and analysts are drawing their own conclusions as to the significance of the recent election results. BBC News offered a profile of Sarkozy and stated the following:

France's president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy casts himself as a moderniser, championing a clean break with the country's traditional ruling elite.

[...]

Unlike most of the French ruling class, Mr Sarkozy did not go to the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, but trained as a lawyer.

The son of a Hungarian immigrant and a French mother of Greek Jewish origin, he was baptised a Roman Catholic and grew up in Paris.

[...]

It seems that rather than a new ideology, he is a pragmatist who will use any solution as long as it works, the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris says....

In the May 11, 2007 edition of the Washington Times stated the following:

Nicolas Sarkozy's election as president of France is likely to make Turkey's membership in the European Union more elusive than ever, Turkish analysts say.

His categorical opposition to Turkish membership in the 27-nation bloc is "hammering the last nail into the coffin of Turkish-EU relations," one analyst said.

"This is bad for Turkey," said Mehet Ali Birand, a leading Turkish liberal commentator.

During his electoral campaign, Mr. Sarkozy stressed his view that Turkey is not a European country and that its membership would dilute the bloc's cohesion and dangerously stretch its borders. Mr. Sarkozy also has said he would sign a French bill passed by parliament penalizing all those who deny the genocide of Armenians.

[...]

Instead of admitting Turkey, Mr. Sarkozy has proposed that the European Union give the country the leading role in a planned grouping of Mediterranean-area countries. Turkey has rejected suggestions of a "privileged association" with the bloc.
Regardless of whether Mr. Sarkozy's election will have an immediate effect on Turkey's EU talks, relations between France and Turkey appear to be heading into troubled waters....

I think my favorite commentary so far is that of Ann Coulter, especially the last two paragraphs:

Apparently, even the French prefer Western civilization to clitorectomy-performing, car-burning savages.

The Democratic Party is now officially the only organization on Earth that does not take the threat of Islamic fascism seriously. Between the Democrats and the media, America has gone from its usual position as the world's last hope to radical Islam's last hope.

Of course, it remains to be seen how much significance Sarkozy's election will hold for both France and the world. But I have to admit that I've enjoyed the shell-shocked expressions on some of the leftist commentators' faces over the past few days. Alan Colmes's facial expression the day after France's national election was a sight to behold. I confess that I tuned in to that particular edition of Hannity and Colmes just to see the alien-looking-one's reaction. Sure enough, Colmes lived up to my expectation.




QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What is your commentary on Sarkozy's election? Please remember that this is a family site. More or less.