Comment du Jour

A Transatlantic Tale at Christmas

French President Visits St. Pierre et Miquelon 

In the midst of his falling popularity poll numbers and rising unemployment rates, French President Francois Hollande visited the windswept islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon on the eve of  Christmas. The rather improbable Yuletide stopover in this little morsel of France in the North Atlantic was an unusual piece of political choreography as viewed by many observers.

An Overseas territory of France, the 93 sq. mile islands remain the only remnant of what was once a vast French territory in North America.  Situated just a stones throw from Newfoundland, Canada, the islands are inhabited by just over 6,000 citizens of the Republic.

St. Pierre and Miquelon have an economy based on fishing.  Tourism has potential but the fog and poor weather often make connections difficult.

Perhaps Pere Noel felt comfortable here despite the cold rain.  In the 2012 presidential elections, the region voted 65 percent for his Socialist party.  While on the island, Hollande stressed ecological themes and equally the economic opportunities for this territory to share in Arctic development.

The islands, are approximately halfway between New York and Greenland.

Hollande was not the first French President to visit the remote islands; Charles de Gaulle, Francois Mitterrand, and Jacques Chirac also stopped over during their tenures.

                         (courtesy University of Texas Libraries/Perry Castaneda Map collection)

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Franco/American Relations Discussed at NY Forum

As part of its continuing Conferences@934 policy series, the French Consulate in New York recently hosted a forum on French and American Middle Eastern Foreign Policy since 2003.   The evening program brought together under the auspices of the French American Global Forum, offered a
tour d'horizon of the changing and often contentious policies between Paris and Washington in the wake of the Iraq War.

Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs magazine offered poignant insights into the issues which divided the two traditional allies in the countdown to the Iraq and the conflict's aftermath.  Prof. Robert Jervis of Columbia University provided an overview of the conflict and its aftermath.

Mr. Romuald Sciora, filmmaker and author, put together the program which is part of a wider series on Franco/American relations.   The discussion, followed by a elegant reception,  was held at the
Consulate on Fifth Avenue.

Comment du Jour

New York getting wrapped for the Christmas Holidays!!!