I have to say something like “it’s like it’s been all over again.” The picture of Sarkozy with Mouammar Gaddafi, hiding behind dark glasses, in Le Figaro on 26 July 2007, is striking because of the timing after Cecilia-to-the-rescue activity for the condemned nurses the day before, as well as the flashback to Blair’s picture (prior comment) six weeks ago. This visit also seals the return into the European arms (so to speak) after Italy PM Prodi’s visit, and courting from Germany and Britain. Sarkozy signed 5 fairly substantial agreements including cultural, university and scientific cooperation. But the real kickers are the nuclear program as well as help on Defense. A quote from Sarkozy on the front page of Le Monde, 27 July 2007, is quite powerful: “Si on ose dire que le nucléaire civil est reservé à la rive nord de la Méditerranée et que le monde arabe n’est pas assez responsable pour le nucléaire civil, on l’humilie et on se prépare à la guerre des civilisations.”(**English below). Sarkozy’s language is a dose of uncommon realpolitik…trying to woo the Arab world and set the stage for his Mediterranean “league.”
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**In English: “If one dares to limit civil nuclear capabilities to the Northern coast of the Mediterranean and to say that the Arab world isn’t responsible enough to handle it, one is humiliating them and, what’s more, preparing ourselves for a war of civilizations.”
