When the substance of two nations' foreign policy is at odds, sometimes a change in the style of diplomacy can restore relations.
For French Ambassador to the United States Jean-David Levitte, this style is cooperation and negotiation, a style he feels President Bush adopted during his February visit to European Union headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Levitte addressed current Franco-American relations last Thursday in Huntsman Hall in a lecture to Penn community members and students of Insead -- a prominent international business school with a campus in France. Before addressing current France-United States relations, he encouraged American and French students to keep their countries' tradition of brotherhood alive by studying abroad.
"My dream is to encourage American students to spend one year in a European university, and why not in a French university?" he said. "My dream is to build bridges over the Atlantic."
Tensions between the United States and France over France's refusal to fight in the Iraq war were already building when Levitte presented his credentials to Bush in December 2002. However, a change in the style of Bush's diplomacy helped bring the substance of the countries' agendas closer together.
"The moment he was elected to a second term, Bush [extended] a hand of friendship to all of Europe," he said.
Levitte credits the change to the administration's realization that the United States alone could not maintain order in postwar Iraq.
"America can win alone all the wars, but America cannot build peace alone," he said.
Regarding France, Levitte said that the death of Yasser Arafat, elections in Iraq and the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri drew the nation closer to supporting postwar efforts to secure peace in Iraq.
Levitte said the success of Bush's visit laid the groundwork for America's support for European negotiations to persuade Iran to halt its nuclear program.
In a recent dialogue with European leaders over Iran, Levitte recalled Bush saying, "I am in a listening mode."
Some students disagreed with Levitte's assessment of France-United States relations.
Kyle Gilroy, a Wharton and College senior, said, "You see pictures of Bush and [French President Jacques] Chirac shaking hands, but we have a long way to go."
Adina Radu, a Wharton and College freshman, feels that the Bush administration's decision to support negotiations with Iran is evidence that diplomacy would have successfully prevented war in Iraq.
"The fact that President Bush would support such negotiations is a step in the right direction," she said.
The lecture was jointly sponsored by the Department of Business and Public Policy in the Wharton School and the French Institute at Penn.
