Nicolas Sarkozy distancing himself from Obama

posted at 12:56 pm on October 25, 2009 by Michael van der Galien

Fed up with Barack Obama’s naiveté and far-left agenda, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has decided to distance himself from his American colleague. Where Sarkozy once was strongly pro-American, he has now shifted his focus from the U.S. to other international allies.

Didier Billion of the Institute of International & Strategic Relations says: “Sarkozy has clearly been thrown off course in his relations with America.” Another foreign affairs expert, Bruno Tertrais from the Foundation for Strategic Research, adds: “There is an annoyance about what the French see as naivety in the Obama administration.”

One major sticking point has been President Obama’s softer stance on Iran, while President Sarkozy prefers a more hawkish approach. Sarkozy said last month: “I support America’s outstretched hand. But what has the international community gained from these offers of dialogue? Nothing but more enriched uranium and centrifuges.”

It’s fascinating to see just how much America’s relationships with traditional allies has changed since Obama took office. Countries that were decidedly pro-American under George W. Bush, feel betrayed by his successor. Governments that, on the other hand, opposed Bush strongly, are Obama’s biggest fans.

If Obama continues down this path of alienating America’s friends, the U.S. will end up alone, because although its enemies may like Obama personally, they do not have any sympathy for his country. They want the U.S. weakened, not stronger. They do not think Obama is such a wonderful fellow because he’s a strong leader, but because they think they can push him and therefore his country, around.

We’ll see what the long term effects of Obama’s behavior will be, but I fear that they will be extremely destructive – for the U.S. and its traditional allies.

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