Word: franco-american
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...Franco-American relations began with a marriage of convenience and a blaze of emotion. When the U.S. declared independence, France was still smarting from its defeat by Britain in the Seven Years' War, which ended in 1763. France wanted to even the score; the U.S. wanted French money, supplies and military help. Together they beat Britain (there were more French soldiers than Americans at the battle of Yorktown). Their hardheaded transactions were sweetened by personal alliances. America's most important diplomat in Paris was the scientist and wit Benjamin Franklin, who became such a celebrity in France that his image...
...wooing his host was Sarkozy's main priority during his first official visit as president to the U.S., the message was lost on nobody back home. The leftist daily Libération headlined with Sarkozy's "French Kiss," while conservative rival Le Figaro noted "Sarkozy Hails Franco-American Friendship." Le Parisien similarly observed "Sarkozy Declares Love for the United States"; however, the newspaper acknowledged the remaining differences by beginning its story on his Washington triumph by using the notorious Bush boast "Mission Accomplished". Other French reports were more pointed on how Franco-American policy views often diverge beneath...
...friends again; warm relations and mutual esteem have replaced nearly five years of diplomatic disdain; and presidents George Bush and Nicolas Sarkozy may start having regular sleep-overs if they become any better friends. Beyond that, however, the views of Sarkozy's 26 hour courtship of Washington - and the Franco-American love-fest it provoked - differ in small but significant ways in the two countries...
Since taking office last May, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has repeatedly shown that he wants to make France a major mover in international affairs again - and that a key part of that effort is to repair Franco-American relations undermined by the war in Iraq. But to his critics in France and abroad, Sarkozy's reinvigorated Atlanticism looks disturbingly similar to the views of Washington hard-liners, including those hankering for a military strike to take out Iran's nuclear development program. On Sept. 16, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that the international community had to "prepare...
...wowed almost everyone. At home, he rammed through reform legislation aimed at encouraging work, cutting taxes, fighting crime and clamping down on immigration. Abroad, he helped break the logjam over the European Union's institutional setup, negotiated the freedom of six Bulgarian medics imprisoned in Libya and strengthened Franco-American relations over a vacation lunch with U.S. President George W. Bush...