Word: franco
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...well they should. Not so long ago the Syrian first couple were personae non grata in Western capitals. The U.S., which accuses Syria of sponsoring terrorism, led an effort to isolate the country diplomatically and economically. And in a rare instance of Franco-American harmony, France had its own grudge against Syria: the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister and close friend of former French President Jacques Chirac, an act for which many in the West blamed Syria...
...cultural disconnect between marijuana (the illegal drug) and pot (that stuff that lots of regular people consume) is the comic fulcrum of Pineapple Express, in which a process server (Seth Rogen) and his pot dealer (James Franco) earn the ire of risibly bloodthirsty marijuana kingpins. Their escape is hampered, of course, by the fact that they're stoned. It's a high action comedy. Literally...
...Nonetheless, there has been a clear shift in French foreign policy toward a pro-U.S. stance since Sarkozy became President over a year ago. Dubbed 'Sarkozy l'Americain,' he has regularly underscored the importance of the Franco-American relationship...
...move would be very political and symbolic," says François Heisbourg, a military expert and special adviser to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Paris. Heisbourg, who helped draft Sarkozy's military plan, predicted France would actually rejoin by the time of a Franco-German summit in March next year...
...Franco-German alliance is almost impossible for the rest of the E.U. to overcome, particularly since France will take over the reins of the E.U.'s six-month presidency from July 1 this year. Barnier, a former E.U. commissioner, says that European agriculture has undergone enough reform over the past two decades: until 1992, agriculture expenditure represented nearly 61% of the E.U.'s budget, but by 2013 this will have almost halved to 32%. Barnier also argues for a "community preference" which would favor imports that meet E.U. environmental, hygiene or animal-welfare rules - although such a scheme would likely...