Word: french
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...showcase of indigenous art. And in between François Mitterrand left his imprint on Paris with a veritable building binge that included the Louvre pyramid, Bastille Opera, and Arch at la Défense. Given the grand construction legacies of his predecessors, is there anything unusual about current French President Nicolas Sarkozy's effort to create a new museum dedicated to French history...
...starters, Sarkozy doesn't want to actually erect a new museum building - nor add to Paris' stable of architectural wonders serving as monuments to French presidents. Instead, the President has ordered a study to determine which of France's existing buildings might best be used as the "symbolic venue, emblematic of our history." His idea is to assemble elements from some of the nation's roughly 900 historical museums into a single collection. Leading candidates to house that collection include Les Invalides - currently home to Napoleon's tomb - and Versailles. (See pictures of France celebrating Bastille...
...student of French history knows, it doesn't require a presidential order to generate argument about a proposal - especially one that detractors suspect is fueled by political motives. Sarkozy, political opponents allege, is using the museum push as another sop to voters on the hard right, many of whom fear French culture and tradition are being over-run by immigration and globalization...
...creation of a "Ministry of Immigration and National Identity", for example, was applauded by rightists and deplored on the left with equal vigor - and for the same reason: the notion that safeguarding French identity is directly tied to controlling foreigners coming to France...
...over the previous year. In doing so, Hortefeux surpassed a deportation quota of 26,000 Sarkozy had set for him. Leftist and centrist opponents of Sarkozy's policies note that Hortefeux's announcement came just hours after his boss's explanation in Nîmes that a museum of French history will "reinforce national identity". (See pictures of the Pope visiting France...