Nicolas Sarkozy
From AICbackground
Nicolas Sarkozy 2007 French President
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Quotes:
“What is dangerous is not minarets, but basements and garages that hide clandestine places of worship. Thus we must choose between mosques, where we know that the rules of the republic are respected, and secret places where extremism has been developing for too long.”
“Terrorists are using the Internet in an extraordinary way. We will target Internet cafes because we realize terrorists are going to these cafes because they have guaranteed anonymity there.”
Early Years and Education:
You were born in Paris on January 28, 1955. Your mother, Andrée Mallah, was born in France and your father, Paul Sarkozy, was born in Hungary but immigrated to France when his country was invaded by the communist Soviet Union in 1944. You have two brothers: Guillaume, who was born in 1951, and François, born in 1957. Your father later left your mother, you, and your three brothers. Your father remarried twice and had two more children. Despite your father's acquired fortune from an advertising agency he founded, he refused to give your mother any financial support while you and your brothers were growing up. You grew up in the 17th Arrondissement in Paris. You graduated with a degree of Law and Political Science from Université Paris X Nanterre. After passing the bar exam, you became a lawyer at the age of 26. You practiced law for more than twenty years. You specialized in French business law and family law, which is where you began to develop contacts with French society. You have been part of the Gaullist party since childhood. (Gaullism has taught you the love of France and the refusal of defeat.)
Public Life:
In 1977 you were elected town counselor in Neuilly, France. Then in 1983 you were elected Mayor, which is the position you held for the next 19 years. You became part of the French Government in 1993 as Minister of the Budget and Spokesman for the Prime Minister, Edouard Balladur. In 2002, you continued your work in the French Government under the President at the time, Jacques Chirac. Under Chirac you worked first as the Minister of the Interior, then as Finance Minister starting in 2004. As Interior Minister, you were responsible for increasing police presence on the streets of France which led to a reduction of delinquency. As Finance Minister you saved Alstom, a then ailing French conglomerate, from bankruptcy. You have forced big retailers to lower consumer prices. You were elected president of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement or UMP) in November of 2004. The UMP is France's major right-wing political party. It was when you became head of the UMP that it became apparent that you would be running in France's 2007 presidential election.
On January 14, 2007 you were chosen by the UMP as the party's candidate for the presidential election. Your campaign was supported by your predecessor, Jacques Chirac. Throughout your campaign you were on television supporting affirmative action for minorities and the idea of working overtime. You were also televised opposing the idea of same sex marriage. On May 16, 2007 you became the sixth President of the French Fifth Republic.
Domestic Issues of Concern:
During the years you served as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Finance, and President you have backed very conservative policies relating to immigration and crime. You have even been accused by the left as supporting policies that are infringing on civil liberties and adversely effecting disadvantaged sections of the population. Your biggest controversies stem from the critics' perception that you are an authoritarian demagogue, willing to trade away civil liberties for political gain. This perception is primarily due to your strict stance on crime. You have also been criticized for failing to respect the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary branches by applying pressure on one or the other.
There was a great deal of criticism of comments you made during a July 2007 speech in Senegal, Africa. You were quoted using the term “African Peasants” when claiming that colonialism was not the cause of Africa’s problems and that France had never exploited an African country. These comments were widely condemned by African Intellectuals, some even claiming the comments were racist.
Policies and Beliefs Pertaining to the Middle East:
You yourself are part Jewish. You are sympathetic and understanding towards Israel and good friends with former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Your stance on the Israeli-Lebanon war represented a break with French foreign policy. You were not afraid to condemn Hezbollah as the aggressor and spoke up for Israel's right to "defend herself." While urging that Israel should "maintain level-headedness and restraint," you refused to join the European Union in calling for a total ceasefire. In fact, your policy was similar to that of the United States and marked you as a moderate voice on the Middle East in Europe.
You are expected to bring considerable change to France’s foreign policy in the Middle East. However, it is expected that France’s overall policy supporting a Palestinian State (with East Jerusalem as its capital) that coexists with Israel will not change. Your major influences will be in relation to Syria and Lebanon. You are not nearly as friendly with Lebanon as your predecessor Chirac, and as Minister of the Interior you advocated closer ties between France and Syria.
Role Playing Notes: (what's important to you?, what kind of person are you?, how much independence do you have?, etc)
You are a son of an immigrant exiled from Hungary and grew up in a blue collar area of Paris forming your conservative identity. Concerning domestic issues you are very conservative, specifically regarding immigration and crime. You were baptized and are a practicing catholic however your father and grandfather were both born Jewish. Furthermore you have a close friendship with former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is important to remember you have these connections and have publicly demonstrated your support for Israel. In regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict you are much more in favor of Israel than the withstanding French policy, so therefore you must be diplomatic when showing your support.
You believe that France should take a larger role in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Moreover, you believe that France should take an approach that aligns with the approach taken by the United States. Due to France’s close ties with Syria, you would be willing to ask them to come to a deal with Hamas and eventually Fatah so that the peace process could continue and potentially a Palestinian state could be developed. The United States would like France to gain a relationship with Syria because it is a key country in the Middle East and the United States has poor ties with this country. France, on the other hand, has recently regained ties with Syria. Hence, knowing that Syria has power in the Middle East you would like to use Syria in order to gain more power. In one sense, the United States would like France to gain a relationship with Syria because it is a key country in the Middle East and the United States has poor ties with this country. However, the US is more suspicious of Syria than you are, so they watch you carefully to be sure that, at least according to their view, you don't overreach and give the Syrians too much leverage. However, knowing that Syria has power in the Middle East, you would definitely like to use Syria in order to gain more power and influence for France.
Also, the United States needs France in order to get in touch with the Sunni Arab community in Iraq. This is necessary to give this group the chance to become active members of Iraq’s politics before the United States leaves. However, in order to get these talks started France is needed. You would be able to do this by using your relationship with Syria as well as your expertise on Iraq. Since you were not in favor of the actions taken by America in Iraq, you have an easier time getting support of these countries. You could be of great assistance in securing the border between Iraq and Syria. You also have many motives for your relationships in the Middle East. You hope that as your relationship with Syria progresses, the relationship between Syria and Lebanon also improves. You want to repair the damage that is done in Lebanon as the country has been chaotic recently. In doing so, you are also fighting against the terrorism that is being committed by the Lebanese in its neighboring countries.
Annotated List of References:
http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/nicolassarkozy.html
http://www.support-sarkozy-france.com/nicolas_sarkozy/biography.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Sarkozy#Early_life
