Senegal is moving closer to the United States, and gaining more space in its relationship with France. France, for its part, has a hard time maintaining the level of aid and cooperation it implemented in the past, the kind that allowed it to "punch above its weight in the world," as the author writes. This is obviously a smart move made by Abdoulaye Wade's government and it could prove excellent for Senegal, even if it "produces peanuts, not oil," a harder commodity to catch Washington's flickering interest.
This story illustrates one of the main Paris resentments. There is certainly a "different view of the world" as Chirac or Villepin like to say. The Gaullist search for France's and Europe's independence is real. Nevertheless, nobody could deny the French nostalgia for its waning power and influence and the resentment towards those that occupy the spaces it is forced to leave. Unsurprisingly, there is more bitterness if the new comer is a close friend, and if it is as arrogant as the French use to be.
The New York Times - America Tugs at French-Accented Lands: It's Not Peanuts
Posted by Francis Pisani at January 28, 2004 09:29 AM