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Welcome to the Yale Center for International and Area Studies. We are indeed delighted to host the Ambassador from France to the United State to hear his thoughts on this challenging time in the world. Let me get him to you very quickly for his talk, but first a brief bit of background to help introduce him to you, and later with your questions, which he’s happy to field, he can get a little bit better acquainted with you as well.

Ambassador Jean-David Levitte presented his credentials to President Bush in December of 2002. In his distinguished career, he has served on the staff of two French presidents and held a variety of senior positions in the French Foreign Service, which, as I’ve read it, circle around the world in interesting and expanding circles of responsibility but tied in very much to the path he began during his studies at Sciences Po, which some of you may know is our partner in the Fox International Fellowship and our partner in many other endeavors. He also studied at the National School of Oriental Languages where he studied Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia. I believe that’s the appropriate Indonesian expression. He was posted first to Hong Kong and Beijing. And then, in ’75 to ’81 went back to Paris to work with President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, and then to his first posting at the United Nations in New York in 1981. So we see the Asia path; the United Nations path began in 1981 with his first posting to New York. When he returned to Paris, however, he branched out, or was asked to branch out, and became Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Africa Bureau, and then on up to the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister. In ’88, he took up his first ambassadorial appointment with the United Nations in Geneva. Back to Paris in 1990, a true diplomat, between postings, Paris and out in the world, he held a variety of senior positions including First Assistant Secretary for Asia (back to Asia, at least in topic) and Undersecretary for Cultural and Scientific Cooperation. After the presidential elections in France in 1995, he became Senior Diplomatic Advisor to President Chirac who then later made him Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and he was back to New York on 2000, in New York, and 2002 to Washington D.C. as the French Ambassador representing his country to our government in Washington, DC. A true globalist, I would think, we have much to learn as he presents and shares his thoughts with us. The title that he’s chosen for his lecture is: The US and France in a World Transformed.

Thank you very much, Nancy. Listening to you, I feel very old. But I’m truly delighted to be surrounded by so many students and professors, scholars from probably the best university in the United States and certainly the best for French studies. So, I’m very pleased to be with you today. I’m accompanied by Francois Delattre, our consul general in New York who is following very closely what’s going on at Yale University and also Chantal Manes and Fabrice Rozie for the Cultural Department of the French Embassy. And we just had a wonderful working lunch with your President about ways and means to expand the corporation between Yale University and the best French universities and schools. And it was a very promising conversation. But I’m not here to speak about this cooperation, but about the French American cooperation. In fact, for two years, I was confronted with a kind of French paradox. Nancy, you mentioned that I presented my credentials to President Bush beginning of December 2002, and he greeted me with kind words, and I think he was sincere. He said, “France is our best ally. What he had in mind was the war against terror. And it’s true that we are side by side in this war. I was on 9/11 in my office in New York. I saw the destruction of the Twin Towers from my office, and this will remain in my heart for the rest of my days. I reacted as an American, but all the French, I would say all the world, reacted as if we were all concerned under the shock of the tragedy. The main French daily had one big headline, “We are all Americans.” And President Chirac was the first to come to Washington and New York to express the solidarity of the French people with the American people. But, it was not only worse. We participated in the war in Afghanistan right from the beginning with thousands of troops, and we still maintain today troops in Kabul. In fact, a French general was until last month the head of the NATO operation in Kabul. Only two countries are training the new Afghan army – the US and France. And only two countries have special forces on the border with Pakistan to try to get Osama Bin Laden, the US and France. So, yes, we are fully onboard in this war against terror. But our cooperation goes well beyond this war and Afghanistan. We are side by side, American troops, French troops. In the Balkans where again another French general is in charge of a second NATO operation, this time in Kosovo. We are side by side in Africa. In Haiti, elsewhere. So, the French paradox is there, best ally, but at the same time the worst crisis in French American relations. Of course, the reason why is Iraq. I will not go in detail in what happened. You remember, we considered that this war was not necessary and could have dangerous consequences. If you ask me questions, I’ll answer your questions, but I think it’s important now to look at the future. And that’s where we go out of this French paradox and are now experiencing better days. Why? It started, in fact, the day President Bush was re-elected. You may say it’s a kind of paradox. Not really. Of course, the step stones of the foreign policy of the United States has not changed, will not change. After all, President Bush has been re-elected by a majority of the American people. It would be strange if he would conclude that he’d have to change the foreign policy which in a way has been approved by a majority of the American people. So, the substance, basically, is the same. But the style is different. And I explained that by a simple reason. During the first four years, President Bush discovered that if America can win all the wars alone, America cannot build peace alone throughout the world. For that, the US needs allies. And these allies, you don’t find them in China or Russia or Brazil or India. You find them in Europe. And that’s why the very day he was reelected, President extended a hand of friendship and cooperation to Europe. Which means basically to Germany and France, because these are the two countries that were for two years at odds with the US. And this move was greeted warmly, both in Berlin and Paris, because we are together confronted to the same threats, because the 21st century is dangerous, and because we know that we will survive and win the battles of the 21st century only if we are united.

But beyond style, which is important in diplomacy, we were also helped by circumstances. The first one was the very successful outcome of the Iraqi elections. It went beyond all the expectations, even of the most optimistic in Washington. And, in a way, it helped to turn the bitter page of the transatlantic divide about the war. Because until that day, we were discussing who was right, who was wrong. After the elections, no more discussions about the past, but we all agree now that we have to help the new elected assembly of Iraq and the coming government of Iraq to succeed. Because, what is at stake now, it’s not only the future of the Iraqi people, but it’s also the future of the whole Middle East, and beyond. And probably even more important for us Europeans, what is at stake in Baghdad in Iraq, it’s the future of the relations between the Muslim world and the West. So we have to make Iraq a success story together.

The second circumstance, which, in a way, helped us is the death of President Yassir Arafat and the election of his successor, President Mahmoud Abbas. Why? Because for four years the Europeans were criticizing the US administration for not being involved enough in the peace process in the Middle East. And the answer was, until the day Arafat leaves, is not anymore in charge, the US considers that we cannot do anything. America has to wait. Now, the circumstances are different. And now, we have two leaders, Prime Minister Sharon, President Mahmoud Abbas, who want to move forward. And so it’s quite easy for the US and Europe to work together, first to applaud the two leaders and encourage them, and second to help them to succeed through a huge investment of energy, money, military effort maybe, so that this time the peace process will really stay back on track, will not be derailed again. This time we have to succeed also on this issue.

The third element which helped us is Lebanon. It’s the tragedy of the assassination of Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. It created a kind of upheaval, a kind of orange revolution, Lebanese way. And, on this issue, the US and France are really together. So, you see, if the foreign policy of the US has not changed, and the French policy has not changed, style and circumstances helped a lot. I crossed the Atlantic twice these last few weeks, the first time to accompany Condoleeza Rice in her visit, at least for the visit to Paris. And it was an amazing success, because style was different, and also because she prepared all the details of her visit in a very professional, wonderful way. So she charmed the French people, 60 million French, and it changed the mood, and prepared well the ground for a successful visit of President Bush in Europe. Then I crossed again the Atlantic to participate in the dinner between President Bush and President Chirac in Brussels. And building on this new style helped by the new circumstances, it was the best meeting ever between the two heads of states, because they discussed in detail what to do in Lebanon, how to help the Middle East peace process to move forward, what we can do together in Iraq, and beyond they discussed Africa, China and so on and so forth. And so, now we are in, yes, a transformed situation, where you have in front of you a happy ambassador, because my life is much easier, I must say, in Washington. I just have to build on the new mood, and make sure that the pillars of our friendship will be enhanced and reinforced.

What are the pillars of our friendship? We should never forget these pillars. The first pillar is our cultural dialogue, saying that at Yale University is stating the obvious. Yale will organize a wonderful seminar dedicated to Alexis de Tocqueville. In the coming months, you will see an exhibit of a manuscript of Democracy in America is here at Yale, and we will have, beyond the exhibit, in autumn, at the end of October, a discussion about the legacy of Alexis de Tocqueville. But beyond the intellectual dialogue, which is still going on very intensively, there is also the dialogue on the arts. In each city, time and again, I’m inaugurating exhibits. In Washington, we are now having since last Sunday a beautiful exhibit on Toulouse-Lautrec, complementing another one on Modigliani, Paris, and a third one on Berthe Morisot. And tomorrow Francois Delattre will participate in the inauguration of a great French contemporary artist, Buren, at the Guggenheim museum. So, if you have time one weekend, go to the Guggenheim to discover a great French artist. And I could go on like that. We have 500 cultural events each year. That is nearly two a day, coast to coast in the US. So, certainly, our cultural dialogue is one of the strong pillars of our friendship.

But the second one is less known and understood. It’s the economic partnership. We live in a globalized world. You are preoccupied with the out-sourcing of jobs towards China, India and so on. But you never think about in-sourcing of jobs. And here Europe is the main provider of in-sourced American jobs. Europe has created in the last few years 5.2 million jobs, American jobs, coast to coast. We represent two thirds of the jobs created by foreign companies in the United States. And France together with the UK and Germany is at the forefront. Alone, France represents 650,000 American jobs. We are the number 2 or number 3 (It depends what the year is.) foreign direct investor in the United States. And such companies like Lafarge (number 1 in the cement and concrete industry in the US) or Michelin and so on and so forth are key actors in the American economy. And our economies are really intertwined. So you hear from time to time about the controversy between Boeing and Airbus and so on. This is, of course, important, but let’s never forget that what is important is that our economies are completely intertwined. Just to give you an example: I was mentioning Airbus. Do you know that the huge new Airbus, the 380, two decks, is built, half of it, in the US? Fifty percent of each new huge Airbus is being built in the US. That’s the state of our economies. That’s another strong pillar of our friendship and cooperation.

And the third one, of course, is our shared values. We started together. We are the sons and daughters of the ideals and ideas of the enlightenment, “les fils et les filles” of the enlightenment. And right from the beginning we promoted these values together. There were as many French soldiers as there were American soldiers at the Battle of Yorktown where George Washington was accompanied by Lafayette, Rochambeau, de Grasse and thousands of French soldiers. And in turn, you saved us, twice last century. At the end of the First World War when General Pershing leading 200,000 American soldiers landed in France shouting, “Lafayette, here we are.” And, of course, at the end of the Second World War with the D-Day landing. And I was with President Bush and President Chirac last year on the 6th of June. And it was for me a very moving moment, because I was accompanied by hundreds of veterans of D-Day, heroes of the greatest American generation. And they are now 85, 86, 90, 94 years old. But when they landed 60 years ago in France, they were your age, 18, 19, 20 years old. They were ready to die for the freedom of France and Europe, and we will never forget. And I wanted to conclude on that note, because I do consider that if we are from time to time at odds on this or that issue, we should never forget that we are much more than friends. We are members of the same family. I do consider that we are brothers born somewhere around 1780, as I said, an old family born from the philosophers of the enlightenment. But, one day, Colin Powell had a different view about our family life. He said, “No. For more than 225 years now, the US and France have been in marriage counseling.”

“Well,” I said, “But the marriage is still strong.”

Thank you very much.