Rising Barriers
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11787785/site/newsweek/
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is leading a new wave of
protectionism-in Europe-but also, possibly, one of reform.
By Eric Pape and Christopher Dickey
Newsweek International
March 20, 2006 issue - Like his hero Charles de Gaulle, Dominique de
Villepin sees himself as a man of action. When France's prime minister
mulls tough decisions in Matignon, his official palace on the Left
Bank, he casts an aristocratic eye on the general's famous fighting
words, ceremoniously framed: FRANCE HAS LOST A BATTLE. BUT FRANCE HAS
NOT LOST THE WAR! De Gaulle called on his countrymen to resist German
occupation in 1940. Villepin today calls on France to protect French
jobs. "The true evil," he said upon taking office in June, is
unemployment. "All of the forces of my government will be engaged in
this battle." He vowed to "mobilize every asset of our economic and
industrial policy"-and staked his political future on the fight.
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