The French-American Foundation Weekly Brief

FRANCE

The New York Times reported that a new round of suburban riots has broken out in the Parisian suburb of Bagnolet, and Al Jazeera noted that the unrest was sparked by the death of an 18-year-old pizza delivery man who was fleeing police. The BBC reported that Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux has called for an internal police investigation into the death. The French-American Foundation has published a policy brief on the issue of youth violence in Parisian suburbs.

An analysis at GlobalPost looked at the role of vacations in French culture and the difference between “juilletistes” and “aoûtiens.”
 
The Wall Street Journal evaluated the French health care system and concluded that the country’s “fragile solvency” shows the difficulty in providing universal coverage.

Agence France Press reported that French authorities banned a young woman from a public swimming pool for wearing a “burquini,” a swimsuit covering most of the body. The Washington Post examined the continuing public debate on the wearing of religious clothing in France and its perceived conflict with France’s secular culture, while Rue89 put the debate in a cultural and historical context by citing the 1905 French law on separation of church and state.

UNITED STATES

Both Le Nouvel Observateur and L’Express evaluated the first 200 days of the Obama administration and the Democratic majority in Congress, noting that there is “much work left to be done.”

Le Temps reported that the battle to reform the American health care system has turned into “trench warfare,” citing turbulent town hall meetings across the country. Agence France Presse noted that President Obama responded to what he called “fictions and exaggerations” spread by opponents of the reform, and his full remarks were provided at the White House website.
 
General Stanley McChrystal, commander of American forces in Afghanistan, said that the Taliban is gaining ground in the country, which may force the United States to reconsider its strategy, according to Le Figaro. In an interview with Le Monde, Rachid Khalidi explained that Barack Obama has “turned the page” in Iraq but “not so much” in Afghanistan.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Bloomberg reported that Germany and France unexpectedly returned to growth this quarter, suggesting Europe’s worst recession since World War II is coming to an end. BBC noted that the two economies grew by 0.3%. Economist Nouriel Roubini explained in Forbes that France’s balanced domestic demand-led growth model and large social safety net served the country well and may have helped it avoid a protracted recession.
 
The New York Times noted that an EU decision to make French farmers pay back illegal handouts to fruit and vegetable growers comes at an awkward time — just before negotiations begin next year to reform the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

Der Spiegel reported that global shipping companies are fighting for survival amid the global recession, as shipping containers go empty and fleets of empty freighters crowd ports.
 
Bloomberg reported that the United States and Switzerland have settled a lawsuit that sought the names of Americans suspected of tax evasion. An op-ed in the Los Angeles Times argued that the U.S. should put a stop to the secrecy laws that allow tax cheats and terrorists to prosper.

INTERNATIONAL

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has “increased his efforts” to win the freedom of Clotilde Reiss, a French university student interned by Iran for espionage, according to L’Express. The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial on Reiss’s trial, arguing that “Europe has been forced to acknowledge the long-ignored evil of Iran’s Islamic Republic.” Meanwhile, two French aid workers that had been taken hostage in Somalia were released, according to Le Figaro.
 
Reuters reported that a suicide bomber blew himself up and wounded two guards outside the French embassy in Mauritania’s capital of Nouakchott. Mauritanian authorities blamed a young Islamist extremist, according to Agence France Presse, as French authorities condemned the attack.

The Irish will vote in a second referendum in October on the Lisbon Treaty, which would fundamentally reform the European Union, according to Der Spiegel. In the Independent, Eilis O’Hanlon expressed his fundamental disagreement with the “French view of the world,” and he denounced “the waste and bureaucracy and sheer dodginess of so much that happens in the federalist European institutions.” At RealClearWorld, Thomas Mirow asked whether the economic crisis could “lead to the unraveling of European integration.” The New York Times asked how the union can flourish when Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, is a “contrarian agitator who is also the head of state of one of Eastern Europe’s wealthiest democracies” and “does not agree with many things the European Union espouses.”

A policy brief from Bruegel offered practical tips for improving the EU budget decision-making process to bring a greater focus on public goods.

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