By John Wilson '98
Mixing candor with the requirements of diplomacy François Bujon de l'Estang, the French ambassador to the United States, defended the formation of the European Union and lauded the benefits of international cooperation in a public lecture Monday.
President Hunter Rawlings introduced Bujon de l'Estang, who spoke on the subject of "France, Europe, and Transatlantic Relations" before an audience that packed Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall. The ambassador outlined material and perceptual challenges facing the European economic alliance, occasionally in a witty turn of phrase.
"Judging by current trends in fashion, a sense of pessimism and weariness with Europe is back in again," he said. "But Europe is not adrift or being relegated to the darker limits by the rest of the world. Europe is indeed marching forward."
The post-World War II rapprochement between France and Germany lay the framework for the coordination of markets that is the European Union, Bujon de l'Estang explained. In order to reinvigorate the EU and ensure its global economic competitiveness, member states must eliminate the constant cost of converting their currencies, which saps 1 percent of their gross domestic products annually. This is to be accomplished through the introduction of the European Union-wide euro note.
"Monetary unity is the next logical step after the creation of a single market," the ambassador said.
Bujon de l'Estang's lecture was part of his daylong visit to Cornell, one of seven American universities designated a "center of excellence" by the French government. While on campus he visited the library's Department of Rare and Manuscript Collections, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and an undergraduate French studies class. Bujon de l'Estang said that he was impressed by what he saw.
Comparisons between the United States and Europe underlay Bujon de l'Estang's address. Disagreements here between the federal and state levels mirror those among European governments, he said. Bujon de l'Estang dismissed some American policy-makers' doubts about the wisdom of a lone European currency and argued that the complexity of the project, which greatly supersedes that of the North American Free Trade Agreement, necessitates a cautious and unhurried approach.
The ambassador emphasized the reliability and predictability of European markets in contrast to the irregularity of some rising Asian ones as reasons for U.S. business interests to remain strongly entrenched in the European economy. He also stressed the need for consensus-building and multilateralism in U.S. foreign policy, with particular reference to NATO.
"To put things more crudely -- I've always been a bad diplomat -- the U.S. Congress is regrettably prone to forget that the laws it passes are not applicable worldwide," Bujon de l'Estang said. France favors greater European control of NATO.
Steven L. Kaplan, the Goldwin Smith Professor of European History, who arranged for the ambassador's visit, summarized his view of relations between France and the United States as "lovingly conflictual." He explained, "On the one hand we are old allies, but we also have serious disputes. The French dislike boastful American triumphalism in regard to economic matters and fear that they will be undermined by the dominating influence of American culture."
While the United States is often accused of playing the role of the world's policeman, France has a similar reputation with respect to sub-Saharan Africa. Following the address, Bujon de l'Estang fielded a question from an audience member on this topic.
"It is unfair for France to be labeled the gendarme of Africa," he answered. "France has neither the means nor the ambition to be."
Sydney Watts, a graduate student in French history, said she found Bujon de l'Estang's lecture stimulating. "He took some daring positions, particularly on NATO," she said.
Mark Dimunation, left, Cornell curator of rare books, shows a book from noted 18th-century French chemist Antoine Lavoisier's personal library, in the Kroch Library's rare and manuscript collection, to, from left, Patrick Gautrat, French consul-general; Anneand François Bujon de l'Estang, French ambassador; and Pierre Buhler, French cultural counselor. Cornell is home to the largest collection of French Revolution material outside of Paris. The ambassador was given a tour of the collection Monday. Robert Barker/University Photography