Name: Dominique de Villepin Age: 49 Nationality: French Claim to fame: Leading French resistence
STANDING up to the US isn’t exactly a healthy proposition in this unipolar world. But for French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, it has become an occupational hazard that he has been living with for the past year or so. And, by the looks of it, he intends on doing so for at least the near future. His recent statement in defence of the French position on the Iraqi campaign confirms the notion.
Little known outside the non-Francophone domain, Dominique de Villepin burst onto world stage late last year when he led from front France’s resistance to war plans. What made the stand even more amazing was that he was up against two of the greatest bullies of modern times, the US and Britain. The two, however, went ahead without anybody’s consent.
Though he couldn’t single-handedly prevent war against Iraq, he did manage to conjure up a solid anti-war front. However, in the process, he managed to divide Europe into ‘For’ and ‘Against’ camps.
In his anti-war effort, Villepin’s greatest hour came when in February at the Security Council, he made a passionate anti-war appeal. His historic speech earned him a deserved, but rare applause. His fervent appeals to tackle the Iraq issue under a legitimate UN banner made him look like a modern-day musketeer.
But standing up to the two buddies in arms, one an old friend and the other an age-old adversary, isn’t something that he learnt in a year or two. Villepin brings with him a rare combination of education in both arts and law.
A career diplomat, he graduated from France’s prestigious Ecole Nationale d’Administration and has served in New Delhi and twice in Washington. Other than politics, he is also a self-published poet and author of several books, including a biography of Napoleon.
But all has not been smooth sailing for French President Chirac’s blue-eyed boy. His work in the hastily brokered Ivory Coast peace deal has brought him bad name. The peace process there has not been doing too well. And his apparent arrogance has made him unpopular within the French parliamentarians.
Still, at the moment, Villepin is riding the high crest of popularity that very few politicians even dream of in their careers. And he is not everybody’s favourite in France alone. Some in the British press have labeled him as a diplomatic equivalent of a pin-up celebrity. And, why not? He is after all the guy who reportedly said that World War II could have been avoided if Hitler could have been given more time to disarm!
STANDING up to the US isn’t exactly a healthy proposition in this unipolar world. But for French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, it has become an occupational hazard that he has been living with for the past year or so. And, by the looks of it, he intends on doing so for at least the near future. His recent statement in defence of the French position on the Iraqi campaign confirms the notion.
