Lucien Pambou Commentary: The Impact Of Obama's Re-Election On The French Political Class

The center-right city councilman in suburban Paris and former head of the Representative Council of Black Associations opines about the influence (original op-ed in French): "If French society is more or less pro-Obama, this is not the case for the French political class, though some of them claim to be leading Obamanistas. Obama irritates them because he is the president of a superpower and because part of the political class is ashamed of itself and believes that the United States has gone too far. Obama's victory in 2008 was a divine surprise. Obama's re-election becomes an annoyance. We must remember that [former French President] Nicolas Sarkozy had proposed in 2008 to share global leadership with Obama, but he quickly became disillusioned because the United States is a great power and France an average power. Or, if we say things differently, France's geographic and demographic dimensions is similar to a U.S. state but with autonomous diplomacy and nuclear weapons."

He argues that for all the talk of equality, France is nowhere near electing a president of black, and especially a North African or Asian, origin. However, he argues that the U.S. election is a message for France that it's time to evolve: "The French political class should reflect on current world developments, especially since Obama's re-election. The issue of race in the United States has gradually declined, even if it remains subtle and cleaves American society. The foundational ideal of the United States as a dream for all immigrants to become American and promote America has become a reality. The next U.S. president may be a woman or of Latin American origin. The population doesn't mean anything, but the evolution of ideas and socio-cultural progress are fundamentally changing America. Obama's re-election should be a quiet time to review transformations taking place in our own society. It is not to copy American developments but to analytically look to solve our current problems in economic and societal terms."