As the US uses “soft power” in France and what we should learn from Russia
“Every year, States select a few representatives of the future French elite and arrange for their entertainment trip to charm them with his country. These American holidays is only a part of a global strategy of influence.
Today in Paris the majority of the largest law firms and investment banks – American. They carefully impose French business community in their language and norms of behavior, its ideology,” — this revelation was shared with their listeners and readers, radio FranceInter.
Soft power
Soft power (Soft power) is “unobtrusive” diplomacy, invented by Americans to influence their partners, seducing and persuading them. Since 40-ies of the last century, every year the U.S. Embassy in Paris reveals the French elite potential and invites her to fly across the Atlantic in an exchange program with the future American elite. Such programs are financed mainly by the French-American Foundation (French American Foundation) and several other private foundations.
Their main targets are the future technocrats (énarques) – graduates of the National school of administration (École nationale d’administration ou ENA).
Local features
In the 60-ies of the last century were the terms “énarque” and “énarchie” (from the name of the higher school “ENA” — approx.of the author). They entered the French language by French politician Jean-Pierre Sevenman.
“Enarchie” is the oligarchic structure, where all key positions are given to graduates of “ENA”.
Jean-Pierre Chevenement, who is also a graduate of this prestigious high schools, in his pamphlet “Anarhia” in bourgeois society” (L Énarchie de la société bourgeoise) sharply criticizes her “social selection and class stratification of students, the weakness of training”.
Apparently, the “American friends” is also heard about the special role of the “ENA” in the management of the French society. Their exchange program is aimed at graduates, among whom young political wolves, future business leaders and, of course, journalists.
Among those who visited the travel policy currently known: françois Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy, Alain juppé, Pierre Moscovici, Emmanuel macron, Nazha Valo Belkacem. From the last invited to Washington, DC: frédéric Mazel — founder of BlaBlaCar, an online resource for finding a travel companion in the car, and Alexis Morel, Director of strategy Thalès.
Eyewitness accounts
“They are looking for people who, due to their future success, will be able to have any influence. It is a conscious desire to know well those who will make decisions and who will need only recall the common past and to convey the message,” explains the us strategy Pierre Servan Schreiber (Pierre Servan Schreiber), a business lawyer working in a us office.
“The program rests on the shoulders of 40 — 50 thousand American volunteers working in a reception that makes the illusion of meeting with the population,” emphasizes Pascal Dupare (Pascal Dupeyrat), President of the “Cercle Jefferson”, “smart Idea, because you will be hard enough to fight people with whom you had lunch or dinner”.
Get to love yourself – that’s the primary task of “soft power”.
Immigrant youth – new preferred goal
In the last ten years, the U.S. Embassy in Paris is pursuing a similar action in the suburbs of Paris and other major cities. The new program focuses on future leaders from different backgrounds. After the events of 11 September, after the entry of the Americans into the war in Iraq was necessary to show the Muslim population that the US and their allies.
Throw in the riots in the suburbs that took place in 2005, marking a watershed between the past and the future. The calculation here is very pragmatic. The United States believes that these young immigrants — the French elite of tomorrow. So they should build relationships and elicit sympathy.
“Participants in these programmes showed great progress in further study”, proudly shares his successes in working with immigrant youth on the transfer FranceInter Jennifer Rasamimanana (Jennifer Rasasimanana), cultural attaché of the U.S. Embassy in Paris, “98% of them received higher education.
The U.S. attorney’s business office in Paris more than in London
There is another very powerful effect machine. Today, most law firms and investment banks in Paris — American. They hire the best lawyers to ensure effective lobbying and access to the highest echelons of power.
Claude Revel (Claude Revel, the author of the book “France is a country under the influence” (La France, un pays sous influence) believes that the effect of “soft power” is seen in the work of the National Assembly. “Taken more legislative initiatives inspired by the United States. For example, the ability to plead guilty, avoiding the process; to negotiate with the Prosecutor regarding the restraint and so forth And the idea is to access all the data into a simple mantra. The Americans want to have access to all our data, revealing their quite restrained,” writes Claude Roared.
Open access to databases of the French – a huge and desirable market for the American company Google.
Recently, the concept of “soft power” adopted by China and Brazil. Weird, but it’s one of the few areas where France does not copy the United States. Everything happens as if the French still thought that their history, literature, wines and spirits sufficient to promote French culture in the world …
According to the article, Jacques Morin, FranceInter.
Catherine Gadal
