Combating clichés and restoring respect should be the United States' priorities if it wishes to revitalize its relationship with France, Fran?ois Rivasseau, deputy chief of mission at the French Embassy, told AU students on Friday.
"It is very unjust to have this level of disrespect, which has triggered a great deal of anti-Americanism in France," Rivasseau told a packed room in Beeghly Hall. "You can't love a country if it doesn't respect you."
The hour-long speech, billed "French Foreign Policy: Emphasizing the Bilateral Relationship with the U.S.," addressed the roadblocks currently jeopardizing Franco-American affairs. According to Rivasseau, France has struggled greatly to overcome the myths that it is militarily inferior and politically unreliable. Those kinds of clichés inform stereotypes and perpetuate anti-French sentiment, both of which hamper bilateral relations with the United States, he added.
Rivasseau said the French government has sponsored a variety of political groups in the United States to combat those myths, including a bipartisan congressional caucus that even boasts the membership of Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, the co-sponsor of the infamous "freedom fries" initiative. However, it is ultimately in the hands of American voters whether the United States embraces France, Rivasseau said.
"This popular imagination is the basis of historical prejudices," said Nadia Harris, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences' Language and Foreign Studies Department, after the discussion. "These clichés belong to another era, and Rivasseau's speech is a plea for a new way of looking at France."
But the event itself was not without its kinks, said Alex Rice, a senior in CAS and president of the French Club, which worked with the Language and Foreign Studies Department to organize the speech.
According to Rice, the discussion was originally supposed to feature Pierre Vimont, France's top ambassador to the United States. However, a last-minute cancellation on Thursday resulted in a speaker change, and the French Club did not have enough time to replace every flier on campus and resend every e-mail advertisement, Rice said.
"I had no idea the speaker was going to be different," said Dana Fyltelson, a sophomore in CAS. "I mainly went because my French teacher required me to go, but I don't know if I would have gone if it wasn't mandatory."
Harris said she considered the event an immense success.
"Rivasseau's speech was a great overview ... for students with no background in French politics," Harris said. "[Rivasseau] engaged a broad audience and raised questions foremost in any discussion of French foreign policy"
