By the time Francois Mitterand came to power, France had already capitulated. It wouldn’t produce a writer-thinker of the stature to refuse a Nobel. Its newspapers and educational institutions had already changed course. (Only its cinema held out for a while.) The post-war renaissance that the French really had, unlike the British, was over. France is where the West arrived long ago. Jacques Chirac and Sarkozy only followed that arc of logic — more tragic for a country built on words and ideas when rhetoric and thoughts run dry. For all the allegations of Sarko “selling out” to the US, it helps remembering that the France that opposed the Iraq war soon offered airspace and support for the course of events. At least, Sarkozy is more honest. One would be tempted to conclude sardonically that the one thing that hasn’t changed about France is the strikes that made the non-French squirm. But then, there’s a real crisis on.

sudeep.paul@expressindia.com