Everyone knew that Dominique de Villepin, the permanently tanned, America-obsessed poet-diplomat, would be a tough act to follow as foreign minister of France.
Nonetheless, the presentation by his successor, Michel Barnier, at an annual conference of French ambassadors on Thursday perplexed many of those present.
In a speech intended to give his 150 foot-soldiers their marching orders for the coming year, Barnier never once mentioned the US.
Nor did the words or phrases Russia, NATO, Israel, Palestinian, the trans-Atlantic alliance or Sept. 11 emerge from his lips.
And in a tonal shift, Barnier called for a France that is humble. That adjective was not normally associated with de Villepin, who was once described in the French magazine Le Point as "a silver wolf with burning eyes" and who became Europe's most vocal critic of the Bush administration's march to war against Iraq.
"France is not great when it is arrogant," said Barnier, a onetime member of Parliament from the Savoy region who has had little exposure to the US. "France is not strong if it is alone."
Barnier said almost nothing about the current crisis in Iraq, except to list the country as one of the "open conflicts" in the world and a target of terrorist acts. There was no discussion of how France should help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, which de Villepin often called the most urgent regional problem facing the world.
Barnier was once the Foreign Ministry's point man on Europe and served for four years as the EU's commissioner for regional policy and institutional reform. So no one was surprised when he told his envoys that the only way to maximize their global influence was to think European.
"The first reflex, I say bluntly, must be European," he said. "I know that this evolution is not inscribed in the long and prestigious history of our ministry. But the influence of our country depends on it."
The minister's performance, the first time a number of ambassadors have witnessed him in action, caught many of them unprepared.
"He is at base a local politician coming from the Savoy, not a traditional Gaullist at all," said one ambassador. "He came across as the anti-de Villepin."
De Villepin seemed determined to revive the historic greatness of France. He has a romantic view articulated in his book on Napoleon, The Hundred Days, that describes the emperor's philosophy as "Victory or death, but glory whatever happens."
So the omission of a reference to the world's only superpower by Barnier was striking.
"The minister is presenting his new ideas for diplomacy rather than covering old ground," said an aide to Barnier, defending his worldview. "There was no need to talk about the United States."
Other ambassadors noted that when Barnier took over the Foreign Ministry in a Cabinet shuffle five months ago, part of his mandate was to repair France's tattered relationship with the US, not to ignore it.
"Perhaps the minister went a bit far in not mentioning the United States," one retired ambassador said dryly.
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