Bad Dreams, the French Sting and the World’s Nuclear Realities

Kim Holmes / September 29, 2009

You know something is amiss when the French take a harder line on national security than the United States. At the United Nations last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy chided President Obama for his “dream” of ridding the world of nuclear weapons, reminding him that “we live in a real world, not a virtual world.”

Ouch. The French like to sting American presidents, but this is different. It’s not the normal Gallic jab at America for being a “hyper power,” but a French leader reminding an American president of his responsibilities as a world leader. The sting hurts because it rings so true—and because it comes from France, of all places.

Sarkozy is right. We may want a nuclear free world, but we will no more eliminate all nuclear weapons in the world with arms control than we will all tanks, artillery or any other major weapon of war. (more…)