The Arab Spring did not start out well for France. In Tunisia, protests against Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali drew attention to France's unfortunate tradition of coddling dictators in the Francophone world -- especially when it turned out that President Nicolas Sarkozy's newly appointed foreign minister had spent her holiday on the Tunisian coast and had flown there courtesy of one of Ben Ali's relatives while his security forces were busy cracking down on nonviolent protesters.
Sarkozy was somewhat more outspoken in calling for the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. But the real turn came in Libya. Although France had once led the way in engaging Muammar al-Qaddafi, Sarkozy quickly emerged as the world leader most forcefully pushing military action, dragging along the more reticent Barack Obama (No. 11) and David Cameron (39). Throughout the NATO air campaign that ultimately toppled Qaddafi, grateful rebels regularly hoisted signs proclaiming, "Merci, Sarkozy," making Sarkozy perhaps the first French leader to be greeted as a liberating hero since Charles de Gaulle. Visiting Tripoli after Qaddafi's fall, Sarkozy told crowds, "We have a common destiny, and what we're now building is valid for Libya and all those Arab peoples in the world who want to free themselves from their chains."
Closer to home, Sarkozy has emerged as the most strident advocate of a strong governmental response to Europe's sovereign debt crisis, clashing as well as closely partnering with his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, as they figured out the extent of governmental intervention needed to stabilize the eurozone. Even in these straitened times, Sarkozy has done more than any other recent president to keep France on the map as a world power. Unfortunately, this might not be enough to save the wildly unpopular leader at the ballot box in closely fought elections next year. If only Benghazi got a vote.
GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images
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