And Now, Concertation

At his first press conference in July, France's President Valery Giscard d'Estaing fielded questions while standing behind a lectern. At his second conference last week he somberly remained seated, in perhaps unconscious symbolism of the dour words to follow. Sounding like a Spengler with a French accent, for much of the conference he all but prophesied the decline of the West.

"The world is unhappy," he said, "because it does not know where it is going and because it guesses that if it did know, it would discover that it was headed for catastrophe. It is this unhappy world that statesmen must lead ... the present world crisis is a durable one.

It is not a passing perturbation but in reality represents a permanent change. If we examine the major graphic curves that are drawn for the future by the phenomena of our time, you see that all of these curves lead to catastrophe. During the next few years we will thus see a kind of decline of Europe, while other countries will be on the upswing. In a certain way it is their revenge against 19th century Europe [and its colonial dominance]."

Having made his point--in gloomier words than have been uttered recently by any other statesman, including U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger --Giscard then turned political leader and tried to offer solutions that might stave off the catastrophe. Although Giscard contended that France was in a better position than some other countries, he discarded the old Gaullist emphasis on national sovereignty and talked of interdependence among nations. He repeatedly used the French word concertation, which means cooperation and coordination, to describe the goal of France's new, post-Gaullist policy.

"Because of the energy crisis, there is an awareness of interdependence among countries," Giscard said. "The poorest are affected, of course, but also the richest. The dependence of the U.S. on the outside world will be growing in the coming years and not decreasing, as is sometimes thought. In this position of interdependence, it is obvious that the solutions to be sought cannot be those of dominance, and that is why France's foreign policy will always favor solutions of consultation and negotiation."

These were startling words coming as they did from the leader of a country that has been conditioned by 16 years of Gaullism, and much of French history as well, to think in terms of national grandeur. As a starter, Giscard said that he had invited the other members of the Common Market to meet in Paris late this month or early in December to discuss mutual problems. He also proposed that early next year a small group of oil producers and consumers should get together to consider the multiple problems of oil. Europe, he said, should have only one voice at that meeting. European skeptics wondered how serious and determined Giscard really would prove to be in carrying out such a non-Gaullist policy. But at least Giscard had made a beginning at providing desperately needed leadership in Europe. France will always march to its own drummer, but at least it seems to have rejoined the international band.

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