Nicolas Sarkozy: A Grand Entrance

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In foreign affairs, Sarkozy has similarly shown a flair for big announcements of limited results. Despite his finish-line sprint, 99% of the credit for freeing the Bulgarian medics from Libya goes to years of tireless work by E.U. officials. Sarkozy's warmer relations with the U.S. shouldn't and can't hide the deep differences that France and Europe have with America — and not just on Iraq. And it's hard to fully applaud his success in Europe's agreement on the simplified treaty when, elsewhere, Sarkozy sends the message to Germany and others that their work to trim deficits and reform economies aren't for us.

Sarkozy's strategy of perpetual movement thrills the media and public — and ensures he's already gone on to the next activity by the time people start asking questions about the results of the last one. Sarkozy must now get down to the often uncomfortable task of doing what's right rather than what's popular. Governing isn't a theatrical, superficial task.

JOSEF JOFFE PUBLISHER AND EDITOR OF THE GERMANY WEEKLY DIE ZEIT

Who is Nicolas Sarkozy — Napoleon III or Mick Jagger? "Sarko," the rock star, struts his stuff with gold chain and bared chest, hanging out with the high and mighty. The third Napoleon, French Emperor from 1852 to 1870, came to power in a putsch, installing an authoritarian monarchy.

Sarkozy was of course anointed by a nice democratic margin, and his ratings (64%) should make George W. Bush pale with envy. Yet in a soft coup, Sarkozy has unhinged Article 21 of the French constitution, according to which the Prime Minister, and not the President, runs the show. Sarko is omnipresent and "omnipresident." He is his own cabinet.

Is it action or just agitation? He is running hard, but to where? Sarkozy utters all the right words, such as "globalization" and "liberalization." But when it comes to tackling France's sclerotic labor market, he talks of "assouplissement" — softening. He wants to tinker with the 35-hour workweek, not scratch it. To encourage workers, he wants to cut taxes on overtime. How to push growth? Let's have a commission first.

"Anglo-Saxon capitalism" is no longer an epithet in the Elysée. But the reality is, well, very French: leave the driving to the state. Let's have "national champions," such as the giant merger between two utilities, Gaz de France and its rival Suez — essentially a monopoly under government control. Sworn to competition, the E.U. won't like this. But Sarko has already attacked the independence of the European Central Bank, another pillar of the European construction.

Change seems to be clearest in foreign policy. The love-hate relationship with the U.S. is warming up. George W. must like what he hears. Sarkozy accuses Putin's Russia of a "certain brutality," and he castigates Beijing for "transforming its insatiable search for raw materials into a strategy of control." Nobody sounds tougher on Iran. If sanctions fail, the choice is stark: "an Iranian bomb, or the bombing of Iran."

Well roared. Meanwhile, Sarko faces a creeping collision with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, his exact antipode in Europe. He struts, she plods. He plays rock, she plays chess, crafting gentle persuasion into a net that spans Beijing and Brussels, Washington and Moscow — anchored in Berlin, of course.

Given Europe's placid, post-heroic mood, odds are that Merkel will end up with a bigger pile of chips in this game.