Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and ...
Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and ...
Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and ...
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<strong>Neo</strong>-<strong>Bonapartism</strong>? A <strong>parallel</strong> <strong>between</strong> <strong>Nicolas</strong> <strong>Sarkozy</strong> <strong>and</strong> Napoleon III<br />
II. A double-level st<strong>and</strong>ard: Humanist discourses versus Realpolitik moves:<br />
The final common feature of Napoleon III’s <strong>and</strong> <strong>Sarkozy</strong>’s appreciation of foreign policy<br />
is their juggling <strong>between</strong> a humanist-inspired official discourse <strong>and</strong> their application of<br />
Realpolitik-based moves in the international relations field.<br />
Milza explained in 2008 that the emperor had a very modern discourse vis a vis the Algerian<br />
population (in the mid 19 th century such a st<strong>and</strong>point was resolutely avant-gardist from a Right-<br />
wing affiliated emperor) <strong>and</strong> constantly extolled the virtues of the population’s self-<br />
determination principle, especially for Italy <strong>and</strong> Pol<strong>and</strong>. However, he did send a military<br />
expedition to Mexico <strong>and</strong> launched several wars contradicting his very statements. For<br />
instance, <strong>and</strong> in his Dictionnaire Politique Napoleonien, D’Alembert cites the imperial saying on<br />
the abolition of slavery according to which “if abolition of slavery was conducted by<br />
governments wanting sincerely the good of humanity, that is to say the prosperity of the black<br />
<strong>and</strong> white races, they would had gradually made their slaves move from forced to free labor”<br />
(1849).<br />
<strong>Nicolas</strong> <strong>Sarkozy</strong> as well started his presidential m<strong>and</strong>ate with “a credo in favor of human rights,<br />
before evolving later on” (Milza, 2008). As explained before, he vehemently <strong>and</strong> more than<br />
once publicly denounced the Russian <strong>and</strong> Chinese human rights violations before adjusting his<br />
position to the incorporation of Realpolitiks in his foreign policy approach. At this point,<br />
Realpolitik is to be understood according to Henry Kissinger’s definition presented in his<br />
Diplomacy book, <strong>and</strong> according to which it refers to any “foreign policy based on considerations<br />
of power <strong>and</strong> national interest” (1996). Accordingly, it is not a coincidence if the American<br />
diplomat traces the origins of Realpolitik to one of Napoleon III’s contemporaries: Klemens von<br />
A website dedicated to this project is available starting Dec 7 th 2010 at: http://www.aui.ma/personal/~Y.Assaoui/<br />
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