WaTi runs an AP story:
French struggle with feeling of 'lost glory'"France no longer has military strength worth speaking of. It is no longer economically competitive, and all this means is that it has become a second-tier nation internationally and diplomatically.
Just noticing? The story's kind of "eh," but this was interesting, because of its parallel with the frustration of Islamic radicals in the French slums:
"In France, there is a particular strain of melancholy," political philosopher Chantal Delsol said in an interview. "The British tell themselves, 'We are no longer a great power, so we will live as a middling one.' But the French don't say that. They say: 'We are intrinsically a great power, so why isn't it working in reality?' For a while we try to shut our eyes, but that doesn't work for long. When reality truly dawns, then the first phase is extreme sadness, and that is the phase we are in now."
