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This article discusses Vietnam War-era and Iraqi War-era relations between the U.S. and France. French President Jacques Chirac does not equate Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with Vietnam's nationalist-minded President Ho Chi Minh. He shares the U.S. goal of finding and removing any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. And, whereas the Vietnam war lasted for years, no French analyst seriously believes that Hussein can hold out for more than a few weeks at the most. Chirac's decision, along with Germany and Belgium, to block North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) help to Turkey recalls former French President Charles de Gaulle's famous withdrawal of France from NATO's military structure in 1966.

Discusses the French support of the campaign of the United States against terrorism. Comments made by French President Jacques Chirac concerning the role of France in the campaign; Outlook for foreign relations between France and the U.S.

Reports on French support of the United States following terrorist attacks against the U.S. French President Jacques Chirac's visit with U.S. President George W. Bush; Islamic terrorists with French citizenship; Domestic French programs to combat terrorism.

Looks at possible changes in France's relationships with its former African colonies. The report due out in August 1995 that will impact the relationship between France and Africa; What the report, commissioned by Alain Juppe, will recommend; Questions about France's Africa policy; The trip by Jacques Chirac of France to West Africa in July 1995; Other aspects.

Reports on renewed relations between Algeria and France. The French used to rule the place, and quit in 1962 only after a savage liberation war. Yet Algeria's welcome, both official and popular, for Jacques Chirac, making the first-ever state visit by a French president, could hardly have been warmer. Chirac proclaimed before the Algerian parliament "a shared vision of a tolerant Islam" and then signed, with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a "declaration of Algiers", forerunner of a formal treaty to underline the two countries' "special partnership". It is hard to reconcile Chirac's promise to improve visa procedures with the pledge (to the French) of his interior minister to crack down on "the huge increase in the number of visas issued, which is at the root of the growth in illegal immigration". Yet behind the Chirac rhetoric lies serious politics, domestic and international. Some 5 million Muslims live in France. Of these, 537,000 in 2001 were lawfully resident Algerian nationals. Add French citizens of Algerian origin and the total is large enough to be a permanent issue in French politics.