Italy's budget may matter more than ineffectual Franco-German summitry, but the new agreement between France and Germany on reforming EU rules remains a reckless distraction, says CFR's Sebastian Mallaby.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was passed by the French National Assembly on August 26, 1789. The declaration expressed the ideas of the French Revolution and was incorporated into France's Constitution in 1791.

New IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has to move quickly to establish independence from the European authorities who got her the job, enhance the IMF's legitimacy, and display her ability to manage the fund, says CFR's Steven Dunaway.

Speech

Micah Zenko says the United States, France, and Britain must be clear about their objectives in Libya.

James M. Lindsay and Kate Collins discuss France's recognition of the National Libyan Council as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

The passage of a burqa ban by the French National Assembly is a response to France's "idea of women's dignity," voter support, and a desire to blunt "the rise of fundamentalism," says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces dwindling support because of "dithering" on the euro crisis and Germans' opposition to having troops in Afghanistan, says Germany expert William Drozdiak.

Max Boot remembers General Marcel Bigeard.

Mira Kamdar, a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute and an award-winning author, analyzes the rocky relationship between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Speech

Mildrade Cherfils of the Global Post discusses the recent recommendation by French lawmakers to forbid women from wearing head-to-toe Islamic dress in some public spaces, and how this proposed law relates to the question of "French identity," including issues of immigration, integration and religion.

"France can help us more than we think," writes Walter Russel Mead looking through the history of the rocky U.S.-French relationship to provide context for the current state of the alliance.

Amel Boubekeur writes that the controversy surrounding Nicolas Sarkozy's comments on the full-face veil in France has excluded the people it most concerns - the women who wear it.

France's move to rejoin NATO's integrated military command structure reflects a shift in French strategic thinking about new reliance on allies and diminished projection of unilateral power abroad.

As France returns to NATO's integrated military structure, it's time for the alliance to undergo a long-delayed transformation, Benoi D'Aboville says.

Piracy caught the world's attention in 2008, with hijackings off the coast of East Africa including an oil supertanker and a ship full of Russian tanks. Many experts, citing 'nightmare scenarios,' want to see these brigands redefined as terrorists.

A profile of ETA, a terrorist separatist group operating in the Basque regions of Spain and France.

Max Boot discusses David Hackett Fischer's latest work, Champlain's Dream.

Listen to French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde discuss the financial crisis from the European perspective, and suggest policy options for a coordinated response by Europe's four largest economies.