Armand-Jean du Plessis, better known to history as Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642), spent most of his career contending for and then exercising control over a deeply divided, indebted, and dysfunctional superpower.

With financial firestorms erupting left and right in Europe, the global credit crisis takes a new dimension. Analysts say it might be time for coordinated interest rate cuts.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy succeeded in forming a union of Mediterranean countries, but the bigger challenge of pushing through meaningful policy change lies ahead.

France’s new president has ambitious plans for the country’s economy. But to push through reforms, he will have to face down nationwide strikes.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has wowed U.S. conservatives in his first months, but recent moves with Libya and on European finances could sour the affair.

New French President Nicolas Sarkozy hopes his party's striking victory in the first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday will provide a strong mandate to govern and seal his ideological win over the French socialism.

Nicolas Sarkozy’s election as France’s new president prompted talk of a golden age in U.S.-French relations, but experts advise caution.

The French presidential race between socialist Segolene Royal and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy is so close that a televised debate could be the deciding factor.

A deeply divided electorate in France on Sunday set up a classic second- round battle between socialist Segolene Royal and interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

Three new candidates—and one familiar spoiler—are trying to impress a skeptical French public as they compete to succeed a weakened Jacques Chirac.

France, experiencing a prolonged domestic malaise, is seeking to define itself again with an active role in the Lebanon crisis—one the United States welcomes, in spite of some differences, given Washington's own foreign entanglements.

The French government's backdown on plans to reform youth labor laws has raised concerns about the country's ability to adapt to globalization, as well as how failure to pass the law will impact the continent.

Max Boot remembers General Marcel Bigeard.

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.

Listen to French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde discusses her efforts to revitalize the French economy and revive Paris as a financial center.

Listen to Bernard Kouchner, France's minister of foreign and European affairs, discuss the situation in the Middle East and the merits of multilateral diplomacy in solving global conflicts.

A surge in pirate attacks off the Somali coast in recent years has prompted the deployment of an international coalition of navies. But experts say that military force alone cannot address the underlying issue of failed Somali governance.