| Summary/Abstract |
In April 2003, against the backdrop of a severe deterioration of bilateral relations resulting from France’s determined opposition to the recent American (and British) invasion of Iraq and from the George W. Bush administration’s willingness to “punish” Paris for it, French President Jacques Chirac asked his diplomatic adviser to call his White House opposite number, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, to find out if the page of Franco-American discord could be turned. Chirac wanted to show good will: France was ready to cooperate with the United States to shape the future of Iraq, his message went. But Rice’s response was icy: “We have paid our victory with our blood and treasure,” she said, adding, “we don’t need you.”
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