France

I know that neither of these countries are technically a part of South Asia (although I’ve included China in the list of countries I intend to discuss), but since I live in Paris I feel I should discuss elements of French foreign policy from time to time, especially since it often goes unnoticed abroad, and yet cannot be dismissed too quickly. By the way, just because I live in France doesn’t mean I’m an expert on its foreign policy, which is one of the reasons why I don’t intend to write about it too often.

It’s been just over a week since an earthquake unleashed an epic wave of destruction across Haiti. And even as bodies of both the living and the dead continue to be pulled from the rubble of Port-au-Prince, conservative commentators are already using the tragedy to launch into an attack on foreign development aid programs.