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Jacques Chirac: French Presidency
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With Jacques Chirac at the helm, the convergence of French and American policies toward Algeria will continue, offering a glimmer of hope for peace in that troubled country. (Similar Franco-American cooperation in the Balkans would provide similar hope to beleaguered Bosnians, assuming either Chirac or Clinton voices a clear policy.) Already the change of administrations in Paris has had an impact on events in Algeria, since as liberal Algerian leader Hocine Ait Ahmed told a Carnegie Endowment audience recently, "The keys to peace in Algeria are to be found in Paris."
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None of Jacques Chirac's books have been translated into English. The best material on him and his political circumstances can be found in Jean Charlot, The Gaullist Phenomenon (London, 1971) and in Frank L. Wilson, French Political Parties Under the Fifth Republic (1982).
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When the RPR/UDF right-wing coalition won a slight majority in the National Assembly in the 1986 election, Mitterrand (PS) appointed Chirac prime minister (though many in Mitterrand's inner circle lobbied him to choose Jacques Chaban-Delmas instead). This inedit power-sharing arrangement, known as cohabitation, gave Chirac the lead in domestic affairs. However, it is generally conceded that Mitterrand used the areas granted to the President of the Republic, or "reserved domains" of the Presidency, defence and foreign affairs, to belittle his Prime Minister.
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