Taking the Pulse of French Intelligence
Francois Heisbourg, a well-known French strategic thinker, is currently Chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He worked ...
Intelligence, Democratic Accountability, and the Media in France
This article examines the relationship between the media, the government, and its intelligence apparatus in contemporary France. In a country characterized by a traditionally strong state, the relationship between intelligence and the media has often been tense. The recent affaire des fadettes—in which the Central Directorate for Domestic Intelligence tapped a journalist’s phone to trace the source of an unauthorized disclosure of government information—epitomizes the precarious position of the press in France. Following recent reforms, the French system of intelligence accountability would benefit from a more collaborative relationship between the institutions of government and the media.
Shoeless Joe: Fantasy and the Humor of Fellow-Feeling
In his essay on Jean Paul Friedrich Richter, Thomas Carlyle writes of a humor that manifests itself in smile rather than laughter. "Richter is a man of mirth," says Carlyle, whose humor is "capricious . . . quaint . . . [and] heartfelt" (15). The three adjectives represent for Carlyle the essence of what he terms "true humor" because they suggest Richter's enormous respect for humanity. "True humor," he goes on to say, "springs not more from the head than from the heart; it is not contempt, its essence is love; it issues not in laughter, but in still smiles, which lie far deeper" (17). These smiles are not Hobbesian smirks of superiority1 but genuine signs of compassion for, sympathy toward, and empathy with the object of the humor. Carlyle further provides a direct link between humor and both pathos and nobility; the link is the smile of the caring man. For Carlyle, this smile is one of "fellow-feeling":