Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

Bernard Kouchner

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date01 September 2008
Date01 September 2008
DOI10.1177/002070200806300319
Subject MatterMovers & Shakers
Yasmeen Mohiuddin
Bernard Kouchner
Radical leftist turned globetrotting diplomat
When Bernard Kouchner was expelled from France’s Socialist party last year
for accepting President Nicolas Sarkozy’s invitation to become foreign min-
ister, it was as if history was repeating itself.
Like many of Europe’s top politicians, Kouchner flirted with the extreme
left in the 1960s. As a young communist and medical student in France, he
railed against American imperialism and French colonialism in Algeria, and
marched along the front lines during the watershed student protests of May
1968. But Kouchner never let ideology displace his tried and true principles
and soon found himself unwelcome in a Communist party that supported
oppressive dictatorships in Latin America and elsewhere.
Almost 40 years later, Kouchner faced a similar situation with the Social-
ists. He had long been a critic of the party, not just because of the French
left’s predictable and monotonous anti-Americanism, but for its unwilling-
ness to adapt to modern economic realities. Although Kouchner has said
that the post of foreign minister was the only one he would have accepted,
Yasmeen Mohiuddin is a regular contributor to International Journal’s Mover’s &
Shaker’s rubric.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
| International Journal | Summer 2008 | 743 |

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT