France

Dien Bien Phu and after: the U.S. inherits an intractable conflict

You thought the Vietnam war was lost by 1974? Turn your clocks back two decades Almost 70 years after the French defeat — and, all credit due, the Vietminh victory — at Dien Bien Phu in northwest Vietnam,1 lessons continue to be drawn from a military confrontation that saw the defeat of a well-equipped Western…

Les Lumières en Amérique: America and the Enlightenment

As North America was about to erupt with the American revolt against imperial Britain in the late 1700s, many liberal currents in Europe were feeding this move toward freedom. My 2009 essay for a panel discussion on the Enlightenment held in Divonne, France focused on the connections between American revolutionary thinkers, principally Paine and Jefferson,…

The ‘phénomène Gainey’ hits France (1989)

In July 1989, Bob Gainey shocked the North American hockey world by announcing he was leaving the big time, the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens, for a position as player-coach of a team called the Squirrels – les Ecureuils – in Epinal.

For a player who has tasted virtually every top-level honor the NHL offers – Stanley Cup champion, Canadiens captain, all-star and multiple trophy winner – Gainey’s decision might seem like a big step into the unknown.