Go-It-Alone France Shifts Military Stance

"Who thinks in 15 or 20 years to come -- with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact and the enlargement of the European Union -- that we will need 50,000 men in Central Europe?" Morin asked a parliamentary committee. "If France is still capable of sending 30,000 or 40,000 men into theater around the Mediterranean, looking at the big picture, that would hardly turn France into a second-class military power."

Last week, Morin told the French news media that the navy probably will be unable to afford its requested new aircraft carrier, which has a price tag of $5.5 billion.

Sarkozy's focus on international security issues also figures in his efforts to redeem his tarnished image at home a year after taking office as the president who would reform France's bureaucracies and labor laws.

His approval ratings have plunged, as much from the failures of his reform promises as from his highly visible personal life: vacations on friends' yachts and at their luxury homes, the divorce from his second wife and nearly immediate marriage to pop singer Carla Bruni, and a number of unpresidential temper tantrums.

But Bruni has emerged as a major political as well as personal asset for Sarkozy. On the couple's recent state visit to London, she charmed British officials and journalists, drawing comparisons with Jacqueline Kennedy.

"President Sarkozy wants to be on all fronts on many subjects," analyst Liberti said. "But E.U. institutions are heavy, and it takes time to make reforms in such a context. I think he will be a hyperactive president with few results."

Researcher Corinne Gavard contributed to this report.