Sarkozy: Short, Hyper, and Still Very European

A New Yorker profile compares Nicolas Sarkozy to Napoleon: He's not just short, but he's both more Euro-centric and less of a reactionary than most Americans think. In fact, Adam Gopnik, who dubs the brazen, mercurial Sarko a "human bomb," writes than the nouveau regime may signal "the beginning of the post-America era."

Sarko takes his attitude and demeanor—frenetic, garrulous and brazen—from US politics, but the new president is occasionally blunt about his plans to steer France far from the American unilateral model. When asked by Condoleeza Rice what she could do for him, Sarkozy snapped back, "Improve your image in the world." (More Nicolas Sarkozy stories.)