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Bella Lyons

Mr. O’Grady

Contemporary World Issues

6 May 2019

International Relations: Bureau Reports Paper

My name is Stephanie Drew, and I am the Bureau Chief for the CIA. Recently, it has

been my job to go into detailed research about Paris, France and learn more about their economy,

crises, and politics. It was my choice to choose which region of the world I wanted to research,

and I chose Paris because I felt that their economy has been put through a lot recently, and the

only way that people like me can help is if we find out more about their current world. In this

report, I will be explaining the different events that are happening in Paris and how the United

States Government is handing these situations based off of the articles and information I have

accumulated. Finally, I will end this report with a list of recommendations that I have for the

President as to how he can help Paris and take action on the specified issues.

The Greater Paris Region Economy:

Paris, France is one of the most modern countries in our world today. Emmanuel Macron,

who is the current President is the major reason as to why France’s economy is so modern and

diverse. He has implicated many ideas and improvements into Paris that have made it the

beautiful city that it is today including tax cuts and financial support. Although Paris seems

wonderful from an outsider’s point of view, there are a few important areas of concern that have

arisen in Paris that are seen as challenges for their economic growth.

Paris is the fourth most populated country in Europe and has the second largest economy.

However, since the mid-2000s, they have maintained a slow population growth. This could be
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accompanied by their high unemployment rates that have remained since 2008 with the global

financial crisis. It seems as though since 2008, other countries have continued to prosper and

regain employment, however, Paris has continued to struggle. In order for Paris to regain their

strength economically, they need to become more competitive like their neighboring countries.

Prolonged high unemployment rates are especially problematic because Paris will no longer have

a “social safety net,” and if their unemployment rates keep up, this will take a toll on their

younger and current generations that will be able to drive their economy forward in the future.

Even though unemployment remains a problem in France’s current world, Macron plans to spend

$18.5 billion dollars on job training that will help to increase penalties placed on people who do

not actively search for jobs.

Next, as I have previously mentioned, Paris is currently struggling with growth as well.

France’s economic growth has dropped from 2.3% to 1.7% in 2018, however, the French

Government has since been working to cut spending. Even though they are working towards

increasing their growth, things like the continuous rise of oil prices, strong euros, and threats of a

global trade war are continuing to stunt their growth and development. However, many people

are holding positive outlooks on France as their aviation industries as well as shipbuilding will

help to boost their exports. Also, residents of France will benefit from tax cuts, and all in all

could potentially increase spending and gain new residents in their country.

Finally, The Yellow Vest Protesters are currently fighting against Paris to help change all

of these things. They hope by protesting they will be able to increase minimum wage, decrease

fuel costs, and decrease taxes, etc. Although these protesters are trying to fight to change, they

are currently adding more difficulties to the French economy, and play a large role as to why

France is struggling. Not only is Paris itself struggling, but the recession in Italy is not helping to
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fix any problems in Paris either due to the fact that their two economies are deeply intertwined,

sharing multiple companies and spending a lot of money on trade per year. Paris thinks that

because of the recession in Italy, they may be involved in even more fallout than ever before.

Paris is still holding out hope and attempting to fix the problem. Le Maire, a French politician

who has served as the Minister of the Economy since 2017, has plans to meet with the Italian

equivalent and discuss their economic situations. Hopefully, in time, Paris will be able to

increase their economic growth and fix the problems with Italy while still pleasing the Yellow

Vest Protesters who continue to bring about the downfall of the country.

French Politics and the U.S.:

Recently, as the Yellow Vest Protesters across France have been triggered by things like

higher fuel costs and no tax cuts, United States President, Donald Trump has mentioned that he

wishes to no longer be affiliated with France’s affairs. Trump could play a large role in helping

the French and helping Macron, however, he does not want to associate himself with a declining

economy. This news is not surprising to Macron himself though, as he wishes the same thing, he

does not want the U.S. to be associated with French political life either.

Seeing as though neither leaders wish to work together, this does not hold true to the

Yellow Vest Protesters. In a recent tweet by Trump, he exclaimed that “The Paris Agreement

isn’t working out so well for Paris.” Later, he also tweeted that the protesters had been yelling

“We Want Trump!” This shows that even though the leaders of both countries do not want

anything to do with one another, the citizens of Paris think that Trump could help their country

and grant their wishes of lower fuel costs and tax cuts. However, Macron is still trying to please

his country with a recent suspension of a planned fuel-tax increase. With his slow and steady

improvements to the French economy, maybe his citizens will begin to calm down and see that a
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brighter future is ahead.

Overall, Macron and Trump have been in a bit of an argument ever since Trump

withdrew from the 2017 Paris Climate Agreement. Tensions have been high and seem to not be

settling down any time soon. Trump stated that “The Paris accord will undermine the U.S.

economy and puts the U.S at a permanent disadvantage.” Trump also claims that this withdrawal

will help further strengthen his America First Policy. This withdrawal has made Macron very

angry and as a result, “European leaders have felt burned by Trump, who pulled the United

States out of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord, both negotiated by the Obama

administration.” These withdrawals go back to the ideas of trusting one another, and having trust

in other countries to help each other and do the right thing. However with Trumps decision to

abandon multiple agreements between other countries, leaders like Macron have since not

wanted to work together and do not trust Trump as a viable helper for their country. Macron has

proposed that “Europe create its own continental military force.” Since Trump’s abandoning and

Macron’s proposal, Macron thinks that this new path that will help bring Europe’s economy

forward and has argued that the continent will not be strengthened “if we don’t decide to have a

true European army.” This has not only angered Trump, but the protesters in Paris as well who

believe that Trump is necessary in combating some of Paris’s economic struggles. Macron is just

trying to help his country and make the best out of a bad situation, but realizes that he cannot

please everyone, especially the protesters. Macron and Trump plan to meet soon to discuss their

debates. Macron plans to explain his position to Trump, and hopefully, they can move forward

with no hard feelings.

Current Events in Paris:

Tensions in Paris have continued to rise as the recent fire of the Notre Dame Cathedral
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has left many Parisians devastated. Scientists have begun to hunt for evidence as to how the fire

was caused while police are treating the intense fire as only accidental. Some people think that

this could be an act of terrorism but have since found no evidence relating the two. Also, some

people have recently been blaming the platform YouTube for uploading video content to their

site saying that they made the “wrong call” in doing so because these videos offered some

potentially sensitive content. Next, some of the workers in the cathedral who had been

renovating the scaffolding have recently come forward, admitting that some of them had smoked

cigarettes at the scene of the crime, however, the idea that a cigarette butt caused the fire has

since been ruled out. Now, French citizens and people from other countries are questioning

whether or not it is safe to travel to Paris. The reasons for this are either because of the extreme

Notre Dame fire or the large protests occurring daily on the streets. Even though these protests

are mostly non-violent, many do not want to become associated with these large affairs of the

French capital.

Although most of these protests have remained non-violent, one of the more recent ones

occurring in March involved much violence. This protest involved people hurling rocks at

violent police through clouds of tear gas. This was followed by the arresting of almost 240

protesters. Macron does not seem to be helping much of this situation as while this riot occurred,

he was on a weekend ski trip. Although he decided to return home to assess the situation,

Macron truly is not doing much to help and is not doing anything to further implicate policies

into the French government to please his people.

Lastly, a current event that has left many of the citizens of Paris happy is replacing the

words “Mother” and “Father” with “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” in French schools under the new

anti-discrimination law. Although this movement is opposed by “conservatives who labelled it

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‘frightening,’” many citizens see this as a step forward in the right direction to avoid

discrimination against same-sex parents. This decision was supported by Macron, however there

continue to be many mixed feelings of this decision by the citizens of Paris. While some label it

as “dehumanizing,” others say that this amendment will “prevent discrimination of school

enrollment, class registers, parental authorizations, and all other forms involving children.”

All in all, through the many hardships that Paris is currently experiencing, Macron needs

to push harder for economic, political, and social reforms. He also needs to be smarter about his

decisions and his allies, as well as how he handles pleasing his citizens. If Macron wants to

become as successful as many other countries around the world, he needs to start by pleasing the

people first. Lastly, Macron needs to take into consideration all of his wrongdoings and realize

that defeat is not an option so that he will make his country happy by implementing all of the

reforms that his society is asking for. By doing so, then the country will be able to move forward

and prosper, having a positive impact on the future decades to come.

Recommendations for the President of the United States of America:

 I suggest that we monitor the situations going on in Paris more closely and see if there is

anything that we can do to help. I am aware that Macron does not want your help, but by

suggesting that we are here for their country could benefit both of our countries and allow

for an increase in economy.

 We must develop an alliance with Paris that will not be destroyed like the ones you have

revoked and withdrew from in the past. By doing so, we will regain France’s trust and

allow both of our nations to prosper.

 It is time to think about abandoning the America First Policy. Yes, it is helpful for our

nation, but we will not be successful if we do not help any other nation across the world.
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We need to think of others before ourselves and send help. You will not regret helping

other countries due to the fact that both countries will benefit from our help.
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