The real danger is that too many French intellectuals have illusion of grandeur about France's role in the world. Since the end of the Napoleonic era, France has been in decline vis a vis other European powers. For many French, Napoleon represented their glory day but as the authors note, Napoleon embroiled Europe in two decades of war that killed millions and did very little to advance liberty. He was a dictator in the image of the modern day thugs but for many in France, he was their benchmark of French glory.

As long as America provided protection from the real world threat, many French intellectuals could engage in wishful thinking. The authors write, "One of the saddest realities of French intellectual life during the Cold War was that so many of the country is leading thinkers supported the Soviet Union even after its true nature was widely known." They added, "The French retreat into abstraction, not the murky thickets of structuralism, deconstruction, and post modern language games....was preceded by a wholesale French withdrawal fro the great moral questions for the Day." For many French, the reality of world was replaced by make-believe.

The intellectual fantasy developed during the Cold War has now come to forefront as many in the French communities believe that the United States stand in the way of French goals and have become a de facto enemy. Whether it is attacking American culture or complaining about America hegemony, much of the French intellectual and foreign policy apparatus view American ascendancy counter to their goal of dominating Europe through the EU. France wants to become major players on the world scene through various international bodies such as the European Union and the United Nations.

The fantasy that America is a threat to French interest is illusionary thinking that is also dangerous. America is no threat to French interest and has no desire to keep "France in her place." France wants to run Europe from the Urals to the Atlantic and use the EU as means to get the rest of Europe to support its welfare state as well as its foreign policy objectives. France goal is be the intellectual leader of Europe and use the various international bodies to reign in the United States, even at the cost of losing the war on terror. Chirac's France has already attempted to intimidate the new Eastern European powers when they sided with the United States on the Iraq War and they essentially told the Turkey that the price of EU admission meant no support for the United States in second Gulf War. Turkey is still no closer to joining the EU but France efforts against Turkey at the start of the war certainly forced America to change their war plans.