Focused within ... John Vinocur has yet another great column on France this week. I won't give it away in full, but it's essentially about how myopic and out of touch Chirac and his leadership are.

For now, though, what interests me is this paragraph:

The issue is not the people, at home in a country that truly remains exceptional in its beauty, style and ingenuity. Rather, the issue is large parts of a leadership caste, so tuned only to itself, so played out, so fearful of saying we've got to change our act, that it approaches autism.

Now, to be sure, France and the U.S. are two vastly different beasts. But when you read this White House briefing with Scott McClellan or this story on our Secretary of State's response to South Korea's surprise energy offer, you can't help but wondering which country Vinocur is describing.

Unlike France, America's political insularity may be oriented towards the future rather than the past, and it may draw its authority from the greatness of our economy rather than our culture. But it is nonetheless insular. And at moments of global conservatism such as this --and especially for a country with as much global influence as ours -- such a circumscribed focus is regrettable at best and dangerous at worst.