"Google This!"

In a move to counteract the continuation of apparent globalization of American products, values, and culture, French president Jacques Chirac has decided to put France back on the map of technological innovation and global influence.

Google and Yahoo! have essentially taken over the internet as the top search engines causing much ire in such foreign nationalists as Jacques Chirac. As a result, he has declared the beginning of a new Franco-German search engine called Quaero.

This new initiative could be seen as understandable through the eyes of Europeans as there is a growing consensus that the United States has assumed the role of world leader and there are currently no checks in place to counteract American power. However, it’s difficult to view the creation of a new search engine as anything more than childish nationalism at play. Whatever the motivations, though, it is clear that the growing American influence all around the world is of great concern to many nations, and as a consequence, states can be seen vying for their place in global power – much like a realist theorist would suggest.