President Barack Obama is likely to test that French loyalty the next day. He hosts Sarkozy at the White House for talks in which Afghanistan, and Obama's push for more European and other allied forces, is likely to take a starring role.
Sarkozy's trip to New York and Washington this week provides him relief from his political troubles and sinking poll ratings at home, and a chance to bask in his international stature.
He meets Obama on an upswing, having just come off his biggest domestic and international feats so far in his presidency, health care reform and a new nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia.
The 200-year-old French-American friendship, including its ups and downs from the World Wars to the US-led Iraq invasion, will anchor Sarkozy's speech at Columbia on Monday. He's accompanied by French thinkers and university deans.
Sarkozy meets later in the day with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, with the stalled Mideast peace process and Iran's nuclear program on the agenda. France has been among the loudest voices calling for a new round of sanctions against Iran for defying UN calls to suspend uranium enrichment.
Sarkozy and Obama want Mideast talks to resume, but some in the US are worried that France's talk of hosting some kind of Mideast peace conference is premature.
With Obama fresh off his first presidential trip to Afghanistan, he is expected to ask Sarkozy for more French personnel to help shore up the Afghan police and military.
Sarkozy's room for maneuver is limited. France has 3,750 troops in Afghanistan and Sarkozy is determined to keep them there. But public support in France for the war is low - as is public support for Sarkozy, whose conservative party lost big in regional elections a week ago.
Sarkozy may press Obama for US support on regulating hedge funds and complain about a Pentagon mid-air refueling tanker contract that has prompted European cries of protectionism. Airbus parent EADS says the request for bids favors rival Boeing Corp.
Sarkozy is eager to polish his international standing before he takes over the chairmanship of the G-20 and G-8 groups of leading world economies next year.
A poll released Sunday showed Sarkozy's domestic support at 30 percent, a record low for his not-quite-3-year-old presidency - and well below that of his low-profile prime minister, Francois Fillon.
Sarkozy's father and wife have hinted they don't think a second term is a good idea, but Fillon dismissed that and efforts to pit the two men against each other. “Nicolas Sarkozy is the natural candidate for the governing party in 2012,” he is quoted as saying in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. “I am and I will be loyal to Nicolas Sarkozy.” First lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is traveling with Sarkozy to the United States. The Sarkozys join the Obamas for a private dinner in the White House on Tuesday.
