Strauss-Kahn Exercises his Liberty and Freedom of Speech

Dominique Strauss-Kahn speech

A well-timed and well-executed speech can portend a return to public life…for some.

So Dominique Strauss-Kahn must be hoping that his recent speech in China might herald a return to public life.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former Head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), had an eventful summer in New York facing charges of sexual assault in the New York Sofitel hotel. When the prosecution dropped all their charges Mr Strauss-Kahn was free to return to Paris…no longer the head of the IMF.

So a well-timed speech in Beijing, at the request of the Chinese internet business NetEase could mark a possible return to public life. The conference was sufficiently high-brow to accommodate a man of his stature without being too overt. Another advantage was the sheer distance between Paris and Beijing. Very useful.

His statesmanlike speech reviewed the economic and political threats facing Europe generally. Had he managed to avoid the Sofitel scandal then this is the sort of speech he would be making more regularly as a Presidential candidate in France. Plus ça change.

As it was he would not comment on the Sofitel affair nor answer any questions on the subject. This was a workmanlike speech that might prove the basis for more such public speaking.