To a student of history growing up in Pakistan, France's outsized role on the world stage often felt like a historical enigma. Its permanent seat on the UN Security Council seemed a relic of post-war politics, not modern reality. The Statue of Liberty raised another paradox: how could America's most potent symbol of identity be a foreign gift? With time, I learnt that the answer to both questions is the same.

France's enduring power is not just political; it is philosophical. Its authority comes not from the size of its empire or economy, but from its role as the crucible of modern republicanism and universal human rights. Thinkers like Montesquieu and Rousseau did not just write for France; they wrote for the world. The Statue of Liberty is not merely a gift; it is America's acknowledgem

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