Discussions on Chinese economic relations are hardly a magnet for paparazzi — unless, of course, they include a star speaker. So when France’s Finance Ministry hosted a conference in Paris on June 16 about China and Europe’s common challenges, dozens of photographers crowded into the auditorium, elbowing each other for a spot in front of the stage, where they trained their cameras on the short, gray-haired man at the podium: International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. DSK, as he’s widely known, ignored the flashbulbs with the sangfroid of a rock star.
How the French politician went from also-ran to celebrity is one of the more surprising tales to emerge from the global recession — no more so, perhaps, than for Strauss-Kahn’s fiercest rival, President Nicolas Sarkozy. Flush with victory in the 2007 presidential election
