WITH the announcement last night that France has ended nuclear weapons testing for good, President Jacques Chirac will now try to change his international image from trigger happy fanatic of the force de frappe to zealous crusader committed to reducing the world's nuclear arsenal.
But the diplomatic and political damage done to the image of France by the six highly publicised explosions in the South Pacific will make such a transformation difficult to achieve. The French image of an arrogant, selfish nation reinforced by the tests will be difficult for Paris to overcome.
Like his decision to resume nuclear testing announced on June 13th last, the timing of Mr Chirac's self congratulatory ending of the series was above all politically motivated. The French, President is to begin a state visit to the US tomorrow, and the decision to end the tests will inevitably boost his reception there.
Mr Chirac will point out that it was he who first proposed that the forthcoming Complete Test Ban Treaty should adopt a "zero option" (not even very small tests). Since then, both the US and Britain have reluctantly backed this scenario, although the two other official members of the nuclear club, Russia and China, remain much more reluctant.
Just days before its final test, France reiterated that it intended to sign the treaty before the end of this year.
A month after his Washington trip, Mr Chirac will make his first official visit to Asia, where he would have been unwelcome while the tests were continuing. A visit to Japan is also being prepared for the autumn.
After promising, eight tests at the outset, Mr Chirac has shown some compromise with world opinion in reducing that number to six, and ending them well before the deadline originally set for the end of May. In addition, Paris is encouraged to see that the diplomatic damage did not produce economic fall out. The boycott of French goods demanded by some activists did not happen, not even among the most fervently anti nuclear populations.
The wave of mass protests around the world which greeted the first resumed test at Mururoa on September 5th far exceeded Paris's fears. The French flag was burned, French wine was poured into the gutter for the TV cameras in many countries, not only in France's traditional sparring partners of New Zealand and Australia but also among many of its EU partners.
It produced disorder in the Union at a delicate time, as 10 of France's 14 partners voted at the UN for an immediate halt to testing last year. There are now signs that these difficulties are being overcome, particularly with Italy, now that President Chirac has decided to accept the invitation to attend the EU Inter Governmental Conference in Turin in the spring.
The spectacle served to turn French public opinion - far from inherently anti nuclear - against the policy, too. The record fall in popularity of both Mr Chirac and his Prime Minister, Mr Alain Juppe, were partly the result of this disenchantment.
Mr Chirac's advisers now hope that by showing he could stick to his guns in the face of world disapproval, he will earn his people's respect.