LEWISTON – The French ambassador to the United States shared his country’s views on world issues with a class at the Lewiston-Auburn campus of the University of Southern Maine Thursday afternoon.

It was part of a whirlwind tour through Maine by Ambassador Jean-David Levitte. Although limited to less than half an hour with students of Hsin-yi’s class on globalization, Levitte gave detailed responses to questions about France’s position on Iraq and on integration of Muslim immigrants into French society.

“It is a great experience for me to be in the state of Maine where one-third of the family names are coming from France. That’s the beginning of a globalized world, as in your studies,” he said.

“We are in favor of a globalized world, but an organized globalized world,” he continued. “We need rules for the game. Otherwise, it’s the law of the jungle.”

Institutions such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization are important “to help the countries prosper and benefit,” he said.

Levitte called the European Union “an amazing success.”

He said, “We are integrating the countries of Europe after so many centuries of wars and hatred. Slowly we are building a European Union, now 25 countries, who share the same democratic values and who live in peace for the first time in their history. It’s the longest period of peace in more than 2,000 years,” he said, adding, “We want to build a strong partnership between a strong America and, hopefully, a strong Europe.”

In response to a question about Iraq, Levitte reiterated his country’s opposition to the war on grounds that they saw no threat from weapons of mass destruction and no connection between Iraq and 9/11 or between Iraq and al-Qaida. Saddam Hussein “couldn’t move a finger” under the intense scrutiny of weapons observers, he said, so war was not necessary.

“Worse, you could have a civil war,” Levitte continued. That could lead to extreme upheaval throughout the Middle East, he said.

The French ambassador spoke further about the largely successful integration of Muslim immigrants into French society. The younger generation of Muslim immigrants is having a more difficult time, he said, because they get confusing, and sometimes conflicting, messages in school about being good citizens and at home about being good Muslims.

With conversation shifting from English to French, the ambassador viewed the college’s Franco-American Heritage Collection in the Madeleine D. Gigure Reading Room. Donat Boisvert, coordinator of the collection, explained many highlights of French-Canadian influence on Lewiston’s history.

Boisvert gave Levitte an assortment of publications. Among them were a copy of “Papa Martel” by Lewiston’s Grard Robichaud, now in his 90s, and copies of articles in “Le Messager,” Lewiston’s daily French newspaper more than 50 years ago. Those accounts included past visits to Lewiston by other French dignitaries, among them Paul Claudel, famous French poet and diplomat in the first half of the 20th century.

Earlier in the day, Levitte was at the Blaine House in Augusta.

He went from Lewiston to the Portland Country Club in Falmouth where he spoke last night on “France and the United States in a World Transformed.”

His visit was sponsored by the World Affairs Council.

Levitte presented his credentials to President Bush on Dec. 9, 2002. He has held senior positions on the staff of two French presidents.

After the presidential elections in 1995, French President Chirac asked Levitte to be his senior diplomatic adviser. He served in that position from 1995 to 2000 and was then appointed French permanent representative to the United Nations in 2000.