Just five years ago swarthy, blue-eyed Habib Bourguiba was a little-known Tunisian lawyer and nationalist leader scornfully dismissed by the French Resident General of the day as "a dangerous maniac who actually thinks he might become a figure in world affairs." Today Habib Bourguiba, 54, is President of his country (pop. 3,800,000) and indubitably a world figure. Last week, having successfully obtained U.S. and British arms over French objections, the Tunisian leader flew to Rabat to work out with Morocco's King Mohammed V a new formula for mediating in France's Algerian war.
The two Arab leaders presented a sharp contrast:...