Whose side are the French on?

Many have linked to articles about Dominique de Villepin's unwillingness to state what side the French were rooting for in Iraq. Here's one. It appears that that is a bit unfair, but by now nobody should be giving the French the benefit of the doubt IMO.

Here's an interesting quote:

M de Villepin's central message was that a world dominated by a supremely powerful America was dangerously unstable. Instead, there should be "a number of regional poles" that co-operate with each other.

I don't get it. Is there some respected political theory about this, or is this just more BS to justify knee-jerk anti-American behavior?