AFTER Alcatel SA merged with Lucent Technologies Inc two years ago, almost the last thing the new company could afford to worry about was balancing the interests of its French and American parts.

• 自从两年前阿尔卡特和朗讯公司合并之后，这家合并的公司最费劲的一件事就是平衡法国和美国两方的利益。