Abstract
This chapter analyzes foreign policy change in France since 1990, focusing in particular on defense policy, official development assistance and international cooperation. We argue that French foreign policy has mainly been characterized by three different types of change: adjustment changes, program changes and goal changes. Although the fundamental goals of French foreign policy evolved relatively little over the past thirty years, we show that France adapted its priorities and restructured its foreign policy tools following the end of the Cold War. We highlight that France developed a comprehensive approach to foreign policy, integrating various instruments and tools, and built up numerous strategic and defense partnerships. Our empirical analysis shows that some of these changes have been dramatic (such as the professionalization of the armed forces in 1996), while others have been incremental (e.g. the shift from formal, multilateral agreements to more informal and minilateral forms of cooperation). Such changes converge toward the ambition to make France great again in a context where new global actors do compete with the expected leadership of successive French executives.
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Notes
- 1.
Original text: “Toute ma vie, je me suis fait une certaine idée de la France […] la France n’est réellement elle-même qu’au premier rang […] la France ne peut être la France sans la grandeur”.
- 2.
The SIPRI database continues to include the expenses for the Gendarmerie in the French defense budget. While the Gendarmerie remains part of the French armed forces, it has been attached to the French Ministry of the Interior since 2009. If one takes this shift into account, France spends less than NATO’s spending target of 2% of GDP on its defense sector (cf. NATO’s annual compendium of economic data for more detailed information).
- 3.
Authors’ calculation based on IISS (2019) data.
- 4.
In 2019, the French military support in the Sahel corresponded to 5100 French military personnel being deployed, 75 cooperation officers being present, more than 7000 G5 Sahel soldiers having received training, and almost 750 training or combat support activities having been carried out.
- 5.
The OECD defines ODA as “government aid designed to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries”. This means that loans and credits for military purposes are excluded, and that aid may be provided bilaterally or be channeled through a multilateral agency.
- 6.
Original text: “Amis, alliés, pas alignés”.
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Richter, F., Foucault, M. (2021). French Foreign Policy: Make France Great Again?. In: Joly, J.K., Haesebrouck, T. (eds) Foreign Policy Change in Europe Since 1991. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68218-7_6
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