The Geopolitics Of France: Between De Gaulle’s Aspirations And Macron’s Strategy

The tenets of Gaullist foreign policy

When French President Charles de Gaulle recognized the People’s Republic of China in 1964, he led one of the few countries to do so at the time. The Soviet Union gave the People’s Republic of China recognition in 1949, while the United States did not do the same until 1979.

During the Cold War, France was profoundly part of the Western camp, and during events like the Cuban missile crisis, de Gaulle strongly supported the United States. But, within this bloc, de Gaulle considered France to be an ally of the United States, not its obligation or its vassal. From the perspective of France’s first President of the Fifth Republic, France had the right to complete independence within the Atlantic alliance.

“In geopolitics, the Gaullist attitude is that France and its interests can only be properly defended in a logic of independence and the refusal of a systematic alignment with any other superpower,” explained Jean-Loup Bonnamy, associate professor of philosophy and expert in geopolitics.

From 1958 to 1969, de Gaulle had a profound belief in French grandeur throughout his presidency. He wrote in his memoirs in 1954, “France cannot be France without greatness”. His successors, Georges Pompidou and Valérie Giscard d’Estaing, continued the tradition of holding France’s place in the world.

President Francois Mitterrand, who was on the opposite political side, continued de Gaulle’s legacy while adding a French socialist perspective on foreign policy. And, in the 1980s and 1990s, geopolitical experts brought forth the concept of Gaullo-Mitterrandism.

Since the late 2000s, Gaullo-Mitterrandism has become less relevant but remains a tradition that Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande perpetuate to adjust to the new geopolitical theatre.

Freshly re-elected for a new term on 24 April 2022, Emmanuel Macron has, in his first term, tried to establish and assert a clear vision for France’s role in the world. Whether in Europe, Africa or the Indo-Pacific, France aims to defend its interests coherently.

The European contradictions of president Macron

In 2017 at the beginning of his first term, Emmanuel Macron showed a strong will to make France a major player in international relations. This includes the reception of Vladimir Putin at Versailles in 2017, the invitation of Donald Trump for the annual Bastille Day Military Parade the same year, and the “Make Our Planet Great Again” call to fight global warming. These initiatives were all strong indications of France’s leadership in international affairs. Macron has continued to strive to build strong relations with world leaders and maintained an assertive role in world challenges.

However, France’s role within Europe quickly reflected some of Macron’s contradictions in the geopolitical scene. During both the 2017 and 2022 campaigns, Emmanuel Macron asserted his desire to combine national sovereignty with European sovereignty. He firmly believed that the European Union was a shield in the face of global uncertainties.

Samuel Wells is a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington. As a specialist in foreign policy and security issues in Europe and East Asia, he closely follows France’s role in Europe.

“France is more focused on the EU as its main instrument for influence,” explained Wells. “While the national mandate for Foreign Affairs remains with the respective member states, there are a number of dimensions in which the European Union has the authority as a result of the Maastricht Treaty, and the subsequent Treaty of Lisbon.”

But, according to Bonnamy, there are some major contradictions in Macron’s stance, as well as France’s actions in European affairs.

“Emmanuel Macron is in a kind of in-between geopolitical strategies,” he said. “He’s, on the one hand, a Gaullist when he wants to maintain the dialogue with President Putin, but at the same time, there are strong atlanticist elements in his policy and that ultimately draws a rather incoherent whole.”

Moreover, the economic advancement of the European Union relies on the Franco-German partnership. But, the alignment of France to the German economic machine observed since Schroder’s Agenda 2010 is far from what de Gaulle had planned in terms of geoeconomics during his presidency.

In the book “C’était de Gaulle” by Alain Peyrefitte, de Gaulle explains “We cannot have independent politics and independent defense if we do not have an independent economy and sound finances. It is the sine qua non of national independence.”

The complexity and the significant contradictions France faces in Europe can also be found in other parts of the world.

The debacle in West Africa

On January 31, 2022, the French ambassador in Bamako, Joël Meyer, was ordered to leave Mali within 72 hours. The Malian government took offence at Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, for his comments about the government’s decision to delay presidential and legislative elections for five years.

The Malian government had called on France for help in 2013 to fight against the jihadist push. But since 2013, Mali has seen an elected president overthrown, as well as two military coups. As of June 2021, the military commander, Assimi Goita, serves as the interim President of Mali.

After nine years of military presence, France announced in February 2022 the withdrawal of its troops from Mali. The Malian government is firmly determined to turn the page of the French intervention.

According to Bonnamy, France made a mistake by staying too long in Mali.

“France’s mistake was to stay in a long-term intervention whose success criteria were unclear,” he said. “And from there, the operation could not succeed since the success criteria had not been defined.”

In Mali, France relied on its military strengths. The Global Firepower has ranked France 7th in the 2022 military strength ranking. Its total military personnel is estimated to 415,000, with an active military personnel of 205,000.

The former colonial power holds pre-positioned forces in Gabon, Djibouti, Senegal, and Ivory Coast. Currently, it is actively engaged in military activities in Chad, Mali, Ivory Coast, and the Central African Republic.

In its previous African colonies, France’s presence has had an indisputable preeminence since the de Gaulle presidency. However, the Mali debacle and the growing presence of Russia and China on the continent have opened African countries to other bilateral alliances.

Attempts of alliances in the Indo-Pacific region

France has been building relations with India and Australia in the Indo-Pacific region since the early 2000s. The Paris-New Delhi-Canberra axis aimed to thrust France into the region’s economic opportunities.

Delhi acquired 36 Rafale combat aircraft from the Dassault Aviation group in 2016 for 7.87 billion euros.

The diplomatic crisis triggered in September 2021 by the AUKUS alliance between Washington, Canberra and London against Beijing, and the cancellation of the delivery contract to Australia of 12 French submarines, has upset the regional deal and the ambitions of Paris.

According to Samuel Wells, the cancellation of the submarine contract has various reasons.

“France was offering a very old-style diesel-powered submarine, which would quickly have been identified against any Chinese vessel because it makes so much noise,” he explains. “And the Americans found it quite easy to make the point to the Australians that they would offer the joint manufacture and building nuclear submarines that would let them operate in conjunction with the US and British fleets and be able to stand on their own.”

Despite the technical reasons that led to the cancellation of the Australian deal, France’s public opinion over its role of relegate in the region was outrage.

The Indo-Pacific is home to 93% of the French exclusive economic zone, and has 1.5 million nationals and 8,000 soldiers spread over the various overseas territories.

The stakes in the region are high. The focal point of the world economy has moved from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Various trade routes link the Persian Gulf and Europe to the Pacific Ocean through the Indian Ocean. The region is home to six members of the G20, with each trying to grow their investments and influence.

Apart from Australia, Paris is counting on strengthening partnerships already in place with Japan, New Zealand, Vietnam, and Indonesia to succeed.

Conclusion

Former French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine has defined France as a middle power with global influence. Since Charles de Gaulle’s presidency, France’s ability to impose its will in international relations has strongly declined.

The implementation of Gaullism has been a challenging endeavour for the last three Presidents of France. However, despite France’s challenges in Europe, Africa, and the Indo-Pacific, it still has a say in world affairs.

With its 163 embassies and consulates, the French diplomatic network is third in the world. France is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a nuclear weapon state. It remains a political, economic, military, and cultural power.

TAN 

@TheAfroNews