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| The
French and the world... |
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| Diplomacy and foreign policy |
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The French and the power of France |
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A few Facts
& Figures about French
diplomacy :
- In spite of her size (only 1%
of the population of the world), France maintains the largest
diplomatic network of all countries with 152 embassies
worldwide (twice the budget of Foreign Office, see detailed
figures).
- With troops under UN
or NATO command, France is very active in several peace-keeping
operations (Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Chad, Lebanon, to name
a few) ; in 2008, they represent around 15,000 troops (plus approx.
20,000 in countries with military agreements with France and
in overseas territories
- Very often France is more
visible than her size or her actions would seem to merit.
For instance, in 2008 before the Olympic Games in Beijing, there
were demonstrations all over the world for the liberty in Tibet,
including in France. The Chinese government was very upset and
punished ..... France (removal from travel guides, freeze on
most ongoing negotiations, "spontaneous" popular demonstrations
in front of French department stores in China, etc...). Why?
America is too big and can retaliate, Germany is too necessary
for her exports, Sweden is too small, etc... By slapping France,
the Chinese got the best cost / efficiency ratio. In 2003, many
countries opposed the US war on Iraq but State Secretary Rice
said : "Forgive Germany, forget Russia, punish France".
- More to come....
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- There is no doubt that most of the French people over-estimate the power and the influence of France (see : "how do they see their own country" ) but there is no doubt either that most Americans under-estimate France !
- Why ? It is a fact that, in spite of her wealth but given her size France cannot compete with super-powers like the USA or even China. But the country has other factors of power and knows how to use them : her image, her history, her language, her culture. You may call it soft-power !
DID YOU KNOW THAT.....? American are not the only people one could suspect of being too insular. Like many other people (and maybe more...) the French tend to consider that what they do and think is the only think that matters to the world : read an anecdote about this Franco-centrism.
Culture and cooperation
- French
Doctors, the two French
organizations (" Médecins sans Frontières
", Nobel Peace prize in 1999, created in 1971 by Bernard
Kouchner and
" Medecins du Monde " in 1980) were the first of their
kind. Hundreds of French doctors, nurses and logisticians take
a few weeks off to work in a foreign country with one of them
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Historical roots
You do not understand a foreign policy
if you do not know some of its historical
roots. Remember that,
in Europe, France is a rich country (therefore : temping for
her aggressive neighbors) with a large population (therefore
: naturally aggressive herself) with no protection on most of
her borders (no ocean, no desert, no mountains) ; for the French
diplomacy, historical roots include :
- Islam : France has always had an "Arab policy "
: already in the 16th century, to counterbalance European continental rivals, Renaissance
King François Irst had an alliance with the Sultan of
Constantinople. To challenge Britain, France has always sought
a "special relationship" with Mediterranean countries
(revived in 2008 by President Sarkozy under the name of "
Union pour la Méditerranée ", making Germany
very upset).
- Language : countries where French is an official
language have a particularly close relationship with France (Quebec,
Belgium, Lebanon, West Africa, Syria,... ). More about Francophonia.
- Germany : against the German threat, France has developed
relations with Russia, in addition to her old traditional alliance
with Poland and a constant pro-Serbian policy
- England : against her traditional enemy, Britain, France
has developed alliances with Scotland ("the Auld Alliance"
signed in 1295 : until 1903, all Scots could automatically claim
French nationality!) and with the USA (yes indeed!) during the
Revolutionary War (to name a few....)
- Africa : a special cooperation with African countries
(some call it "neo-colonialism", including those who
would like to replace France by their own country : guess who?)
; more about French colonies.
- More to come....
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- The Alliance Française network (1071 chapters in 138
countries, 440,000 students), the 145 French cultural centers
and the 430 " lycées Français " (French
High School) are the most important instruments of the French
cultural policy worldwide and of the "Francophonie".
- Other European countries have
a similar policy : the British Council, the German with 144
Goethe Institut, the Spanish with Instituto Cervantes..
- More to come.....
Economy
- The VIE program ("
Volontaire International en Entreprise ", 4,500 in 2006)
is composed of young graduate students who work an average of
17 months in the foreign subsidiary of a French company or in
the Economic Department of a French Embassy ; in 2006, 41% in
Europe (UK, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, ), 22% Asia (China,
Japan, ), 15% North America (USA, Mexico, ), 12% Africa (Morocco,
), 6% Latin America, 4% Middle East.
- With bureaus in 165 countries and dispatches in 6 languages, Agence France Presse is one of the four international news agencies with AP and Bloomberg (USA) and Reuters (UK).
- The French economy is very open
to the world :
- 80% of the profit of the 40
largest French corporations (listed on the CAC40) come from outside
France
- Read the section of French world leaders
- More to come
- The French Public Aid for
Development is approximately 3 times bigger as a % of GNP
than the American's. See detailed
figures.
- More to come....
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Harriet Welty
Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French.
Order her books :
- "French Toast, An American in Paris
Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers
of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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