Focus Stratégique - La politique française de soutien aux exportations d'armement : raisons et limites d'un succès Focus stratégique, No. 73, June 2017
During François Hollande’s five-year term French defense exports have reached quite spectacular results. Arms sales abroad have increased at least fourfold since 2012, when the former presidential team came to power.
In order to explain this commercial success, one must put it back into a long-term historical perspective, anchored in a French tradition that began in the early Fifth Republic and which has since continued to adapt to the global strategic and economic context. While Hollande’s Presidency has managed to conduct a successful trade-promotion policy through efficient decision-making processes, it also benefited from an international context favorable to its overseas sales. However, how sustainable is this success? As a new presidential team is setting up, one now has to take into account the potential risks of these arms exports for French strategic autonomy.
This content is available in French: La politique française de soutien à l'export de défense : raisons et limites d'un succès [1].