France Contested in Overseas Territories - Politique étrangère, Vol. 90, No. 1, Spring 2025
New Caledonia, Mayotte: France's overseas territories were severely shaken in 2024. Beyond explanations of the economic situation, the place of these overseas territories in French policies and strategies is once again being called into question.
Are France's overseas territories the remnants of an outdated colonialism? Or, on the contrary, are they supports for an extended French presence that the opening-up of the world makes indispensable, and barriers raised here and there against the appetites of new powers? In any case, what policies should the Hexagone pursue in these regions, to promote better development and more effective integration into their environment? And is the legal status of these overseas territories untouchable?
Three years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is it time for negotiation and diplomacy? The opening of negotiations to end the conflict would presuppose that each of the direct protagonists believes it is in their interest to do so; that we know what we intend to negotiate–a simple suspension of operations or the conditions for a more lasting peace; and that we can agree on security guarantees for Ukraine in both hypotheses: a provisional ceasefire or the organization of peace. These security guarantees are extremely complex to define, as we have known for some time. In any event, the European Union, which is largely absent from the debate today, would be well advised to bring its weight to bear, which it cannot do without a common strategy and common resources.
This issue is available in French only: Outre-mer : la France contestée
FRANCE CONTESTED IN ITS OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
Overseas Territories in French Foreign Policy, by Frédéric Charillon and Fred Constant
French Overseas Territories: The Other Illusion of Power, by Richard Werly
The Caribbean: Geopolitical Interfaces?, by Laurent Giacobbi
La Réunion and Mayotte, France's Last Cards in Africa, by Christophe Rocheland
Oceania: An Underestimated Emancipation of French Collectivities, by Jean-Marc Regnault
New Caledonia, between Crises and Indo-Pacific Strategies, by Frédéric Angleviel
UKRAINE: WHAT SECURITY GUARANTEES?
Ukraine: A Year of Uncertain Peace, by Pierre Vimont
The Long History of Security Guarantees to Ukraine: 1991-2025, by Jean de Gliniasty
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Trump 2: Challenges for the US Military Posture, by Morgan Paglia
Afghanistan under Taliban control, by David Izadifar
Germany in Europe: Embarrassed Leadership, by Claire Demesmay
BAROMETERS
The Post-Barkhane Era in the Sahel: Jihadists on the Doorstep of Power?, by Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos
Pakistan at a Crossroads, by Nathalène Reynolds
Mexico: A President in Obrador's Shadow?, by Isabelle Rousseau
BOOK REVIEWS
Under the direction of Marc Hecker
Les Nouvelles Règles du jeu. Comment éviter le chaos planétaire, by George Papaconstantinou and Jean Pisani-Ferry
La Grande Rupture. 1989-2024. De la chute du mur à la guerre d'Ukraine, by Georges-Henri Soutou
From Thomas Gomart
Israël, l’impossible État normal, by Denis Charbit
The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe, by Gideon Levy
Une étrange défaite. Sur le consentement à l'écrasement de Gaza, by Didier Fassin
Israël-Palestine, année zéro. Le 7 octobre 2023, une onde de choc mondiale, by David Khalfa (ed.)
From Amélie Férey
240 pages. 23 euros.
March 4th, 2025.
Diffusion : Pollen/Dif'Pop.
Subscription: Armand Colin.
To buy an issue: leslibraires.fr.
To buy the Epub (in French): Immatériel.fr.
Have a look on Politique étrangère's blog: Politique étrangère.
Author(s)
Find out more
Discover all our analyses
The "Europe of Internal Security": An Unknown Quantity - Politique étrangère, Vol. 90, No. 2, Summer 2025
The new European Internal Security Strategy, unveiled by the European Commission in April 2025, provides an opportunity to shine a light on a little-known policy. To mitigate the problems created by freedom of movement, substantial additions have been made to European internal security policy over the last few years. The European Union is constantly striving to become stronger in order to combat crime, terrorism, illegal immigration, and hybrid threats more effectively.
Navigating the Multilateral Seas: Lost in Decomposition? - Politique étrangère, Vol. 90, No. 2, Summer 2025
Institutionalized multilateralism seems to be under threat from power politics, especially within the UN system. There are continuing demands for the UN to be reformed. And flexible forms of consultation are being developed, such as club diplomacy and minilateralism. The reshaping of multilateralism is thus taking place mainly outside the institutional system, and its distance from the liberal international order and the multipolar order makes it less likely that the earth's habitability will be placed at the top of the multilateral agenda.
Multilateralisms: Survival or Revival?
The organized multilateralism born out of the Second World War and the Cold War, and revived in the 1990s with the dream of a world of peaceful “global governance,” has fizzled out. The erosion of the large universal frameworks (United Nations, World Trade Organization, arms control and disarmament, international criminal justice, and so on) did not give way to a void but to an excess: a multitude of agreements and schemes that bore witness to the accelerated rebuilding of international relationships. Will institutional anarchy and the open competition of interests visible in uninhibited struggles for power be able to organize themselves around common fundamental interests in the future?
Trump 2: Challenges for the US Military Posture - Politique étrangère, Vol. 90, No. 1, Spring 2025
The distribution of operational leverage points in US strategy has changed significantly over the past two decades, with a sharp reduction. Donald Trump's distancing and repeated criticism of traditional US alliances threaten to undermine the entire architecture of the US presence in the world, beyond the concrete, real and, in particular, industrial impasses of America's military posture.