Nicolas Sarkozy at Mid-Term: How to Reform the French Foreign Policy? Politique étrangère, Vol. 2, No. 2, Summer 2009
'By pushing for a reform of the French foreign policy without any taboos, the president opened Pandora's box. Reflection on necessary changes has begun and has now to be pursued to the end'.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s mid-term foreign policy is characterized by its pragmatism, its activism and the will to transform France into a key partner in current issues. But are these changes within French diplomacy deep enough? Furthermore, one can wonder if this policy is as flexible as it should be, given that France is a not a major power and that it has to rationalize its means, redeploy its missions and reinforce its ability to weigh on decisions.
Frédéric Charillon teaches political science at Université d’Auvergne and at Institut d’études politiques de Paris. He wrote Relations internationales (Paris, La Documentation française, 2008), and La politique étrangère, Nouveaux regards (Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2006).
Buy the article on CAIRN website