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Before the Lomé Convention (1975) was signed between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 46 African Caribbean and Pacific States, the EEC member states had to deal with the African members of the Commonwealth. Among the Six France was in a peculiar position, wishing to maintain a special relationship between the EEC and the French-speaking African states and to enlarge its relations with other regions of the Third World. This article, based on an examination of the French Foreign Ministry Archives and the Papiers Foccart, aims to investigate the prehistory of the relations between the EEC and the English-speaking African states. It analyses the French role in the debate, outcomes and consequences of the first agreements signed by the European Community with Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. To this aim it will focus on the negotiations between the EEC and the African states, but also on the debate which took place in some international organisations on the Yaoundé Convention, in order to understand to what extent these discussions paved the way for the evolution of the EEC Development Policy during the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the conceptualization and interpretation of ‘European solidarity’ by the French President François Mitterrand. It discusses the relevance of former concepts of foreign and European policy. It differentiates between a European idea and European institutions, also taking into account personal experiences. Finally, it analyses the correlation between different concepts such as ‘European solidarity’, ‘transatlantic solidarity’, ‘West European solidarity’ and ‘pan-European solidarity’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new Poland is no longer an engine of European integration, nor does it seem to value its relationships with Germany and France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the key tenets of French foreign and security policy during the Cold War, and illustrates the deep challenges to the French consensus raised by the emergence of a unipolar system. There is a growing gap between the rhetoric of French security policy, emphasizing ‘autonomy’ and ‘sovereignty’ out of habit from the Cold War, and the actual security practices showing a gradual embedding within the transatlantic security structures. In the absence of a new transpartisan grand narrative relevant for the contemporary international system, such embedding is easily portrayed in France as a ‘treason’ from a romanticized Gaullist foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In France and Europe today, claims arise defining so-called Muslim and European ‘worlds’ and labelling them irreconcilable. These claims ignore the intertwined history of France and North Africa. When the six founding members of the European Economic Community (EEC) signed the Treaty of Rome, French administrators still considered Algeria to be a constituent part of France, despite the ongoing war. The Algerian question was central to negotiations for the Treaty of Rome and during them, French officials attempted to inscribe Algeria within the founding documents of the European project through a policy of ‘Eurafrique’. Their partners, eager for France’s signature on the Treaty, accepted a vision of integrated Europe with borders crossing the Mediterranean. This decision raised thorny issues in the months and years to come, first in debates of how or even if the Treaty could be implemented overseas, then when independent Algeria attempted to define its relationship with the EEC. These episodes of negotiation and interaction reveal the centrality of the question of empire to the foundations of integrated Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two decades later, the Rwandan genocide has been broadly analysed and, to a certain extent, so has the French response to the genocide. Nevertheless, even though the literature covers extensivelyhowthe French executive responded to the genocide, it remains confusing when it comes to explainingwhyit responded in such a controversial way, since two—somewhat contradictory—accounts have been put forward. In order to address this lack of clarity, the article analyses these main accounts and concludes that they both present key weaknesses that prevent us from fully understanding France’s controversial response. Building on Prunier’s testimony, this article suggests a third explanation by arguing that the ‘Fashoda syndrome’ had a strong influence on President Mitterrand and should be taken into account more consistently, not only when studying the French response in Rwanda, but also Mitterrand’s foreign policy in Africa more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the 1960s, French president de Gaulle's ambition to create a ‘European Europe’ depended heavily on German support. This article illustrates and reinterprets the crucial attitude of Ludwig Erhard by focusing on his role after the signing of the Elysée treaty in January 1963, and his reaction to a secret (and since forgotten) French proposal for monetary union in March 1964. The evidence shows that Erhard, fundamentally a moderate Atlanticist, was profoundly affected by the pressure of the Kennedy administration not to harbour Gaullist ideas. Indeed, as German chancellor Erhard feared that America might cease to defend Europe if de Gaulle's idea of a more independent Europe were to gain ground in Germany. Hence Erhard simply ignored any French move perceived to be contradictory to US policy. The article adds an element to the complexity of Franco-German relations in the 1960s while providing an example of how American power was exercised during the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this article is to problematize how a specific set of films is constructed, promoted and valorized as 'cinemas of the Maghreb', via a consideration of the people, the institutions and the interactions that are involved in different geographical and institutional contexts. The analysis contrasts three different geographical, cultural and institutional contexts in which 'cinemas of the Maghreb' become meaningful, as well as the set of common features that underlie the category. Focusing on international co-productions, the circulation of films through commercial exhibition, box-office receipts, film events organized and film scholarship, the article explores the extent to which such a denomination is deeply enmeshed with France, but also how it raises very different issues, involves different agents, and refers to different objects and temporalities in France, Anglo-American academia and the Maghreb itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkish foreign policy toward the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62) was construed as persistent Turkish endorsement of official French positions generating abiding resentment among the states of the Third World, especially Arab states, and understandably in Algeria, which was to elicit backlashes from the Third World states thereafter consequently causing substantial complications in Turkish foreign policy. Stressing the importance of incorporating nonmaterial and ideational factors in analyses of foreign policy, two arguments are put forward in this article for an accurate explanation of Turkish foreign policy toward Algerian War of Independence. First, it was the conception of the West, defined not only in strategic or military terms, but also in ideational and civilizational terms that induced Turkish policy-makers to adopt insular policies regarding Algeria. Second, a “temporal contextualization” of Turkish foreign policy during the Algerian War of Independence is required for a proper understanding of Turkish foreign policy toward the Algerian War of Independence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

From 1956 to 1960, the French Army developed a force of Muslim auxiliaries (supplétifs) as a major component of its strategy to combat the National Liberation Front (FLN) insurgency in Algeria. Aside from their military utility in hunting down the guerrillas in the mountains and forests, the supplétifs were instrumental in undermining FLN legitimacy in the countryside. The rapid growth and employment of the supplétif force dismantled FLN political control in the villages, undermined the enemy's unity, and critically weakened the revolutionaries' claim to represent all of Algeria's Muslims. The military and political activities of France's Muslim soldiers also projected an image of Muslim–European unity behind the French cause, and portrayed the French Army as the only legitimate political force in numerous villages. These political successes, however, were limited to the local, tactical level of revolutionary warfare, and the Army was never able to convert the supplétifs into a force of decisive, strategic political significance. They thus had little ultimate impact on the outcome of the conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

France is considered a strong state, but French governments have always fiercely defended the interests of French farmers in European and global negotiations. Why would a ‘strong state’ be unable to resist farm lobby pressure? Is agriculture an exception to the French ‘strong state’ rule? This article offers a structural model of varying state sensitivity to interest group pressure, and argues that farm lobby pressure cannot fully explain French foreign policy on agriculture, as governments often go against farmers' preferences and as the level of pressure varies more than the continuity of governmental preferences. From an analysis of the negotiations on the CAP and the GATT in the 1960s and in the 1990s it emerges that ideational constraints played a major role in French obstinacy. The defence of French identity as La Grande Nation, necessitating a presence in world agricultural markets, and the defence of a strong Europe under French leadership as a counterweight to the United States, have guided French preferences without regard to the farmers' positions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In early 1971, two Canadian unionists travelled to New Caledonia on a technical mission of assistance to the territory's unions. At the airport in Nouméa, however, the territorial authorities refused the unionists entry. For the French government, the interest of the United Steelworkers of America in New Caledonia represented a threat to the stability and competitiveness of the territory's nickel industry. The visit was also seen as a manifestation of growing American influence on New Caledonia's economic and political development at a time when the French were increasingly concerned about the territory's attachment to France. Yet efforts by the territorial authorities in Nouméa to prevent the visit were complicated by other French and Canadian concerns. Neither Canada nor the metropolitan government of France wanted an international incident that might jeopardise France–Canada relations, which were improving slowly after several years of acrimony. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented on how France retained possession of Morocco during World War I. It discusses the ways in which France was able to fight foreign wars in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy in addition to engaging in military operations on the Western Front of World War I. The article argues that France had developed a conventional army and two colonial armies, the Armée d’Afrique and the Chasseurs d'Afrique.

This article investigates France's policy towards the Arab world and the Middle East at a critical juncture: the first oil crisis. Based on largely untapped archival records, it demonstrates that concerns over declining power spurred Georges Pompidou's government to Europeanise this policy, taking advantage of the anxieties unleashed by the Arab use of oil as a political weapon. It also sheds light on the intricate links between the transatlantic relationship, relations between the superpowers, the Middle East conflict and Franco-/Euro-Arab ties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Jean-Paul Sartre has been called 'the most prominent anti-American' in France, and his critiques of US society and foreign policy have been attributed to his ingrained anti-Americanism. This article questions the utility of this concept in understanding Sartre's political engagements, for he does not fit into standard definitions of anti-Americanism that emphasize special hostility and general resentment toward the United States. Instead, Sartre's writings about the United States reveal an enthusiastic embrace of contemporary American culture, while his sharpest critiques focused on two issues that were lifelong concerns of his, regardless of national context: racial discrimination and the arbitrary exercise of power. Despite his period of fellow traveling that made him sympathetic to the Soviet Union in the early 1950s, Sartre's political biography shows that he was much more interested in the deficiencies of French society and foreign policy than he was in America's failings. The article concludes that Sartre can be better understood as a member of a multiracial, transatlantic community of engaged intellectuals who struggled, and sometimes failed, to find an activist Marxism that was compatible with individual integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Community Games [Jeux de la Communaute] took place in Antananarivo between 13 and 19 April 1960. This international sporting event was based on the model of the Olympic Games and was the first one to bring together all French-speaking African nations, i.e. the states which were part of the Community, as well as the French overseas departments and territories. How did these games turn out as African athletes were in the spotlight for the first time when competing against French sporting teams? It is important to focus on the role of sporting events within the framework of international politics. This competition, which was totally imbalanced as far as the respective strengths went, was a relevant indicator of how political and diplomatic relations were shifting between France and its African colonies and Madagascar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the opinions of France regarding the formation of Israel. Changes which have occurred in France's opinions after a vote by the United Nations regarding the formation of Israel are discussed. The way in which France's involvement with the Arab world impacted the country's opinions regarding the formation of a Jewish state is mentioned. Conflicting opinions which existed of whether or not France should play a role in the formation of a Jewish state or stay out of it to protect the relationship they had with the Arab world are discussed. The possibility of dividing Israel amongst the Jews and Palestinians is mentioned.

The French experience of the First World War has aroused significant interest within and outside academic circles since the 1990s. A heated controversy over the role and significance of the 1914-1918 'war culture' has, in the last ten years, pitted two schools of interpretation, emphasizing 'consent' on the one hand and 'coercion' on the other. This paper first presents the main lines of the argument between two groups of historians anxious to contribute to a European history of the First World War. It then suggests avenues of further investigation that urgently require an international and collaborative effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Franco-British relations have always been central to the fortunes both of the transatlantic partnership and of the European security and defence project (ESDP). Although fraught with ambivalence in the years after the 1998 Saint-Malo summit, the Franco-British partnership pushed ESDP forward. In 2003, however, France and the UK defined two extremes in their approaches both to war in Iraq and to relations with the US. Neither approach makes strategic sense. France's apparent principled opposition will only serve to divide the EU into largely artificial pro- and anti- American camps. The UK's apparent unconditional alignment will only serve to confine it to the margins of European 15olicymaking in an area -- diplomacy and security -- where Britain can and must play a leading role. Only if both countries agree to adopt, along with all their partners, a new and more subtle policy of quiet, unified and critical dialogue with Washington can the EU have the kind of transatlantic impact that both profess to seek. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]