France: From Great Power Illusions to the "Europeanization" of Ambitions
Nemzeti identitás és külpolitika az euroatlanti térségben, Budapest, 2005
Language of the original publication: Hungarian
Introduction
CHARACTERISTICS OF FRENCH NATIONAL IDENTITY AND THEIR PROJECTION IN THE FOREIGN POLICY FIELD
Basic components of French national identity
The nation concept
Geographical and demographical factors
Historic and economic roots
Identity and cultural aspects
Expression of the elements of identity in the dimension of the foreign policy
Independence
Activism and global presence
Grandeur and gloire
De Gaulle: optimization of the reciprocity between national identity and foreign policy
FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY BETWEEN FEELING OF DECLINE AND RESIDUAL GREAT-POWERNESS
Perception of decline: the French "mal du siecle"
Increasingly relativized attributes of power
Permanent membership at the UN Security Council
Nuclear “force de frappe”
Network of relations in the Third world
Multipolarity and diversity: double postulate of external actions
Overall"tous azimuts” diplomacy
Security and defence policy of a pseudo-great power
Total defence
Autonomy and global presence
European prospects
GLOBLIZATION BY STEALTH: THE CONTRADICTIONS OF FRENCH POLICY TOWARDS GLOBALIZATION
The Asterix syndrome
France as one of the main actors of globalization
Identity roots of French duality vis-à-vis globalization
The vehicle of the universal message: cultural policy
Institutional structure
The claim for diversity as a universal message: francophonie
EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: THE INSTRUMENT AND THE GOAL OF FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY
Characteristics of the ideal model of integration from the French standpoint
Intergovernmentalism at the level of the all-Union
Enlargement as a catalyst for differentiation
"Hexagonalized" Europe: the bond between national identity and French European policy
Power multiplicator
Partial identity transfer
Conclusion
For the full text in English, please contact the author.
Summary by the Editors:
The basis and, at the same time, the characteristic feature of the French national self-picture is a sort of 'French republican' interpretation of the idea of nation, which believes the single most important factor is the collective political will directed at homogeneity and the continuation of the common fate. This voluntaristic concept of nation has been inseparably connected to the republican basic values (liberty, equality, fraternity), and they together still constitute the standard point of reference of the French political discourse.
The - geographical-demographic, economic-historical, cultural-intellectual - factors, which have indisputably played a role in shaping the French Weltanschauung, and which define the French national self-picture, can relatively easily be identified. For instance, the picture the French created of themselves and of their place in the world was unambiguously influenced by the fact that until the mid-19th century they had been superior over the rival European powers with regard to the number of population. This demographic ratio, which previously was considered to be one of the defining elements of power, has been reduced to 1 percent of the population of the Earth in our globalized world, while France is only second to Germany in this area behind the reunified Germany.
Naturally, the foremost of the historical factors which have had an impact on the French national self-picture is the Revolution, which was interpreted as a clear historical caesure for a long time. However, the Revolution despite all its innovations and radicalism, was the continuation of the Ancien Regime in a number of respects, the survival of former power structures and orientations in new forms and ideological underpinning, as well as the logical conclusion of developments which had already started in the previous period. Nevertheless, the collective memory preserves the Revolution as a sort of universal laboratory of French history, as the equation of the individual experience with universal reference. Moreover, it is conceived as a sense of mission, which attempted to export values and acts of realizing these values which were supposed to valid for the whole mankind. The second basic element of the French legacy shaping the foreign political behavior is the fact that since the late 18th century France has scored partly illusory or arguable victories, partly a shocking series of defeats, which appeared as cataclisms in the national psyche. This definitely plays an important role in the fact that the perception of decline gained ground in the French self-picture in the 20th century, and that it is still an easily identifiable idea nowadays too.
The French thinking, attitude and world view are characterized by Cartesianism, the rigorous belief in reason, and the belief in the rule of reason as far as culture is concerned. It is the complexity squeezed into the framework of rules, the diversity that can be handled, and the principles and ideals of intellectual consistency that dominate in this approach. It can be detected in the French foreign political behavior,whether it is about the structure of international system, or the French views concerning globalization or multilateralism.
The top place in the French foreign political dictionary is reserved to 'independence', which does not exclude the various forms of cooperation, but which reserves the right of preserving autonomy in the fields of decision making and acting. A French foreign political axiom which frequently appears in pair with the basic concept of independence is the endeavor to play a global role. The most frequently basis for the global French presence is the overseas provinces, which constitute the integral parts of the mother country from an administrative point of view, and the various overseas territories which are linked to France in various administrative statuses. In fact, despite all these remains of the empire, Paris prefers a global presence and area of action for its foreign policy all times. This claim is based partly on the sense of being the representative of universal values, partly on the nostalgia towards the bygone glory and power. At the same time, the French believe that this the way to promote the actual national interests the most effectively.
The maximalization of the mutuality between the elements constituting national identity and their representation in foreign policy can be tied to General Charles de Gaulle. The major reason of the vitality of the so called Gaullist foreign political orientation, rhetoric and attitude can be found in the fact that the General created a coherent foreign political strategy from the above mentioned components of the national self-picture and the country's objective geopolitical interests, and that one of its characteristics was the observance of the continuous interaction between foreign policy and national self-consciousness.
As regards the current challenges, the reservations of France concerning the manifestations of globalization and their inherent suspicion regarding what they perceive as "Americanization' are well-known. The most important factor behind the French criticism of globalization is that globalization for France is not exclusively an economic question but also one that directly affects its political, cultural, and national identities. At the same time, the present form of globalization - which goes hand in hand with American hegemony - means a challenge to France as well. It becomes more and more obvious that France can only realize its goals by maximalizing its positions within the European Union with a view to the American hegemony both in the globalization process and in the other areas of international relations.
The French foreign policy might seem to be incomprehensible, or even one that cannot be really interpreted, if we forget about the fact that the Europen integrationist model proposed by Paris is a part of a global idea which aims at the creation of a broader international system. For Paris, the creation of a great power out of the European Union is a key to the creation of a multipolar world in the first place, a guarantee against the potential excesses and hegemoniac attempts of the single power center.
The French diplomacy seems to discover its mission in the role of a 'driving force'. This view derives from the realization that no matter whether we talk about the promotion of France's own national interests or about the promotion of universal values and ideas, it can only be realized within a multilateral framework, with the cooperation of countries which are willing to support to to identify with these goals. Therefore, it is the observance of the multilateral 'rules of game' - that is, the prevention of bypassing the international mechanisms and standards - that can be found in the center of French foreign political activities. It also obvious that France's strong economic, diplomatic, military, and cultural assets have relatively radically been weakened among the current, extremely disproportionate power relations of the international system. Therefore, for France it is the various multilateral frameworks that offer the best opportunities to represent its interests in the most efficient way. It is also obvious that this function of 'power multiplication' is especially prominent in the case of the European Union, which uniquely mixes intergovernmental relations and suprastate features, but the fact is that the realization of goals within this framework can only be achieved by renouncing certain traditional elements of the national identity.
Shortened English version of the full paper published in Foreign Policy Review 2002/2
(Hajnalka Vincze, France: From Great Power Illusions to the "Europeanization" of Ambitions, Nemzeti identitás és külpolitika az euroatlanti térségben, Budapest, 2005, 122,077 characters)
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