France in the Process of the Resolution of Conflicts on the African Continent [Smirnova O.A. La France dans la Résolution des Conflits sur le Continent Africain]
Abstract
Introduction. Historically, France has always had an impact on the African continent. Despite the independence of most French colonies in Africa, France managed to maintain its position in the region. The system called “Françafrique” was created. The first element of this system is economic cooperation, namely the fact, that Africa provides an opportunity to use its natural resources. Another important element is the military one. The White paper of France has repeatedly emphasized the strategic importance of Africa for the Fifth Republic. In the 2010s, the situation in the region deteriorated. France’s assistance in overcoming internal crises in Mali, Chad, Libya can be considered an evidence of the increasing role of France in conflict resolution, and that is the thing which is analyzed by the author in this work. Methods and materials. While writing the article, both official documents of the French government and analytical works of famous French authors were used. Both general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis) and quantitative scientific methods (event analysis and content analysis) are used in the paper. Analysis. The article is devoted to the activities of France on the African continent in the period from 2011 to 2017. A Special attention is paid to the role of France in the conflict resolution of Africa. In particular, the paper considers France’s support for the adoption of the UN resolution in response to the civil war in Libya in 2011 and military intervention in the country; military operations of the Fifth Republic in the Sahel zone – Serval operation and in the Central African Republic – Sangaris operation, military presence of France in Djibouti. The paper emphasizes the key provisions of the French policy towards the African continent aimed at the preservation of French influence in the region. Results. In the article, the author comes to the following conclusions: France is not ready to abandon its military ambitions, it continues Barkhane operation, without stopping the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region; despite the competition from other countries (in particular, China and Japan), France’s military presence in Eastern Africa remains the same, France does not intend to leave the base in Djibouti.
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