DETERMINANTS OF FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY

This research examines the determinants of French foreign policy during the 19901994 period. Each factor that has had an important impact on the character of French foreign policy during the period of interest is addressed in separate discussions.

The prime minister in France is head of government, as opposed to the president who is head of state. Political power in the Fifth Republic is, thus, effectively split between the president and the prime minister. French President Francois Mitterrand is head of the nation's Socialist Party, and until 1993 had exercised the decisive role in the establishment of French foreign policy ("Change at last..." 1994, pp. 57-58). The right of center Gaulist Party, however, captured parliamentary power in 1993, and President Mitterrand made a decision to share the responsibility for the development of foreign policy with the new Prime Minister, Edouard Balladur. Since that time, French foreign policy has shifted somewhat to the right as Prime Minister Balladur has exercised a greater role in policy development related to foreign affairs.

One characterization of French foreign policy toward Africa is opportunistic. French foreign policy with respect to Africa, however, is more than opportunistic. It is alternatively competitive, reactive, selfinterested, economically driven, and disinterested (Chafer, 1992, pp. 37-51). Above all, French foreign po

. . .
conomic positions (Czempiel and Rosenau, 1991, p. 5). While economic motives spur most of the transnational migration in the latetwentieth century, it is the politically motivated transnational migration that is the most well publicized. Political motivations for transnational migration may be further divided according to a desire to extend political influence or control and a desire to escape from political repression. Most of the politically motivated transnational migration occurring in the latetwentieth century does involve attempts to escape political repression (Hoffman, 1990, p. 24). Unfortunately, in the latetwentieth century, much of what is claimed to be politically motivated transnational migration is in fact economically motivated. People claim to be political refugees because they are aware that such claims are viewed sympathetically by the populations in the developed countries that are their migration targets (Franchi, 1991, pp. 49-65). The same populations in the developed countries are much less sympatheticoften hostileto economic transnational migrants. One outcome of this situation is that all transnational migrants tend to be increasingly viewed with suspicion by the populations of the developed c
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Minister Balladur, European Community, Czempiel Rosenau, Robert Gilpin, Salvation Front, Civil War, Condon Ogden, Robert Keohane, Europe NATO, Schengen Pact, foreign policy, french foreign policy, french foreign, transnational migration, european community, 1992 pp, prime minister, hutuled government, french government, developed countries, signed schengen pact, french position, foreign policy initiatives, politically motivated transnational, reverse transnational migration,
Approximate Word count = 3422
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)

More Essays on DETERMINANTS OF FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY