The Gradual Decline Of France’s Traditional Policy In Africa(2000-2020):Towards The End Of History?

The present dissertation proposes to explain why the gradual decline and probable end of history of France’s traditional policy in Africa in this new era of globalization.It is part of the eschatological dimension and starts from a logic that I have called structuraleffect,combining structural logic and its possible effects.Thus,it opts for structural realism as formalized by Kenneth Waltz and enriched by John Mearsheimer as its explanatory theoretical basis,and for the qualitative methodological dimension,anchored in the strategic analysis and historical approach.Moreover,four(4)techniques were used to collect and visualize data:(ⅰ)direct observation,(ⅱ)free interview,(ⅲ)documentary source and(ⅳ)data exhibition technique.Also,content analysis has served for data processing.After presentation,debate,analysis and discussion,the results that emerge from the present dissertation clearly show that France’s traditional policy in Africa draws its origin from the distant past-from the era of French colonization in Africa to the Fa(?)ade Independence,and from the Fa(?)ade Independence to its Birth—in the aftermath of the independence of cataclysms.It is defined and founded in four(4)great conceptions,which implicitly form its pillars:(ⅰ)The Foccartism,(ⅱ)economic-financial domination,exploitation,influence and control,(ⅲ)military domination,influence and control,and(ⅳ)cultural domination,influence and control.Its operationalization is made and becoming possible via a vast and complex network of actors including the alternative French presidents and their ruling class[from De Gaulle to Macron],the "African leaders of compromise",the businessmen,multinational companies,the media,secret services and mercenaries.And its existential and conservation reasons are:the interests of power and autonomy of France,the economic and financial interests,the interests of unclean money accumulation,and the interests of power and illicit enrichment of African leaders.It made its good part of way throughout the period of the cold war US-USSR—seen as the period of its golden age.Rather,since the 1990s,everything has been shifting in it disadvantage—its delinquent tendency can be observed more and more.In this twentyfirst century—the new era of globalization,its decline is becoming increasingly evident to the point of making many to believe in its probable end of history.From the years of its birth—the era of independence of cataclysms,to this new era of globalization,it is seen moving from libertinage and coercive prescriber gendarme to "peacekeeper" and reserves;from collusion to the pronounced appearance of arm-wrestling and criticism;from tacit legitimacy to pronounced fed up;and switches to the progressive breakdown of privileges,monopolies and abusive dominations.A good number of the causal routes—that Ⅰ grouped here to four(4),better explaining its gradual decline in this new era of globalization—an era of great transformations,intense competition,new opportunities and complex.The first is the rise of soft engagement and the decline of hard engagement:The point here is that the said policy,which excels in the logic of hard engagement,is no longer able to position itself well due to the rise of the logic of soft engagement on the African continent in this new era of globalization,ostensibly boosted by the rise of BRICS,China’s engagement in particular and other powers of the European,American and Asian continents in particular:Germany,Great Britain,Italy,Turkey,United States,Saudi Arabia,United Arab Emirates…since the beginning of this twenty-first century on the African continent and in France’s sub-Saharan bosom in particular,thus resulting in its gradual debacle.The second is that of pronounced exposure of win-lose results:The said policy,seen largely worked in favor of France[especially of the time seen as its golden age]to the detriment of the African continent and France’s sub-Saharan bosom in particular,is becoming more and more subject to fierce rejection,via the natural comparison of its positive externalities with those of the policies of other partners of the continent,notably:China,Russia…thus resulting to its gradual debacle in this new era of globalization.The third is that of the rise of new anti-neocolonial public opinion:the said policy,indexed as neocolonial policy,is increasingly at odds with the new anti-neocolonial public opinionseen being quite clear,conscious,uninhibited,aggressive,and constantly on the street—that is constantly rising on the African continent and in France’s sub-Saharan bosom in particular,thus resulting to its gradual debacle in this new era of globalization.And the fourth and last one is the one of the retreat of French power:The said policy,having France’s power as its springboard,to the retreat more and more of this one[France’s power]—losing its competitiveness,weight and influence both at the global level and on the African continent and in its sub-Saharan bosom in particular,sees itself more and more in loss of speed,so results to its gradual debacle in this new era of globalization.Numerous results and implications—that I grouped here to four(4)stem from its decline in this new era of globalization.The first is the decline of France’s unilateralism and the rise of multilateralism:Following the gradual decline of the said policy,the logic of France’s unilateralism—its ability to decide,act and intervene alone on the African continent and in its sub-Saharan bosom in particular,continues to be seen in decline in its engagement on the continent and in its sub-Saharan bosom in particular in favor of the logic of multilateralism.The second is the rise of win-win cooperation logic:Following the gradual decline of the aforementioned policy,France is increasingly abandoning its former cooperative logic of win-lose results,to embrace more and more the new rising narrative on the continent of win-win cooperation logic that ostensibly boosted by the rise of new emerging powers on the continent,notably:China,and steadily gaining the heart of the African continent in this new are of globalization.The third is the decline of neocolonial mindset:Following the decline of the said policy,France’s neocolonial mindset—its posture aimed at establishing,re-establishing or maintaining exploitation,control,influence and abusive domination on the African continent and in its subSaharan bosom in particular,is increasingly seen to be in decline and declining on the continent and in its sub-Saharan bosom in particular.The fourth and last is the power burst,the rise of new bosses and partner diversification:Following the gradual decline of the said policy,we are witnessing more and more to France’s power burst,the explosion of its power on the African continent and in its sub-Saharan bosom in particular,to the benefit and rise of new bosses—emerging powers and older Anglo-Saxon and European powers on the region,notably:China,Russia,Turkey,India,Morocco,United Arab Emirates,Saudi Arabia,United States,Great Britain,Germany,Italy,Switzerland,Netherlands…that increasingly raise the conservative-progressive competition on the continent and in its sub-Saharan bosom in particular,thus resulting to the diversification of the continent’s partners and of the states making up France’s sub-Saharan bosom in particular.The Central African Republic and Mali have served well as specific concrete examples.The study covered the period from 2000-2020.To conclude,this assay notes that if France’s power continues to decline in the great power structure in Africa,and that this will continue to be accompanied by the rise of new leading and influencing powers in Africa and in France’s sub-Saharan bosom in particular,the shift in traditional geopolitical balances and the rise of conservative-progressive competition in the latter,will continue to pave the way to the growing rejection of neocolonial policies in Africa to the rise of a new anti-neocolonial public opinion,thus the declining trend of its so-called traditional policy in Africa will also continue its way to its end of history to give birth to a new form of cooperation with win-win results.As was once the case with the end of the history of its colonial policy on the continent.Based on the findings,this essay recommends to France to understand the signs of the times,to abandon its so-called traditional policy in Africa,at the risk of spoiling all its interests on the continent;to the African continent and to France’s sub-Saharan bosom in particular to think about both rational asymmetry and rational commutativity:This implies the establishment and propulsion of quality leadership,development governance and unity and solidarity within the continent;to the African leaders and those of France’s sub-Saharan bosom in particular to wake up and understand that we are no longer in the 1990s,and that it is the era of new opportunities,the time for them to take the bull by the horns and push for positive advances of the region and of their respective countries;to the new antineocolonial public opinion to keep and increase the pressure with more lucidity and vigilance,for everything leads to believe that the end of history is coming soon.