Journal:⠀Modern Europe, 2024, № 5, pp. 74-87
URL: http://www.sov-europe.ru/2024-5/arkhitektory-fransafrik-ekspertno-analiticheskoe-obespechenie-sovremennoj-politiki-frantsii-v-afrike.html
DOI: 10.31857/S0201708324050061
France’s continuing foreign policy setbacks in Africa, particularly in the Sahel countries, compel researchers to pay closer attention to the decision-making mechanisms in this area, which is the focus of the present study. Central importance is attached to the role of the academic community in French foreign policy expertise, including its personnel composition, affiliations with key state actors, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Development Agency, as well as with research centres and universities.
The article presents the author’s concept of four concentric communities of applied African studies, differentiated according to their degree of influence on foreign policy decision-making. It also examines their most influential representatives, who work at the intersection of African studies, development studies and international security. A multi-criteria analysis of the affiliations of the main actors is carried out.
Special attention is given to works that critically assess the contemporary foreign policy strategy of the Fifth Republic on the African continent. The study identifies both systemic critics and “unconventional” critics who have moved into the category of political activists. It also examines the problems and prospects for the development of the two main French academic journals dealing with African issues — Afrique contemporaine and Politique africaine. Finally, the article demonstrates the limited role played by people originating from the African continent in French African studies.
