France and Sub-Saharan Africa in the post-colonial era

R/evolutions: global trends & regional issues. 2014. Vol. 2. No. 1. P. 342–353.

Ivan Krivoushin

The article examines the history of relations between France and its former colonies in Western and Central Africa after independence, and the Françafrique as a neo-colonial phenomenon and a specific Gaullist instrument of great power politics. The author studies the main trends in France’s African policy, its objectives, postures and bottlenecks, and he tries to answer why these lost its efficacy in the post-Cold War era. The article shows how France’s political and economic role in Africa gradually diminished in the 1990s - 2000s, and proposes a possible scenario for the future development of relationships between France and African countries for the near and medium term.

Ключевые слова: Франция, внешняя торговля, foreign trade, France, кооперация, Франсафрика, cooperation, Cold War, «холодная война», African policy, Françafrique, mutual defense pacts, development aid, military intervention, Rwandan genocide, Ivory Coast, Африканская политика, пакты о совместной обороне, помощь развитию, военная интервенция, Руандийский геноцид, Кот д'Ивуар