«Архитекторы Франсафрик»? Экспертно-аналитическое обеспечение современной политики Франции в Африке

Современная Европа. 2024. № 5(126). С. 74–87.

Degterev D. A., Абрамова Е. А.

The ongoing foreign policy failures of France in Africa, primarily in the countries of the Sahel zone, force us to pay special attention to the mechanisms of decision-making in this area, which is the focus of this paper. A key place is given to the role of the academic community in the foreign policy expertise of France, its personnel composition, affiliation with the main government actors (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, French Development Agency), research centers and universities. The author's concept of four concentric communities of applied research on Africa is presented, depending on the degree of their influence on foreign policy decision-making, and their most influential representatives working at the intersection of thematic areas of African studies, development studies and international security issues are studied. These areas of research act as markers of applied African studies. A multi-criteria analysis of the affiliation of the main participants was carried out. Conclusions are drawn about the features of the system of French foreign policy expertise in the African direction. Special attention is paid to works that critically assess France’s modern foreign policy strategy on the continent, highlighting both systemic and “unconventional” critics who move into the category of political activists. The problems and prospects for the development of two main scientific journals on African issues are revealed (“Modern Africa” and “African Politics”). The insignificant role of immigrants from the continent in French studies of Africa is shown. Despite an extensive network of scientific partnerships uniting dozens of French universities and African institutes, there is no deep integration of Africans into the French academy, which also reduces the quality of African expertise.

Keywords: Африка, Франция, France, принятие решений, научные журналы, Франсафрика, Africa, scientific journals, decision making, think tanks, "мозговые центры", France-Afrique, expert analytics, foreign policy expertise, critical research, anti-colonial discourse, экспертная аналитика, внешнеполитическая экспертиза, критические исследования, антиколониальный дискурс