Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : Ye. Osipov
Candidate of Science (History)
IN THE SPRING OF 2014, T.V. Zvereva, a research associate at
the Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy, published a
monograph on the foreign policy of modern France. In June 2014,
the author used it to defend her dissertation for the academic title
of Doctor of Political Science.
Chronologically, the monograph covers a period between the start
of the 21st century and June 2012. The main focus is on the study
of the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-12). T.V. Zvereva's
monograph has a number of incontestable objective advantages. It
came out two years after Sarkozy left big politics. During this time,
a wide range of studies appeared, primarily in France, providing a
better insight into various decisions made by the French president. The monograph also
analyzes President Francois Hollande's first diplomatic steps, for the first time in Russian
historiography. It should also be noted that amid the sharp exacerbation of relations be-
tween Russia and the West, an expert view of the evolution of the foreign policy of France,
which has always stood out for its special position on the development of international
relations, is highly relevant today.
The book gives special priority to the two main lines of French diplomacy: European and
Atlantic (relations with the U.S. and NATO).
TV. Zvereva provides a detailed description of Sarkozy's Union for the Mediterranean
(UFM) project, which he put forward in 2007 in Morocco. The Union was supposed to
become a platform for the implementation of large-scale joint programs and for the dis-
cussion of the region's economic and political problems. France, which always gave high
priority to the Mediterranean, saw the UFM as a chance to consolidate its positions not
only in the Mediterranean region but also in Europe as a whole.
The monograph also addresses the Chinese and Russian tracks of French diplomacy.
France was the first Western power to normalize cooperation with Beijing, establishing
diplomatic relations with it back in 1964. In the 21st century, China's economic progress
and its emergence as one of the world's largest economies led to a sharp increase in French-
Chinese trade turnover. In 2011, China "was the fifth largest supplier of goods to France,
after the U.S." (p. 304).
As Yu.I. Rubinsky justly noted, "each of the Fifth Republic's presidents usually started his
term in a conflict-like tonality of relations with Moscow, but also ended up building a rap-
prochement with it."5 As far as Francois Hollande is concerned, the sharp exacerbation
of French-Russian cooperation this time happened not at the start but in the middle of
the presidential term. One is only left to hope that by the end of this five-year presidency,
cooperation between Russia and France will reach its traditionally high level.
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The Foreign Policy of Modern France