The decline of France in the world arena; How did the French's disappointment with Macron's policies develop?

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): France, as one of the most important colonialists in history and as a permanent member of the Security Council and a member of the nuclear club and the NATO military pact, has enjoyed exclusive privileges in international affairs for several decades. This country was also known as the most important member of the European Union, along with Germany, but now the page has turned and even Western think tanks believe that France has lost a significant part of its political influence over the past few years and in The current equations of the international system are not as effective as before.

 

The report of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) has repeatedly pointed out that France has taken a lazy approach in areas such as participation in humanitarian aid, efforts to mediate and expand peace, and other things; That too, in a situation where because of Macron's statements about the "brain death of NATO", the countries that are members of this Western military alliance are not happy with his positions.

 

Macron on the verge of resignation

Macron held early elections in the hope that fear of Le Pen and the radical left would panic French voters. However, the result was that Le Pen won a large number of votes and Macron's bloc was forced to seek help from the left. But after a short time, she ditched her left-wing allies and struck a deal in which Le Pen would support a centrist-conservative government led by Michel Barnier in exchange for concessions on immigration policy and other issues.

 

However, despite many legal obstacles, Le Pen also ended Barnier's job, and now analysts say that it is better for Macron to step down because de Gaulle left power in 1969 with far fewer failures than Macron's. It will not be surprising if Macron also takes such action, because with the current situation, it will not be easy for him to last until the 2027 elections.

 

The famous "Figaro" newspaper published in Paris, in a report, has mentioned that France's foreign influence has been reduced for a long time and it is unable to play a role in international and regional crises. Figaro also acknowledged that since Emmanuel Macron entered the Elysee in 2017, major problems have arisen, one of the most important of which is public dissatisfaction with Macron's economic policies and his disregard for the poor sections of society. which caused inequality to increase. Although the peak of reaction to barbarism appeared during the yellow vest protests in 2018, the scope of discontent is still expanding.

 

Figaro also pointed out that according to the latest field survey, in just one month, the desire of the French people to leave Macron has increased from 54% to 61%. Meanwhile, 72% of French people believe that they do not hope that the president's economic promises will come true.

 

Macron, who claimed to use his country's diplomatic capacity during some international crises such as the war between Russia and Ukraine, practically made the negative economic consequences put pressure on France itself. Recently, during the early parliamentary elections, France practically entered a political deadlock.

 

In the detailed report of the English-language Daily Sabah newspaper in Ankara, we are faced with such an analysis: "The parliamentary elections showed that a complete chaos has cast a shadow on the political atmosphere of France. Now, all political activists in Paris know very well that the inability of President Emmanuel Macron has led to chaos in French politics, and of course, in addition to internal problems, there is another problem, which is the decline of France's influence at the international level.

 

Some economic analysts also believe that the problem of France is not only due to the unfavorable economic conditions, the decrease in Macron's popularity and the decrease in international influence, and Paris has also faced obstacles and bumps in the soft power sector. Bertrand Chauvet, CEO of Brand Finance France and an expert in the field of branding, points out that France has always had high points in terms of the scope of activities in the fields of international relations, tourism, culture and historical heritage, and art and entertainment, and has always been the center of luxury brands and The world of fashion has been in fashion, but in pursuing transformative goals and implementing changes at the national and international level, it has faced an obstacle called the reduction of soft power.

 

Europe and the consequences of the decline of France

After the British exit from the European Union, France and Germany are always known as the most important powers of this union. As a result, their political problems directly affect the whole union. Anatole Lyon, a senior researcher at the Quincy Research Institute, said about this issue: "France and Germany are two important countries that are very important for the European economy, but in just one month, the government of both countries, with collapse, internal differences and tension on They faced the budget deficit several times.

In both cases, their financial problems have been exacerbated by a combination of economic stagnation and pressure on welfare budgets at the expense of arms support for Ukraine. Practically, we can see that in France, the financial crisis has led to the decline of mainstream political parties and the ground has been provided for the growth of extreme and radical politicians.

 

France in the Middle East and Africa

Over the past few years, France has long sought to influence Lebanon's political structure as a foreign actor, in an insidious way, to put its word on the seat, but it has not been successful, and it can be safely said that it is an important part of Lebanon's political problems. It is the result of French policies. The evidence shows that in addition to Lebanon's Hezbollah, other political movements are not willing to support Samir Geagea, because he does not have a popular position as a trusted pillar of France and the Zionist regime.

 

In addition to the cases of Lebanon and Syria, France has also had significant political failures in Africa. Despite France's political and security efforts to influence the state-building process in Libya, this African oil country does not pay much attention to the demands of Paris, and Paris has lost its influence in other African countries such as Tunisia and Algeria.

 

The analysis of the think tank of the European Council on Foreign Relations indicates that a range of diverse reasons have reduced France's influence in African countries. Among these factors, we can mention France's own policies, the policies of competitors such as China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey, the emergence of new generations of African elites, and the inability of the governments supported by Paris. As a result, there is a growing desire among new African elites to free their countries from traditional and unilateral dependence on France and to seek broad and diverse international partnerships.