There is no foreign policy without credibility of the leaders. Emmanuel Macron’s two terms will result in the marginalization of our country on the international stage.
The presidencies of Emmanuel Macron saw history unravel and the world shift with the multiplication and intertwining of crises: Covid pandemic, wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran, oil shock, all against the backdrop of climate change and digital revolution. Four cycles have closed: the dominance of the West over the world’s destiny since the 16th century; US reassurance on capitalism and democracy since 1917; the post-1945 world order; and globalization which began in 1979 and definitively ended in 2022 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A new age of empires emerges, accompanied by a very unstable and heterogeneous geopolitical system in which violence is freed from institutions and rules that had tried to control it, where peace is impossible and war is omnipresent.
Democracies, experiencing a sharp decline, face an existential threat due to America’s shift towards illiberalism and alignment with authoritarian empires.
Europe finds itself caught between the vital threat from Russia reconstituting the Soviet empire, the US transformation from protector to predator, China’s economic influence, Turkey’s pressure to reconstitute the Ottoman Empire using Islam, and the South’s resentment due to colonial history.
Europe discovers itself very vulnerable and disarmed, having succumbed to the illusions of the end of history and reducing defense effort to less than 1.5% of GDP since the end of the 20th century. The fundamentals of its integration, guiding its reconstruction after 1945, are now outdated, whether it’s about establishing peace through law and commerce, the geopolitical influence resulting from the big market, the separation of soft power, devolved to the Union, and hard power, which remains the monopoly of states.
France, like all European countries, has been hit hard by the abrupt change of the 21st century. Yet, the pillars on which General de Gaulle founded the Fifth Republic have never been more relevant. However, Emmanuel Macron has ruined this legacy along with France’s influence in Europe and the world. His egocentrism, constant shifts in the name of the doctrine of “at the same time”, and divorce between rhetoric and action have brought to light the gap between France’s ambition as a medium-sized global power and the collapse of its means.
Accelerating history has become a test of truth. None of the four priorities Emmanuel Macron set have materialized: restructuring the European Union, positioning France as a balancing power, deploying a moral diplomacy to break with France-Africa ties, and modernizing the armed forces.
The European Union revival, a vision echoed in speeches at the Sorbonne, was Emmanuel Macron’s grand design. His defense of the continent’s sovereignty was justified, but it led to no results and received no echo among partners due to the lack of systematic diplomatic preparation. The EU faced the challenges of the pandemic and return of war in Europe with unrealistic principles, slow institutions, and unfit rules.
