French Foreign Policy and the 2022 Election

The French presidential election is just about a month away, but Russia’s war in Ukraine is dominating French media. The war may keep Macron off the campaign trail but the benefit for him is clear. It was the perfect opportunity for Macron to demonstrate his leadership while his far-right and far-left opponents have been stuck defending their past sympathies for Vladimir Putin and their calls to withdraw France from NATO. How is Macron´s foreign policy already influenced by the upcoming elections? What is at stake for NATO and the EU at this pivotal point in history? And what are the decisive issues for the French electorate?

Join the discussion with our expert panel consisting of Célia Belin, Visiting Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings, Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government, and Tara Varma, Senior Policy Fellow and Head of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Joanna M. Gwozdziowski, Network 20/20’s Senior Program Advisor.
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00:00 Introduction
2:47 Presidential candidates and the electorate
11:39 Foreign Policy in the French Campaigns
17:46 Macrons foreign Policy in his first term
29:25 US-France relations under Macron
35:29 Frances reaction to the German rearmament
30:00 Tensions in the Sahel
44:13 Macron´s connection to Putin
46:21 French-UK relationship
50:13 Nuclear Weapons and the EU
54:03 France´s positive assets in a chaotic world