French middle eastern policy during the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of relations of France with the states of the Middle East region through the prism of foreign policy of Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande. The Middle East direction of foreign policy is traditional for the Republic, and therefore it is included in the sphere of foreign policy priorities of the state leaders. The aim of this paper is to compare the Middle Eastern policy of France under the presidency of N. Sarkozy with the course of F. Hollande. In order to achieve this goal, a number of tasks must be accomplished, in particular: to examine the implementation of the foreign policy of the presidents in relation to the countries of the Middle East; to highlight the general trends in the Middle East policy of the two presidents; to analyze the differences between their Middle East policies. Ultimately, the author comes to the conclusion that the presidents' views in 2007–2014 are consistent, most traditional contacts are preserved and cooperation is expanded. The change lies in the intensity of interaction. Thus, the personal qualities and beliefs of both politicians have strengthened some connections and caused the cooling of others, and caused a shift in some accents.