The specifics of the external policy of neogaullists in Lebanon and Syria in 1995-2012

Afonshina Alexandra Ilinichna

This article refers to the topic of external policy of France in the Middle East, more precisely in Lebanon and Syria, two of the important states of the region, actively involved in the regional processes and conflicts. The analysis of external policy is done from the point of view of neogaullism and the period that is studied in the article includes the presidency of Jacques Chirac and Nikolas Sarkozy, who used to stick to the political tradition of Gaullism and neogaullism. According to this tradition the external policy of France has mostly the “Arabic vector” and sticks to support Arab states mostly but at the same time neogaullists didn’t manage to develop fruitful relations with Syria due to its undemocratic government. The author tries to give a full characteristic of bilateral relations between France and Lebanon as well as France and Syria mentioning their mutual dependence. This is done from basing not only on the results of the two presidencies but also on the external policy of neogaullism.

Keywords:France, bilateral relations, neogaullism, Jacque Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy