Publication

This paper assesses whether François Hollande’s presidency truly represents a turning point in France’s trajectory by gauging its impact on French foreign policy. His election as president of the French republic seems to mark a political rupture, interrupting 17 years of right wing presidencies (under Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy) and a decade of conservative government. The argument elaborated below is that French foreign policy is and will continue to be driven by strong continuities, although differences in style are likely to impinge upon France’s role in the world and in the EU.