Barcelona process and foreign policy of France in the region of the Mediterranean from the point of view of neogaullism (1995–2007)

Author(s):  A.I. Afonshina, Nizhni Novgorod State University, Nizhnij Novgorod, Russia, Aleksandra.inbox@mail.ru

Issue:  Volume 46, № 2

Rubric:  Topical issues of political science

Annotation:  In this article the author looks upon the formation of the Barcelona process, the reasons that caused the countries participating to start working together and, finally, the outcomes of the work of the organization. Moreover, the author gives her own evaluation of the work of the Barcelona process and proposes the analysis concerning the reasons for the limited results. The main reasons for this political setback are the incapability of the parties to cope with the regional conflicts and a very slow process of democratization that Northern bank of the Mediterranean was insisting on. Besides, the article also highlights the role of France in the formation of the organization and the Barcelona process as a whole. It is regarded from the point of view of neogaullism as during the period the president of France was Jacques Chirac whose foreign policy is marked by this practice. Speaking about the outcomes, France didn’t manage to reach the main aim – increasing the influence and its role in the region as actually the idea of the Barcelona process didn’t bring any tangible results that the parties were looking forward to. Thus, the usual idea of neogaullists wasn’t reached with the launch of the Barcelona process.

Keywords:  neogaullists, Barcelona process, Jacques Chirac, French foreign policy, France, Mediterranean integration

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