La politique du dehors avec les raisons du - European University ...

Mediterranean Union may have been his most high profile achievement, but it
was essentially an extension of existing French policy: “the Maghreb policy
means essentially, for France, the management of immigration, the
francophonie policy, the tolerance of human rights violations, and the defense
of French economic interests.” 54
Inflating the importance of Islamophobia
Much conventional thinking about French foreign policy priorities has it
that both a phobia—anti-Israeli views—and a philia—pro-Arabism—have long
been embraced by French political elites, if not necessarily by French society:
“In contrast to the foreign policy establishment and its determination to act
and speak as though the national interest demanded siding with the Muslim
Middle East in all its issues and prejudices, public opinion in France has been
in the main supportive of Israel and Jews generally, while wary of a ‘France
musulmane.’” 55 If the foreign policy elite has pursued la politique arabe—and
we have identified the many caveats to it—then the Sarkozy shift may
represent, among other things, a closer realignment with citizens’ political
orientations.
Let us not overlook the individual level of analysis. The president is said
to be sensitive to the interests of minorities and disadvantaged groups. Of
Hungarian origin with a Jewish background, Sarkozy was described by a
Senegalese Muslim woman appointed to his first cabinet this way: “He has
always thought like someone from a minority. So that's why he understands
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