The French Military in Africa: Past and Present

In the post-Cold War era, and particularly since the events in Rwanda in 1994, French military policy in Africa has been in transition. The emergence of this new policy trajectory has coincided with, and been informed by, the restructuring of French defence policy presented in the government defence White Paper of 1994 and in the Presidential document Une Défense Nouvelle of 1996. As part of these reforms France is ending conscription and reorientating its armed forces towards the exercise of greater military power outside Europe in the novel roles of prévention and projection. This article explores the reasons for the changes in French military policy in Africa and looks at the trends in the projection of conventional military forces that are shaping the future role of the French military in Africa. To do this it outlines this role during the Cold War and examines the reasons for the relative stability of French policy. It then charts the events and processes which have precipitated change in the post-Cold War era and looks at future trends which point to a continuing but refocused role for the French military in Africa.