The African vector of French foreign policy and its influence on right-wing political forces (2012-2025)

The relevance of this study is due, firstly, to the growing popularity of right-wing political forces in France against the background of the complication of both domestic and foreign policy conditions; secondly, the rapid loss of France's political, economic and cultural influence on the African continent (mainly in West and Central Africa). The object of this study is the foreign policy of the Fifth Republic on the African continent. The subject of the study is the correlation between the African vector of French foreign policy under the presidencies of F. Hollande and E. Macron (2012-2025) and the right-wing political forces in France. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of the African vector of French foreign policy on the right-wing political forces in the Fifth Republic (2012-2025). This study is based on the theory of neorealism in international relations, which assumes a permanent struggle of states for their own national interests, the instruments of which are often armed conflicts due to the lack of a central government capable of controlling the activities of states in the international arena. The authors used the following methods: historical, problem-chronological, analysis, comparative analysis, content-analysis, synthesis. The scientific novelty of this study: the failures of France's foreign policy towards African states under the presidency of F. Hollande and E. Macron has been used by right-wing political forces inside the country as a "lever of pressure" on the current political forces since 2012, despite the fact that for a long period of time, the problems of relations with former colonies united political forces inside France around the Gaullist idea of "French greatness", however, at the same time, France's foreign policy failures in Africa does not contribute to the consolidation of right-wing political forces, but only polarize them.