French soldiers march in a 2010 military parade in Dakar, Senegal. As a former colonial empire, France has interests that stretch from sub-Saharan Africa to the Middle East, and to the Indian Ocean.
Since taking office a year ago , French President Emmanuel Macron has pursued a busy foreign policy agenda, pushing for greater European integration; visiting the United States, China and India, as well as more than two dozen other countries; authorizing airstrikes in Syria; intervening in a political crisis in Lebanon; and trying to preserve France's influence in its former African colonies. Macron's foreign policy goals — to reform the European Union according to France's views, while elevating France's influence on global affairs — follow France's strategic interests, which are simultaneously European and global. Because of its position at the heart of Europe, France spends significant time managing its relationship with Germany . Since the end of World War II, the main framework for Franco-German dialogue has been the European Union, which explains why France and Germany devote so much energy to discussing the future direction of the bloc.
