Explore the vast range of titles available.

THE TAIWANESE-CHINESE FACTOR IN FRANCE’S STRATEGY AND POLICY TOWARDS THE INDO-PACIFIC The aim of this article is to provide a synthetic overview of France’s involvement into the Indo-Pacific region, in the context of the protection of important national interests related to the possession of overseas territories. This article analyses impact of the French-Chinese bilateral cooperation on relations with Taiwan. The author points out that France has recognized the government of the PRC as the only representative of China since 1964 and does not maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, emphasizing that this is a permanent position, initiated by General de Gaulle, and cooperation between Paris and Taipei is developed in accordance with the “one China policy.” The second aspect of the analysis of France’s policy and strategy towards the Indo-Pacific region was embedded in the broader framework of political, economic relations and military alliances with Asian countries as an element of promoting a multipolar order and stopping Chinese expansionism in the Indo-Pacific area and strengthening its own geopolitical position against the background of China’s rivalry with United States.

„DIPLOMACY OF EQUILIBRE”: BETWEEN HISTORICAL HERITAGE AND GEOPOLITICAL RIVALRY. EMMANUEL MACRON’S POLICY TOWARDS THE MIDDLE EAST France has particularly strong historical ties with the Middle East region placed at the crossroads of three continents. Here, it has for decades acted as a mediator between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab states, maintaining as wide a range of influence and strategic interests as possible. ‘The Arab policy’ of de Gaulle emphasised French exceptionalism, rank (‘la grandeur’) and an independent role as a ‘power of balance’, which provided an alternative to non-engaged countries in particular through almost unconditional arms supplies. The article aims at deeply analysing the evolution and contemporary objectives of French Arab policy and attempts to answer the question: does France still play the role of an independent and balanced political power capable of achieving lasting stability in this part of the world? Does Emmanuel Macron’s Middle East policy represent a continuation of the traditional ‘Arab policy’ course in the face of the new threats determining France’s interests in the Middle East region?

Praca, o tematyce heraldyczno-genealogicznej, dotyczy pomijanego w dotychczasowych badaniach elementu w herbie królowej wdowy Marii Kazimiery d’Arquien Sobieskiej, jakim był sznur. W pierwszej części omówione zostały tradycje jego stosowalności sięgające XV w. i kręgu dworu książąt bretońskich. Ukazano także zadomowienie się owej tradycji w heraldyce dynastii kapetyńskiej i jej dwóch gałęzi: Walezjuszy i Burbonów. Przedstawiono proces, wedle którego sznur od osobistego emblematu związanego z domem panującym w Bretanii przekształcił się w element symbolizujący wdowieństwo królowych Francji. Następnie w XVII w. wszedł on do symboliki wdów ze sfery arystokratycznej. Podano tu argumenty heraldyki eksponowanej na pieczęciach, medalach, grafice portretowej i przedmiotach codziennego użytku, m.in. książkach. W drugiej części zastanowiono się nad przyczynami dołączenia przez królową Marię Kazimierę d’Arquien Sobieską symbolu sznura. Uznano jej działanie za świadomą kreację, zmierzającą do wywyższenia swego majestatu po 1696 r. i podkreślenia relacji z domem panującym we Francji.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE FAILURE TO STABILISE THE STATES OF THE SAHEL FOR MAINTAINING FRANCE’S POSITION IN AFRICAAfrica had for centuries provided French diplomacy with advantages through which it could realise its power ambitions. In the 1960s, French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa gained full sovereignty and France faced the dilemma of how to preserve “privileged” ties while avoiding the label of the legacy of colonialism? In the 21st century, a strategic foreign policy objective became the stabilisation of the Sahel – a region crucial to France’s security. This was reflected in the creation of the G5 Sahel in 2014 and Operation Barkhane. However, subsequent coups in Mali (2020), Burkina Faso (2022) and Niger (2023), with the support of foreign powers, led to the loss of French influence in its traditional sphere of influence.

The Maghreb region and the Sahel belt have so far been France’s traditional sphere of influence and the promotion of French interests. The military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger between 2020 and 2023, and the loss of influence and reduction of military presence in this part of the African continent, have resulted in an attempt to build a new partnership between France and its former colonies in north-west Africa. As a former colonial power, France still retains significant political and economic interests here in an attempt to regain its former influence and impact. The failure of the policy of normalising relations with Algiers, has brought about a significant turnaround in West Africa, strengthening French relations with Morocco. The aim of this article is to examine France’s position in the mosaic of regional interests and geostrategy towards bilateral relations with Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya, and the implications for French diplomacy Russia’s growing influence, China’s strengthening presence and Turkey’s expansive stance the Maghreb.

„TURBULENT RELATIONS”: THE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN FRANCE AND TURKEY AT THE TURN OF THE SECOND AND THIRD DECADES OF THE 21ST CENTURY Franco-Turkish relations have significantly escalated over the past decade in a consequence of a number of diplomatic incidents and a growing divergence of strategic interests, culminating in an information war against French interests and Ankara’s call for a boycott of French products. The personal exchange of „blows” between Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have only intensified the collision course and geopolitical rivalry between Paris and Ankara in Syria, Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean. The aim of this article is to try to explain the causes and implications of the tensions in Franco-Turkish relations in the broader context of the geopolitical rivalry at the junction of the Middle East, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, between France (in its role as an established regional power) and Turkey (as an emerging, medium-sized regional power) – key NATO member states.

The issue of ethnicity in France, and how ethnicities are represented there visually, remain one of the most important and polemical aspects of French post-colonial politics and society. Troubling visions is the first book to analyse how a range of different ethnicities have been represented across contemporary French visual culture. Via a wide series of case studies - ranging from the worldwide hit film Amélie to France's popular TV series Plus belle la vie - it explores how ethnicities have been represented in contemporary France across a wide variety of different media. Its innovative, interdisciplinary approach and novel subject matter will complement university courses that focus on contemporary French society and visual culture. It will interest those researching and studying French and European film and photography, ethnicity in post-colonial France and visual culture generally.

The Catholic press in the Second Republic noted both the symptoms of secular-ization in France and the manifestations of religious revival in that country. Thegenesis of secularization, realized especially in the educational system, had itshistorical conditions, and was related primarily to the influence of Freemasonrythere. These were legitimate arguments, and the subjective assessment of the re-ligious situation in the country, projecting the moral condition of its society, wasusually pessimistic

This volume interrogates the assumption that Visigothic practices and institutions were mere imitations of the Byzantine empire. Contributors rethink these practices not as uncritical and derivative adoptions of Byzantine customs, but as dynamic processes in dialogue with not only the Byzantine empire but also with the contemporary Iberian context, as well as the Roman past. The goal of the volume is to approach Visigothic customs not as an uncritical adoption and imitatio of contemporary Roman models (an 'acculturation' model), but as unique interpretations of a common pool of symbols, practices, and institutions that formed the legacy of Rome. The contributors argue that it is necessary to reconsider the idea of imitatio imperii as a process that involved specific actors taking strategic decisions in historically contingent circumstances.

Challenging the established historiography that frames the French picturesque garden movement as an international style, this book contends that the French picturesque gardens from 1775 until 1867 functioned as liminal zones at the epicenter of court patronage systems.