The Queen of Not-Letting-Go
WHAT EXACTLY IS FRANCE?
G.P.S. (3/n)
THE ‘BREF’
France, better known for its fine wine and food, exquisite locations, and language, has its history linked to “guillotined” revolutions, overseas dominance, devastating [Bubonic] plague, and the 100-Year War. More so, we have accepted France the way it is today, subduing the past. This is how one personifies a fully grown ‘lotus’ with its ‘roots’ still in the murky water: not to be misinterpreted with any negative connotation or sarcasm. In fact, France has righteously off-loaded a lot more from its shoulders to pacify what has already been done to the motherland.
FROM BEING INFAMOUS TO BEING FAMOUS
We all know Paris as the City of Love, ironically Paris was also the epicenter of the French Revolution (1789). That being said, the city is also the country’s capital of commerce, culture, and tourism. Why? Answering this takes us to its origin in 250 BCE with settlers called the “Parisii” tribe dwelling on the banks of the River Seine where the area right to the river (or the Right Bank) thrived with businesses and the Left Bank earned a reputation as the intellectual district (est. University of Paris) with Paris being the center of France [post-Roman Empire]. Napoleon Bonaparte, followed by his nephew and heir, Napoleon III, built and improved Paris [post-Revolution] with some iconic monuments, a central market, a huge opera house, and 20 arrondissements or districts. This newfound prominence led to multiple world’s fairs, attracting huge footfalls. With this, came constructions of the Eiffel Tower, Paris Metro, and the Grand Palais. Gradually, it became the city of choice for artists (Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse) and writers (F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway). The city then up ticked its economy and surpassed ~€68 billion as GDP, thus earning the reputation.
THE EMPIRE THAT DOMINATES OR DETONATES?
France, the mainland, is also known as the ‘Metropolitan France’ or L’Hexagone which is only one version of France. But there’s another France called France d’outre-mer or the ‘Overseas France’ which accounts for ~20% of all France’s land and 97% of its ocean territory with a 3 million French population. What the forefathers did to France was brutal, but what they left behind gave a huge dominance on the international waters. This is what France will never let go of. These peculiar ‘colonies’ of French stretch from extreme East to West in waters. To think of it, if France dominates the waters, so does the EU. These islands reveal a major [military] presence in the [Indian and Pacific] oceans. They can run nuclear tests, send criminals to gruesome jails [in French Guiana], have research labs, and run patrols.
So, if we look closely, it is meant to create a FEAR - a threat - amongst other neighbouring states/enemies: a recall of creating fear that led to anger, detonating as a “revolution” (see picture).
A SUPERPOWER NATION OR SUPERPOWERS OF NATION?
France is almost a perfect nation: Owing to big and easily navigable rivers, an abundance of arable land, and leading agricultural power, it also has a natural geographic armor against external threats. So why isn’t France more superior to any other nation-state? Well, wars [against Germany] led to peace. These wars (1870, 1914, and 1939) resulted in exploiting France’s only exposed defense in the North East. For it to not let go of its geographic weak point, it adopted diplomacy [in the form of EU] hoping no more wars between European powers, especially with Germany. This method has kept France alive for decades now.
THE [INVISIBLE] HAND ON INDIA, STRATEGY
Fast forward to today’s worldview, France has a major say in the EU but recently its neutral stand on the CAI deal whilst diplomats dealing in places [like India] showcases that E. Macron has a better ‘India strategy’ over America. He wants India to take center stage in the “destined” Indo-Pacific strategy. The grip further strengthens after France’s acceptance of selling a modified version of Rafale to the ‘nuclear triad’ India.
THE FINAL ACT
The 'almost perfect nation' embeds a strenuous relation with Turkey and Russia. But promising ties from its “first non-western” friend and a riveted relation with the lone superpower, France foresees a rebalancing equation in their Sino-French reciprocity gap. While in the economic battleground, the subject wishes to cushion its economic and cultural ties with Africa. Post-Covid, Islamophobic France is already on the path of binding every strategic country to be at its vicinity – thus reinstating its art of never letting go.