While citizens all over the Arab world struggled in order to topple their oppressive regimes, foreign governments remained somewhat skeptical on which side to intervene on. This hesitation can be extracted from both the case of Tunisia and in Egypt in which most foreign governments at the beginning of the riots sided up with the authoritarian regimes and then later on changed their policies in order to side up with the oppressed citizens. This paper will therefore analyze this phenomenon in which foreign government supported these authoritarian regimes instead of promoting human rights and democracy by looking at the case of France more precisely. France is a compelling case because it portrays a country that sided with autocrats for personal interests, with little attention being paid to establishing democracy and human rights.
It was only after Mubarak was toppled that France realized that it was bound to make a turn in its policy in order to position itself as being a protector of the civilians. This paper will therefore analyze the factors that would lead a country like France to side up with oppressive leaders and why France was inclined to change its stance concerning the Arab Spring when it realized that the leaders were in fact going to be toppled.
[...] Foreign governments and the Arab spring: Case study France Abstract While citizens all over the Arab world struggled in order to topple their oppressive regimes, foreign governments remained somewhat skeptical on which side to intervene on. This hesitation can be extracted from both the case of Tunisia and in Egypt in which most foreign governments at the beginning of the riots sided up with the authoritarian regimes and then later on changed their policies in order to side up with the oppressed citizens. [...]
[...] This following 1995 when Tunisia signed an association agreement with the EU and France. The shift of French foreign policy that we discussed concerning Tunisia and Egypt was also prevalent in Libya in which Sarkozy shifted his support for Qadhafi towards a firm backing of the rebels. Mikail tells us that this shift was very important in the sense that Sarkozy became the first foreign head of state to recognize the Transitional National Council (TNC) as the legitimate governing authority of Libya. [...]
[...] The Journal of North African Studies, 1-22. Skupin, L. (2011). To what extent did the Arab Spring Trigger a Transformation of Dominant Paradigms in French Foreign Policy? Centre international de formation européenne Institut européene des hautes etudes internationals. Taheri, A. (2010). France's “Arab” Policy: Time for a Debate. American Foreign Policy Interests: The Journal of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. Wolf, A; Lefévre, R. (2012). Revolution under threat: the challenges of the ‘Tunisian Model'. The Journal of North African Studies, 559-563. [...]
[...] (2011). France's Reaction to the Arab Spring. Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies. Joffé G. (2011). The Arab Spring in North Africa: Origins and Prospects. The Journal of North African Studies, 507-532. Lefévre, R. (2012). Current Events in North Africa. The Journal of North African Studies, 373-377. Mikail, B. (2011). France and the Arab Spring: an Opportunistic Quest for Influence. FRIDE A European Think Tank for Global Action. Saab, A. G. (2011). French, U.S. Views Collide over the Arab Spring. [...]
[...] Demystifying the Arab Spring: Parsing the Differences Between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Foreign Affairs. Bishara, M. (2012). The Invisible Arab: The Promise and Peril of the Arab Revolution. New York: NATIONS BOOKS, A Member of the Perseus Books Group. Bishara, M. (2012). NATO: Caught in the Headlights. Al Jazeera, 21 February. Bishara, M. (2012). Fast-forward Syria: Three Terrible Scenarios and one good Option. Al Jazeera, 20 March. Bishara, M. (2012). Three Questions for Marwan Bishara: Determining Syria's Future in Tunisia. [...]
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