Continuity or rupture? Gaullism and French Policy under Emmanuel

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the foreign policy discourse of French president Emmanuel Macron, through the perspective of the Gaullist tradition. Gaullism is a distinct framework that is often used to define French foreign policy. The tradition comes from the French president Charles de Gaulle, and is defined by four key elements: the French concept of grandeur, an ambition to be strategically independent, a preference for a multipolar system, and a distinct bold diplomatic style. The literature on Macron’s discourse and Gaullism is limited and does not reach a consensus on whether Macron continues this tradition or not. Yet, France’s foreign policy is very relevant given France’s important position within the European Union. In order to give an answer to that question, this study uses a qualitative content analysis based on fourteen public speeches by Macron. It has developed a coding framework with eight categories and it looks at the speeches in their original language, French. The findings of the content analysis suggest a strong continuity of Macron’s foreign policy discourse with Gaullism. They also offer another interesting insight, namely that Macron does not only continue the tradition, but he also updates it to the context of his own presidency of the 21st century.