Regional level of analysis seems to capture the reasons for Hollandes foreign policies in a

better manner. Unlike Sarkozy, Hollande had not prior ministerial experience when he
assumed office in 2012. His promise of taxing the rich more in his election campaigns was
more about luring his traditional support base into voting for him and less about substance.
He did not depart in major ways from Sarkozys policy line. To say that impending elections
and rise of inward-looking parties in France forced him to look beyond the immediate
neighbourhood that required restoring peace across Latin America is to deny the fact that
foreign policy tend not to sway electoral contests, 1 especially when there are more pressing
domestic issues facing the country. However, France, as a key constituent of the EU, needed
to reinvigorate its ties with Latin America. The notion of an European identity coupled with
need to reach out a region that had previously been ignored by it, due to more pressing issues
near home, required it to look beyond its neighbourhood. Recognition of the EU for its efforts
in promoting peace in the form of Nobel Peace Prize intensified this need. Apart from this,
France has been using its cultural influence to form a connect with the countries across the
Atlantic Ocean which along with military intervention close to home as a part of the EU and
NATO, have been instrumental in producing smart power.

There is no strong reason from a realists viewpoint for France, with its restricted capacities
as a mid-sized international power, engage with a continent far away. Unlike Latin America,
north African countries continue to pour in immigrants into Europe. These immigrants are
mostly involved in semi-skilled labour there and strain the economies of European nations in
a more direct manner. Argument that some French multinational corporations operate there
does not quite fit as reason for sudden interest of French government there. They had been
operating even before Hollande was appointed the president of France. Then what explains
such an involvement? This question is most plausibly explained by the fact that Hollande
assumed his office in the same year when the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It was
only then that Frances foreign policy increased focus on Latin America and justifiably so.
After all, Latin America has been suffering from internal violence and instability for so long.

Frances foreign policies need to be understood in context of changing face of domestic

politics. French politics of earlier decades was understood as power oscillating between a

1 GABRIEL GOODLIFE & RICCARDO BRIZZI, HOLLANDE AND SARKOZYS FOREIGN POLICY
LEGACY, 175 (2015).
center- right party (Republicans) vouching for market liberalisation while keeping traditional
social values intact and its center-left opponent (Socialist Party) which stood for providing
social welfare and redistribution of economic resources. With the next Presidential elections
in sight, the leader of the National Front, Marine Le Pen, has emerged as a tough contender
against Manuel Valls, the candidate announced by the party of Hollande- the Socialist Party
whose slump in popularity in recent years is a cause of concern for the current occupant of
the Elysee Palace.

Le Pen has tried to woo large swathes of working class electorate away from the communist
and socialist parties without disenchanting National Fronts traditional vote base dominated
by the extreme right.2

Protecting interests of such multinational corporations with operation in Latin America is a

top priority for the French government, particularly if CEOs of such corporations have same
institutions as their political counterparts as their alma mater.

which shape the course of future of France

Present establishment has rested its foreign policy on two major pillars: promotion of
democracy and promotion of free trade. Pariss agenda has been driven by the belief that
political development of democracy and economic liberalisation will support each other and
would benefit not only locals but France too.

The EU is Latin Americas second largest trading partner. Brazil and Mexico account for
more than half of total EU trade with Latin America. The EU remains the most important
contributor of foreign direct investment in Latin America.3

. It has negotiated Free Trade Agreements with Chile, Peru and Colombia, apart from North
Atlantic Free Trade Agreement and Dominican Republic- Central America Free Trade

2 Carlo I. Accetti & Christopher Bickerton, Neither Left Nor Right in France, FOREIGN
AFFAIRS, Feb. 18, 2016, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/france/2016-02-18/neither-
left-nor-right-france (last visited Mar. 30, 2017).

3 EU- Latin America trade relations: Overview and figures, at 3, (March 2016),
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2016/579086/EPRS_IDA(2016)57908
6_EN.pdf.
Agreement.4 Beijing too has been using its growing economic strength to counter United
States leverage in the region. It has recently displaced USA as the main trading partner of
Brazil. In this scenario, following the realist approach, it is imperative that the

Traditionally, United States has used its geopolitical influence and remained the largest trade
partner with the Latin America. Free Trade Agreements with Latin American trade
liberalisation groups like Mercosur, CELAC, that France is a part of come under the umbrella
of European Union

France has created an interest in Latin America through cultural interactions.

Thierry Breton (born 15 January 1955 in Paris) is a French businessman, a

former Professor at Harvard Business School, and a former Finance ministerof France. He has
been Vice Chairman and CEO of Groupe Bull, Chairman and CEO of Thomson-RCA (1997
2002), Chairman and CEO of France Tlcom (20022005).

4 Christopher Sabatini, Rethinking Latin America, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, April 2012,

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/central-america-caribbean/2012-02-12/rethinking-
latin-america (last visited Mar. 30, 2017).