In the 19th century France built a new French colonial empire second only to the British Empire. It was humiliated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, which marked the rise of Germany to dominance in Europe. France allied with Great Britain and Russia and was on the winning side of the First World War. Although it was initially easily defeated early in the Second World War, Free France, through its Free French Forces and the Resistance, continued to fight against the Axis powers as an Allied nation and was ultimately considered one of the victors of the war, as the allocation of a French occupation zone in Germany and West Berlin testifies, as well as the status of permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It fought losing colonial wars in Indochina (ending in 1954) and Algeria (ending in 1962). The Fourth Republic collapsed and the Fifth Republic began in 1958 to the present. Under Charles de Gaulle it tried to block American and British influence on the European community. Since 1945, France has been a founding member of the United Nations, of NATO, and of the European Coal and Steel Community (the European Union's predecessor). As a charter member of the United Nations, France holds one of the permanent seats in the Security Council and is a member of most of its specialized and related agencies.

France is also a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean and the La Francophonie and plays a key role, both in regional and in international affairs.

On February 14, 2023, as part of their foreign policy in human rights, France showed its support for international justice by signing the Ljubljana-Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and other International Crimes.

Fifth Republic since 1981

François Mitterrand: 1981–1995

François Mitterrand, a Socialist, emphasized European unitySimon J. Nuttall, European Foreign Policy (2000) p. 41. and the preservation of France's special relationships with its former colonies in the face of "Anglo-Saxon influence."Mitterrand's role revealed in Rwandan genocide warning , 3 July 2007/ The Independent A part of the enacted policies was formulated in the Socialist Party's 110 Propositions for France, the electoral program for the 1981 presidential election. He had a warm and effective relationship with the conservative German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. They promoted French-German bilateralism in Europe and strengthened military cooperation between the two countries.

According to Wayne Northcutt, certain domestic circumstances helped shape Mitterrand's foreign policy in four ways: he needed to maintain a political consensus; he kept an eye on economic conditions; he believed in the nationalistic imperative for French policy; and he tried to exploit Gaullism and its heritage that is on political advantage.Wayne Northcutt. "The domestic origins of Mitterrand's foreign policy, 1981-1985." Contemporary French Civilization (1986), 10#2 pp 233-267

Jacques Chirac

Chirac's foreign policy featured continuity.Michael Sutton, "Chirac's foreign policy: continuity-with adjustment." The World Today 51.7 (1995): 135-138. His most prominent move was a break with Washington. Along with his friend Vladimir Putin of Russia, Hu Jintao of China, and Gerhard Schröder of Germany, Chirac emerged as a leading voice against the Iraq War of 2003. They opposed George W. Bush (U.S.) and Tony Blair (Britain) during the organisation and deployment of a "Coalition of the willing" to forcibly remove the government of Iraq controlled by the Ba'ath Party under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Despite British and American pressure, Chirac threatened to veto a resolution in the UN Security Council that would authorise the use of military force to rid Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction. He rallied other governments to his position. "Iraq today does not represent an immediate threat that justifies an immediate war", Chirac said on 18 March 2003. Future Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin acquired much of his popularity for his speech against the war at the United Nations (UN).Stefano Recchia, "Did Chirac Say 'Non'? Revisiting UN Diplomacy on Iraq, 2002-03." Political Science Quarterly 130.4 (2015): 625-654 online.

Nicolas Sarkozy

Shortly after taking office, President Sarkozy began negotiations with Colombian president Álvaro Uribe and the left-wing guerrilla FARC, regarding the release of hostages held by the rebel group, especially Franco-Colombian politician Íngrid Betancourt. According to some sources, Sarkozy himself asked for Uribe to release FARC's "chancellor" Rodrigo Granda.Llama G8 a FARC contribuir a liberación de rehenes , La Cronica, 8 June 2007 Furthermore, he announced on 24 July 2007, that French and European representatives had obtained the extradition of the Bulgarian nurses detained in Libya to their country. In exchange, he signed with Gaddafi security, health care and immigration pacts – and a $230 million (168 million euros) MILAN antitank missile sale.Molly Moore, France's Sarkozy Off to a Running Start, The Washington Post, 4 August 2007 The contract was the first made by Libya since 2004, and was negotiated with MBDA, a subsidiary of EADS. Another 128 million euros contract would have been signed, according to Tripoli, with EADS for a TETRA radio system. The Socialist Party (PS) and the Communist Party (PCF) criticized a "state affair" and a "barter" with a "Rogue state". The leader of the PS, François Hollande, requested the opening of a parliamentary investigation.

On 8 June 2007, during the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Sarkozy set a goal of reducing French CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050 in order to prevent global warming. He then pushed forward the important Socialist figure of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as European nominee to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Critics alleged that Sarkozy proposed to nominate Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF to deprive the Socialist Party of one of its more popular figures.Reuters, "France's Sarkozy wants Strauss-Kahn as IMF head" Sat 7 Jul 2007 2:38 pm EDT read here

Sarkozy normalised what had been strained relations with NATO. In 2009, France again was a fully integrated NATO member. François Hollande has continued the same policy.Frédéric Bozo, "Explaining France's NATO 'normalisation' under Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012)." Journal of Transatlantic Studies (2014) 12#4 pp: 379–391. Abstract

François Hollande

Socialist François Hollande won election in 2012 as president.Brinton Rowdybush, and Patrick Chamorel, "Aspirations and reality: French foreign policy and the 2012 elections." The Washington Quarterly (2012) 35#1 pp: 163–177. He adopted a generally hawkish foreign-policy, in close collaboration with Germany in regard to opposing Russian moves against Ukraine, and in sending the military to fight radical Islamists in Africa.Tony Chafer, "Hollande and Africa Policy." Modern & Contemporary France (2014) 22#4 pp: 513–531. He took a hard line with regard to the Greek debt crisis.Kenneth R. Weinstein, "Hollande the hawk?." World Affairs 177.1 (2014): 87–96. François Hollande launched two military operations in Africa: Operation Serval in Mali (the French armed forces stopped an Islamist takeover of Bamako, the nation's capital city); and Operation Sangaris (to restore peace there as tensions between different religious communities had turned into a violent conflict). France was also the first European nation to join the United States in bombing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Under President Hollande, France's stances on the civil war in Syria and Iran's nuclear program have been described as "hawkish".Cheese-eating warriors, The Economist

Emmanuel Macron, 2017–present

On 31 May 2022, due to the reforms pushed by the president and perceived lack of recognition, the French diplomats went on a strike for the first time in 20 years. This was bad timing for President Emmanuel Macron as France was holding the EU Presidency until the end of June.

Reputation

Sophie Meunier in 2017 analyzed the causes of decline in France's former reputation as a major player in world affairs:France does not have as much relative global clout as it used to. Decolonization ... diminished France's territorial holdings and therefore its influence. Other countries acquired nuclear weapons and built up their armies. The message of "universal" values carried by French foreign policy has encountered much resistance, as other countries have developed following a different political trajectory than the one preached by France. By the 1990s, the country had become, in the words of Stanley Hoffmann, an "ordinary power, neither a basket case nor a challenger." Public opinion, especially in the United States, no longer sees France as an essential power....[However in 2015 France] mattered in world environmental affairs with....the Paris Agreement, a global accord to reduce carbon emissions.Sophie Meunier, "Is France Still Relevant?." French Politics, Culture & Society 35.2 (2017): 59-75, quoting pp 61-62.

International organization participation ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, FZ, G-5, G-7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Inmarsat, InOC, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, Zangger Committee

International border disputes Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands and Juan de Nova Island Comoros claims Mayotte Mauritius claims Tromelin Island territorial dispute on the boundary between Suriname and French Guiana territorial claim in Antarctica (Adélie Land) under the Antarctic Treaty System Matthew Island and Hunter Island east of New Caledonia claimed by France and Vanuatu

Middle East

France established relations with the Middle East during the reign of Louis XIV. To keep Austria from intervening into its plans regarding Western Europe he lent limited support to the Ottoman Empire, though the victories of Prince Eugene of Savoy destroyed these plans.William Roosen, The age of Louis XIV: the rise of modern diplomacy (1976). In the nineteenth century France together with Great Britain tried to strengthen the Ottoman Empire, the now "Sick man of Europe", to resist Russian expansion, culminating in the Crimean War.Lynn Marshall Case, French opinion on war and diplomacy during the Second Empire (1954).

France also pursued close relations with the semi-autonomous Egypt. In 1869 Egyptian workers -under the supervision of France- completed the Suez Canal. A rivalry emerged between France and Britain for control of Egypt, and eventually Britain emerged victorious by buying out the Egyptian shares of the company before the French had time to act.F. Robert Hunter, Egypt under the khedives, 1805–1879: from household government to modern bureaucracy (American Univ in Cairo Press, 1999)

After the unification of Germany in 1871, Germany successfully attempted to co-opt France's relations with the Ottomans. In World War I the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, and was defeated by France and Britain. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire France and Britain divided the Middle East between themselves. France received Syria and Lebanon.Jan Karl Tanenbaum, "France and the Arab Middle East, 1914–1920." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1978): 1–50. in JSTOR

1945–1958