African Youth Activism and the Disruption of French Foreign Policy in the Sahel Region

Abstract

The Republic of France has maintained close political and diplomatic ties with the countries in the African continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa. The relationship between France and its former colonies has been debated in international relations regarding its dominant and influential characteristics. In the last decade, French foreign policy in the Sahel region has been more pronounced with military and diplomatic interventions. Since assuming the French presidential seat in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron has proposed a new political discourse stating the need to move away from the traditional colonial dichotomy. This narrative, however, remains to be fully realized. Between 2017 and 2021, France has been increasingly involved in the internal affairs of countries in the Sahel. Concurrently, a proliferation of youth movements denouncing French foreign policy and its impact on political and social settings has been taking place. This article offers a discourse analysis of the intersection between the notion of reform in France-Africa relations and the youth uprising, which critiques these policies and advocates for change, employing regime and post-colonial theories. The analysis will investigate how youth activism movements respond to these policies. The study is significant as its findings could guide policy reforms aimed at transforming France-Africa relations, with a particular focus on the Sahel region. Additionally, the article seeks to illustrate, through discourse examples of ongoing youth activism protests, that these responses represent a potentially influential form of resistance.