Abstract: The role of France and its foreign policies in one of the most volatile regions of the world, the Persian Gulf, constitutes the subject of this study. The authors discover the interests which the Fifth Republic pursues in the Gulf, spotlight the advantageous and vulnerable aspects of French diplomacy in the said field. The study covers the dominant French perception of the Gulf as a "crossroads space", strategically crucial for the security of France and Europe a whole. The major competitors of the Fifth Republic which challenge France in order to preserve their interests are also defined. Methodologically, the study's foundation is laid by the principle of regionalism - a way of defining a region as a self-sufficient unity with its defining specific traits. This explains the fact that the article does not only study the relations between France and each single country of the Gulf, but rather its approach to the region as a whole. The foreign policy of the Fifth Republic is studied as an integrated entity, combining military and non-military leverage. The method of comparison allowed to weight the resources of France against the potential of competing players. Concluding their analysis, the authors would define France as a "transitory" player in the region. French diplomacy has several channels of influence in the Gulf area, but it lacks the resources to establish itself as an undisputed leader (while pushing aside other major forces, such as the USA).

Abstract: The article analyzes the modern form of France’s military presence in Sahel-Saharan region - the operation Barkhane. The main attention is given to the purpose and the tasks of the operation, the involved forces and finances, and foreign policy motives which France uses to justify its military involvement. Special attention is given to the weak aspects of the expedition - from the obscure situation with  funding and equipment, able to operate in the desert conditions, to the unreliability of the five Sahel countries. The authors also study the variants of the operation Barkhane termination, which can be considered by the French government. To study all the aspects of the problem as a single set, the authors use the SWOT-analysis method. Based on this method, the authors successively study the strong and the weak aspects of the operation, the possibilities and external threats. The conclusions are combined in a summary table - an analytical extract of all the key factors promoting or hampering the maintenance of France’s military presence in the region. Such point of view turns the study into the applied research, and bears out its scientific novelty against the background of other scientific work describing the situation in Sahel in general rather than focusing on the problems and prospects of the particular operation. The authors conclude that Sahel campaign remains quite unsuccessful for France: its negative internal and external effects are still stronger than the positive ones. In attempt to improve the situation, the current authorities try to realize the only scenario acceptable for them: to gradually withdraw the French army from Sahel in exchange for strengthening military forces of the local states.
 

Abstract: This article reveals the key regularities in establishment of the modern French navy. First and foremost, the author indicates the provisions of the doctrine of Gaullism, which served as an ideological and political foundation for the foreign and military policy of France during the first decades after the World War II that remained relevant furthermore. Based on them, the work determines the peculiarities of French naval construction since the presidency of Charles de Gaulle until the end of the “cold war”, following with the amendments introduced into the naval policy of France in realities of the post-bipolar world. The utmost research accent is made on the tasks faced throughout various timeframes by the naval forces, as well as means and methods for their solution. In conclusion, the author specifies the general trends that characterize the French navy over a span of recent decades, which most likely will be observed during the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. Particularly, the author underlines the focus on the naval component of nuclear deterrence, multifunctionality of the newest sea vehicles, collaboration with the European Union and NATO partners in establishment of the naval forces and their deployment.