French presidential election: where the candidates stand on foreign policy
Dr Eglantine Staunton has written a piece for The Conversation discussing where the candidates for the French election stand on foreign policy.
Eglantine highlights that whilst foreign policy has previously been a focal point in French presidential campaigns, this has not been the case on this occasion. Eglantine has put this down to a few factors; ‘the unusually high number of candidates, the fact that what matters to the French today seems limited to what is happening within France, and the focus of the journalist on domestic issues’.
Eglantine writes about the fours leading candidates: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Emmanuel Macron, François Fillon, and Marine Le Pen all of whom have very different viewpoints on matters such as the EU, security and migration and Syria.
Throughout the article she explores the differing stances of each candidate and concludes by stating that although foreign policy has been put to one side during this campaign, the ‘implications will be major, not only for France, but for the rest of Europe and the international community’.
