Abstract: The object of the research is the 'Barchan' operation of the French armed forces in Sahel. The author of the article analyzes such aspects of the problem as the diplomatic cover of that pseudo peacekeeping operation, and supporting actions of the French expeditionary force from the side of the allies of the Fifth Republic for NATO and African states, satellites of France in Sahel (military-political alliance G5S). Filippov pays special attention to the definition of declared and true purposes of the military action as well as reasons that make the president Emmanuel Macron to increase military presence in the Sub-Saharan Africa. In the course of his research Filippov has applied the principle of historicism and comparative history method. The research is based on the chronics and analysis findings published by the French mass media. For the first time in the academic literature the author pays attention toi the fact that the operation 'Barchan' was initiated by the Elysee Palace claiming that they protected Mali citizens from Islamic extremists and against Taureg separatism, while the true objective of the French was to protect uranium minings in Mali and Niger under the aegis of Areva. As a result of his research, Filippov concludes that there is a lose situatin for the Elysee Palace: the more expenditures are taken by the Barchan operation, the more African Uranium costs for the French power stations and the less sense this expensive military campaign makes. 

Abstract: The object of the study is a political crisis in the Togolese Republic which began in the autumn of 2017 and continues until now. The author considers such aspects of the problem as a confrontation between the authorities personified by President Faure Gnassingbé and the opposition led by Jean-Pierre Fabre; the background of the conflict situation; the role of France in the murder of Silvanus Olimpio, the first President of the country, and the establishment of a half-century dictatorship of the Gnassingbe clan. Special attention is paid to the tactics of the President of the Fifth Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo in the settlement of the Togolese crisis. In the course of the study, the author exercised the principle of historicism and applied the method of historical reconstruction to clarify the multifactorial determination of political instability in Togo. This method allowed the author to conclude that the crisis situation is based on the desire of the Elysee Palace to preserve the political, economic and military-strategic preferences of France in the Togolese Republic. France's concern is to play a political gambit in this country which aims at gaining the affection of the leaders of opposition at the cost of removal of its former favorite F.Gnassingbe  from power during the presidential elections of 2020. The scientific novelty of the study is conditioned by the urgency of the events occurring in Togo: the political crisis in this country has not yet become a matter for consideration of Russian and foreign analysts. 

Abstract: The subject of the study is a set of foreign policy practices of the French Republic currently leveraged by E. Macron and corresponding to the content of the concept of "soft power". The author considers such aspects of the problem as the use of Francophonie as a competitive advantage in the struggle for dominance on the African continent; appeals to the spread of democratic norms in African States; calls for international humanitarian cooperation, etc. The article pays special attention to the political discourse designed to justify a military and economic activity of the Fifth Republic in the countries of Tropical Africa. In the course of the study, the author exercised a principle of historicism and applied a comparative political science method to analyze the African policy of the Elysee Palace. The method allowed the author to trace continuity and identify innovations in the African policy of E. Macron. The author first turned his attention to the fact that E. Macron had the opportunity to address to "soft power" only because of the excessive presence of French troops in the areas of special economic and strategic interests of France on the African continent. The author views the "soft power" policy as opposed to the military-political doctrine of "Françafrique" which was implemented by the Elysee Palace in the post-colonial period and which in fact is implemented nowadays, despite the political demagogy of E. Macron. 

Abstract: The subject of the study is the course, results and possible consequences of the first official visit of French President E. Macron to three African countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. The author considers such aspects of the issue as the reasons that led to the choice of these countries for the "presidential tour"; the particular attitude of each of these countries toward the Fifth Republic and its Head; the original goal-setting of the Elysee Palace in negotiations with the Heads of the said States of the Black Continent. Particular attention is paid to the initiatives of the French president announced at the Fifth Summit of the European and African Unions. In the course of the study the author applied a principle of historicism and a comparative political method. This method allowed the author to interpret the results of Makron's visit in the context of historical development of Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. The "African tour" of the Head of the French State took place very recently, in December 2017, thus it has not yet become a subject of study either in domestic or in foreign political science. The author comes to the conclusion that E. Makron's visit can not be evaluated as a success of French diplomacy, it demonstrates the decrease of France's prestige in its former colonies. 

Abstract:  
The subject of this research is the initial stage of French colonization of the Antilles. The author examine the role of African captives in the economic development of Guadeloupe. Particular attention is given to the questions of specificity of purchasing slaves on the west coast of Dark Continent, the role of African tribal elites and French slave traders in seizing of black captives and their transporting through the Atlantic Ocean. The article explores the question regarding the scales and profitability of the so-called system of triangular trade, its role in the process of initial accumulation of capital in France. Using the method of historical reconstruction alongside attracting various historical sources (testimonies of the contemporaries, memoirs of French navigators, and statistical information), the authors were able to objectively assess the meaning of slave trade in economic development of the Antillean Colony and metropole in the XVII-XIX centuries. The role of transatlantic slave trade in development of the Antilles and the scales of using the slave labor on the Guadeloupian plantations are yet to be examines within the Russian historical science.
 

Abstract: The subject of this study is the crisis of the French colonial empire, caused by the global geopolitical changes that occurred after the end of the World War II. The author considers such aspects of the problem, as the clash of interests of the largest actors of international relations on the Indochina Peninsula, as well as policy of the world powers with regards to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Particular attention is paid to the reasons for the failure of the attempt to implement In Vietnam the doctrine of French neocolonialism, and identification of factors that substantiated the loss of the Fourth Republic in the First Indochina War. In the course of the research, the author used the method of historical reconstruction, which, along with the attraction of new historical sources (materials of the post-war mass media and memoirs) has allowed considering the problem in the context of clashes among mindsets, values structure of French aggressors and Vietnamese patriots. This aspect of the problem has not yet attracted serious attention of the Russian researchers, while it was viewed tendentiously within the French historiography. Conclusion is made that in this war the French individualism, a special relation to individual and values of human life (which in itself is worthy of respect!) was set against a centuries-old tradition of peasant community, in other words, the willingness to sacrifice itself for the common goal.

Abstract: The research subject is France’s policy in Africa during the presidency of the fourth President of the Fifth Republic François Mitterrand. The author gives special attention to the motives and the forms of the Élysée Palace’s participation in the civil war in the Republic of Chad; to the goals and the reasons of organization of a military coup in Burkina Faso by French special services, and assassination of its president Thomas Sankara; to the assessment of the scale of responsibility of France and personally President François Mitterrand for Rwanda’s Tutsi genocide. The research methodology is based on historical materialism and the historicity principle. With the help of the historical reconstruction method, the author finds out the latent goals of French policy in Africa and characterizes it as a neocolonial policy and as interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. Using the complex analysis of little-known historical sources (the materials of judicial and journalist investigations, evidences of well-known politicians and diplomats, etc.), the author studies the role of France in the initiation of the civil war in Chad, and demonstrates the peculiarities of the policy of the Fifth Republic towards other countries, involved in military actions in this region – the USA, Libya, Sudan. The author shows close connection between the events in the Republic of Chad and the war in Darfur. The paper substantiates the conclusion that France had inspired interreligious and interracial conflict in the Republic of Chad in order to maintain economic and political preferences of France in this rich in uranium and strategically important region. The author concludes that the assassination of Burkina Faso’s President Thomas Sankara was organized by French special services by order of François Mitterrand with the involvement of his son Jean-Christophe. The author concludes that France shares the responsibility for crimes against humanity in Rwanda and more than a million people deaths during genocide. The research was supported by the Russian Foundation for the Humanities, project No 15-01-00363 “External interference in the internal affairs of the Third World countries during the Cold War: the experience of multilevel analysis”. 

Abstract: The subject of research is the dynamics of France's African policy in the post-colonial period. The focus of attention is given to consideration of the complex phenomenon of "Françafrique", which is a special system of clientelist relations between the Fifth Republic and its former overseas territories, the military-political mechanism to monitor the implementation of the French neo-colonial policies on the African continent. The author considers the peculiarities of the evolution of the "Françafrique" policy in the periods of government of various leaders of France: Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Jacques d'Estaing, Francois Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Sarkozy, F.Hollande. The method of historical reconstruction which is used in this article permits to identify the factors which determined the characteristics of the African policy of the Elysee Palace during the reign of different presidents. The author concludes that the French neo-colonialism, above all, is born of the "energy hunger" of the Fifth Republic, the need to provide the raw materials for the numerous and powerful nuclear power plants, which cover about 75% of the energy needs of the country. France is ready to have a strategic alliance with the USA and other NATO countries because new players appeared the African market of raw materials, especially China.