CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Sirocka, Victoria |
|---|---|
| Title | From Rapprochement to Deterrence: Emmanuel Macron's Leadership and the Shift in France's Russia Policy (2017-2025) |
| Summary | Foreign policy shifts are often attributed to wars and crises, but how much do they also reflect the agency of leaders? While the French president Emmanuel Macron initially pursued dialogue and engagement with Moscow, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted a strategic realignment, revealing a shift in foreign policy orientation toward Russia from accommodation to confrontation. This thesis explores the evolution of Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Russia from 2017 to 2025, focusing on how his leadership agency shaped France’s gradual but strategic realignment throughout the conflict. Employing a longitudinal case study and process-tracing, the thesis analyzes Macron’s public rhetoric and foreign policy decisions across his two presidential terms. A theoretical framework combining Neoclassical Realism, Role Theory, and Leadership Trait Analysis (LTA) is used to argue that France’s foreign policy shift toward Russia was not solely driven by structural pressures but also by Macron’s leadership style and France’s global role. The findings contribute to Foreign Policy Analysis studies by showing how leadership agency mediates systemic constraints in moments of geopolitical rupture while illustrating the persistent tension between France’s strategic ambitions and the realities of European security. |
| Supervisor | Jenne, Erin Kristin |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/sirocka_victoria.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University