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Policy Brief
Policy Brief
Macron and the “Matrix of Resentments”
April 15, 2022
The shadows of Africa's colonial history loom over the French presidential elections. Emmanuel Macron came to office claiming to be “neither of left nor right,” and hoping to fundamentally transform France’s approach to Africa, and to heal the wounds of colonialism. Given the Russian-Ukraine War, the failure of Operation Barkhane, the rise of the French right, and the general African fatigue with Françafrique, it is not clear if an overhaul of France's African policy is possible.