Author:
Abstract:
The author’s focus is on the evolution of relations between France and the Republic of Chad during the presidency of Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno. The article emphasizes the military cooperation between the Fifth Republic and this African country. It notes that since Idriss Déby (the father of the current president) came to power, he has consistently enjoyed the patronage of the Élysée Palace. All these years, the “Françafrique” military-political system has provided not only political cover for the authoritarian regime of the Déby clan but also military and economic assistance to it during periods of acute political crises. The coming to power of the son of the president, who had been killed in a battle with the rebels, led to a rapid cooling of relations between Paris and N’Djamena. Both objective and subjective causes of the crisis in the interaction between the two countries and the reasons for the sharp cooling of relations between N’Djamena and Paris are analyzed in the paper. The objective factors include deep geopolitical transformations in Africa, the emergence of new players on the continent, primarily China, as well as the return of the Russian Federation to the continent. The analysis shows that during the presidency of Macron, France lost all or part of its influence in the Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon, while in Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, socio-political cataclysms had occurred that deformed relations with the former metropolis. The subjective factors that led to the conflict between Chad and France include the prosecution of Mahamat Déby for a number of financial abuses and the interpersonal conflict between the presidents of the Fifth Republic and the Republic of Chad. The paper argues that Chad’s and Senegal’s refusal of military cooperation with France and the liquidation of the French military base in Côte d’Ivoire actually marked the end of the collapse of the Françafrique neo-colonial system.
Keywords:
Republic of Chad, France, Françafrique, military bases, withdrawal of French troops, Mahamat Déby, Emmanuel Macron
DOI:
10.31132/2412-5717-2025-73-4-126-137
References:
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For citation:
Filippov V.R. (2025). Far, far away, on Lake Chad… The Decline of Military-Political Cooperation between France and the Republic of Chad. Journal of the Institute for African Studies. Vol. 11. № 4. P. 126–137. https://doi.org/10.31132/2412-5717-2025-73-4-126-137
Для цитирования:
Филиппов В.Р. Далеко, далеко, на озере Чад… Закат военно-политического сотрудничества Франции и Республики Чад. Ученые записки Института Африки РАН. 2025. Т. 11. № 4. С.126–137. https://doi.org/10.31132/2412-5717-2025-73-4-126-137