– Abstract
Nicolas Sarkozy, the new French President, has not developed his vision of foreign and defense policy much during the 2007 presidential campaign. Yet it appears to be consistent, aiming at replacing the promotion of human rights, democracy and multilateralism at the centre of French diplomatic action. President Sarkozy, while refusing Realpolitik, must yet take into account enduring French strategic interests, limiting the possibilities available to him of practicing a policy that would contrast with that of his predecessors. Whether it be relations with the United States, NATO, the Middle-East or Africa, his apparent changes of direction are joined with the stability of great trends in French diplomacy.
