Anti-French Sentiment in Africa: An American Perspective

Anti-French sentiment has emerged as a potent political force in much of francophone Africa. It contributed to the failure of France’s strategy in the Sahel and has played a role in the overturning of elected governments in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, where new military regimes instrumentalize it for their own political purposes. It might yet help unseat the government in Chad and destabilize Senegal. It has made France radioactive in the region, meaning that no matter how intentioned or benign French efforts to engage with these countries may be, its attentions are unwelcomed to the point of rendering cooperation difficult if not impossible. The challenge for French observers is to come to terms with anti-French sentiment and understand what it is and what it does. This is easier said than done. As I have observed in both the French media and in conversations with French officials, French military officers, and French think tank analysts, the French struggle with objective an