Perceptions of the foreign policies of France and Turkey in francophone Africa: An elite perspective of cameroon and cote d'ivoire

This thesis attempts to explain how the external perceptions of a state's foreign policy tells of its effectiveness bearing in mind that the most frequently used categories are policy effectiveness in terms of 'goal attainment' and in terms of 'problem-solving'. As such, given a changing global environment, developing capabilities and priorities, France and Turkey are currently re-evaluating their role in the world in the 21st century, adjusting their foreign policies in many areas, not least in Africa, but more particularly in French-Speaking African Countries (FSACs). Within this context, the foreign policy activism and influence of France or Turkey in Africa have respectively been one of the hotly debated topics since the early 2000s. But there have been few systematic attempts to test the relevant proposition of this debate. This research, therefore, sets out in an effort to test the French and Turkish 21st-century influence or effectiveness thesis within a particular region: Francophone Africa (FrA). To test this foreign policy influence requires addressing two fundamental questions: What respectively justifies France's or Turkey's active re-engagement and engagement in FrA in the 21st century and how either state's new foreign policy orientation is perceived by Francophone African Elites (FAE) External Perception is the most distinctive feature of the study, given the fact that the opinions and perceptions of FAE on the foreign policies of these two powers on the continent will be studied for the first time. In effect, positive perceptions may enhance positive policy effectiveness and negative perceptions may translate a decrease in influence or generate resentment. Nevertheless, a positive external perception does not necessarily translate positive policy effectiveness. Within this framework, the thesis scrutinizes the assumption that understanding how a state is seen by the outsiders and how these perceptions are shaped are of huge concern to the state itself in terms of the practice of state policy-making, policy implementation as well as policy effectiveness within the development of the foreign policy analysis discipline. To this end, this research employed an eclectic method of investigation, with the combination of descriptive and historical methods of data collection. A cross-country survey was conducted by the mixed-mode method including Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) and Face-to-Face Interviewing (F2F) of Elites. CATI and F2F were conducted on two (2) Francophone-African Countries (Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire). With particular emphasis on some selected foreign policy areas of French and Turkish endeavours in Africa and through a constructivist theory, while using a well-defined analytical framework and a process-tracing methodological approach to assess the perceptions FAE, the measurement of the effectiveness of the foreign policy's of either powers in this thesis suggests the following findings: There is a direct co-relation between the ideas that shaped FAE perceptions at time t-1 and the revealed perceptions at the time t and maybe in future at the time t+1. Hence, the perspectives of FAE on France and Turkey in the 21st century are shaped by endogenous and exogenous sources or ideas. Consequently, while France is a status-quo state with a Negative African elite (external) perception of its Foreign Policy in FSACs, but with an adequate effectiveness in areas such as: security, promotion of international fundamental values and promotion economic development and trade, Turkey on its part is perceived as a revisionist state with a Positive African elite (external) perception of its Foreign Policy and an effectiveness in the promotion of human dignity, south-south development cooperation, investment and humanitarianism, but with a limited effectiveness in areas such as: fight against international terrorism, promotion of international fundamental values and promotion economic development. Since external perceptions do matter to either state as they need to know how their activities are perceived so as to address or redress their foreign policies accordingly, this research outlines two important contributions that could enhance positive outcomes on the future of Franco-African and Turco-African relations: the implementation of an overarching Public Diplomacy strategy and a Triangular cooperation. Keywords: Foreign Policy Effectiveness, External Perception, Image theory, Francophone Africa, France, Turkey, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire