On November 8, 2023, the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a round table “The African Vector of French Foreign Policy: the Difficult Parting with Françafrique”. It was organised by the Centre for French Studies of the IE RAS in cooperation with the Department of Social and Political Studies of this research institute. The participants comprehensively analysed the events that took place, considered various aspects of France–Africa relations and contemporary African policy, and identified its possible evolution under the conditions of a rapidly changing world order.
The event was attended by representatives of the specialised institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Institute of Europe, Institute of USA and Canada, Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences, Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Institute of World History, as well as distinguished universities of the country: Moscow State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Diplomatic Academy, National Research University Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg State University, Voronezh State University, and Yaroslavl State University.
VSU was represented by Vyacheslav Salnikov, Associate Professor of the Department of International Relations and World Politics of the Faculty of International Relations, PhD in History. He gave an online presentation entitled “Inter-Ethnic Conflicts in the Françafrique Countries: Potestary Hangover or a Product of Neo-Colonialism?”. In the study, Vyacheslav Salnikov highlighted the hidden and negative aspects of neocolonial system. According to the researcher from the Department of International Relations and World Politics of VSU, the experience of managing dependent territories and destabilising unwanted regimes should be studied not only by Africanists.
