On December 25, Saudi Arabia's Arab News published an article entitled "France's Regional Influence on the Rise", written by Zaid M. Belbaj. The following is an excerpt from the full text:
The August 2021 Baghdad Middle East Summit, co-hosted by Baghdad and Paris, aims to promote regional and international support for Iraq while building France's influence in the Middle East. The list of speakers included the prime ministers of Egypt**, Iraq**, the UAE and the emir of Qatar, reflecting France's growing influence in a region that is now a strategic interest of Britain and the United States.
Iraq has been key to France's regional policy. In 2003, it became known for its opposition to the U.S. invasion, in part because of France's Total oil company and Elf Aquitaine's significant commercial interests in the country. After signing another $27 billion energy deal in 2021, Iraq is even more crucial for France. For this reason, Paris has been the second largest donor in support of Iraq's fight against the Islamic State group and an important foreign investor in the country that has struggled to attract funds.
The last summit was hosted by Jordan, much to Iraq's chagrin. As a result, Baghdad made every effort to organize the third summit in November, with the theme "Economic integration and regional stability". The previous summit resulted in the Iraq-France Strategic Partnership Agreement, which was signed in January 2023. Subsequently, Qatar planned to buy a 30% stake in Total's project in Iraq, so last month's scheduled meeting was an important moment for Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Soudani and France's Macron. They had hoped to expand their partnerships in the areas of water, energy, transportation, and defense, but the conflict between Israel and Hamas has postponed these plans indefinitely.
However, the postponement of the meeting did not dampen France's ambitions elsewhere in the region. Despite Macron's typically pro-Israel stance initially, he has recently loosened French support for Israel while supporting Qatar's ceasefire efforts and using the recent COP28 Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai to further advance diplomatic initiatives. These efforts are part of the push to advance French interests, while French companies continue to sign huge deals in the region.
France's Airbus has recently achieved success in orders for civil aircraft from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and the French company Dassault is negotiating with Saudi Arabia and Iraq on Rafale fighter jets. France's Safran, the world's second-largest aircraft manufacturer, signed an agreement worth more than $1.2 billion with Emirates Airlines at last month's Dubai Airshow.
The UAE and France have cooperated in the energy sector, and in July 2022, TotalEnergies and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company signed an energy** agreement amid energy insecurity due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
France also maintains close relations with Saudi Arabia, and the two countries share common strategic interests in the region. French advisers played a key role in the development of Saudi Vision 2030, particularly in building space capabilities, as well as agreements on energy cooperation and renewable energy development.
Qatar has also benefited from French assistance in the area of economic diversification. Earlier this year, it agreed to supply LNG to TotalEnergies for the next 27 years.
French cooperation in the business community is also reflected in the development of cultural spaces in the region. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a symbol of France's soft power and is now "France's largest cultural project abroad".
There is no doubt that political and social instability at home, as well as an armed coup d'état in Francophone Africa, have undermined France's ability to project power abroad. In North Africa, young people in Algeria and Morocco, who are traditionally **lingu, increasingly prefer English to French. However, at a time when Britain is busy grappling with domestic challenges and the United States is focused on Russia and China, Macron's efforts to cultivate relationships in the Gulf and the wider Middle East have significantly increased France's influence. (Compiled by Yin Xia).