How to wield regional power from afar : a conceptual discussion illustrated by the case of France in Central Africa

dc.contributor.authorMattheis, Frank
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-16T05:05:18Z
dc.date.available2022-08-16T05:05:18Z
dc.date.issued2024-02
dc.description.abstractWhat does it take to belong to a region and exert power over it? The scholarship on regional powers has elaborated sophisticated indicators to establish nuances of power, but the depiction of the region has remained vague. Most approaches are characterised by a narrow territorial interpretation that does not properly take into account power wielded by geographically distant actors. Using the case of France in Central Africa this article argues that a distant state can a) hold a dominant share of military, economic and soft power, b) use this power for hegemonic behaviour and c) be recognised as a leader in the region by both internal and external actors. The main specificity of distant actors as regional powers is the greater necessity for a legitimising narrative. France tackles this hurdle with the help of regional organisations that reproduce imperial structures. By holding the informal status of a quasi-member in regional governance structures, France participates in region-building processes from the inside rather than the outside.en_US
dc.description.departmentPolitical Sciencesen_US
dc.description.librarianhj2022en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipOpen Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41311en_US
dc.identifier.citationMattheis, F. How to wield regional power from afar: a conceptual discussion illustrated by the case of France in Central Africa. International Politics 61, 145–168 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-021-00347-8.en_US
dc.identifier.issn1384-5748 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1740-3898 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1057/s41311-021-00347-8
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/86789
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherSpringeren_US
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.en_US
dc.subjectRegional poweren_US
dc.subjectCentral Africaen_US
dc.subjectFranceen_US
dc.subjectRegionalismen_US
dc.subjectRegional organisationsen_US
dc.subjectHegemonyen_US
dc.titleHow to wield regional power from afar : a conceptual discussion illustrated by the case of France in Central Africaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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