The extreme left and foreign policy: The “Altermondialist project” by J.-L. Mélenchon

Abstract

The constant presence of the extreme left in media space and its active political role in the life of modern France contribute to the development and presentation of its own foreign policy project to voters. One of its brightest representatives is the “La France insoumise” movement and its leader J.-L. Mélenchon, author of several books, mastermind of the Internet platform and personal blog, and presidential candidate. The program of “La France insoumise” is mainly addressed to domestic political problems. However, it contains analyses and proposals about the most relevant aspects of foreign policy, combined under the conditional name “altermondialist project.” In the foreign policy program of “La France insoumise,” three important aspects can be distinguished, which this article explores: attitudes to the functioning and basic principles of the European Union, geopolitics, and the place of France in the modern world, “political Francophonie.” Attention to these problems stems from the specifics of left-wing political culture, the traditional attention of the left to the problems of European integration, colonialism, democracy, and human rights. At the same time, in Mélenchon’s program we see references from the Gaullist heritage and foreign policy experience of the Fifth Republic. Mélenchon’s “altermondialism” does not imply the renunciation of national sovereignty or the nation-state, just as it recognizes the inevitability of globalization. In the spirit of the extreme left, he criticizes its neoliberal version, offering his own version of world reconstruction. The published policy documents and brochures of “La France insoumise,” as well as interviews and reflections of its leader, allow us to build a complete picture of an alternative foreign policy program of the extreme left, which was originally presented at the presidential elections in 2012 and 2017, and then, in an updated version, was prepared for the upcoming presidential elections in 2022.

Keywords:

France, foreign policy, La France insoumise, J.-L. Mélenchon, extreme left