Last week, I took my cudgel to once-mighty Great Britain. Today, I turn my attention to France, the once-great power that has fallen on hard times. In Europe, there are three modern colossi – Great Britain, France and Germany. Although Germany by far dominates the European economy, it’s been unable to translate its economic and cultural strength into global hegemony, as Great Britain and France did, and Spain and Portugal had centuries ago.
True, Germany is a great manufacturing power, a leader of intellectual thought and a progenitor of great classical music, but a global colossus it’s not. France has enjoyed more success as a hegemon. But now only a skeleton of its former self remains.
Consider this. While Great Britain and France dominated the world in the Age of Empire, Germany languished on the sidelines. Twice, in 1914 and 1939, Germany rose up to exert global suzerainty. And twice it was thwarted. The result is that, outside Europe, except for providing potentates to European states, Germany’s influence beyond the European theatre was puny. Where it attempted colonisation in Tanganyika and Namibia, the results were disastrous. In the latter, it committed genocide against the Herero and the Nama. Of course, we’ve heard of its Holocaust against Jews and Third World peoples in the Great War of 1939-1945, incorrectly known as World War II. I guess I should be thankful that Germany failed in its imperial ambitions.
Now, to France, regarded by some as the land of high culture. One way to judge a great country is by its ports and entry points. I passed through Charles de Gaulle Airport the other day. The large airport looks a little tired. It’s seen better days, but is still an impressive structure.
Many laud French cuisine, but I beg to differ. Perhaps I am not cultured enough, but I fail to understand all the hoopla. That said, I find French fashion impressive. Its schools were excellent, and its literary production, especially in high political theory, was exemplary. It’s a romantic society. Very romantic. But it was a brutal colonial power, especially in Africa, Haiti and elsewhere. Its sense of superiority is morally repugnant and practically racist. But I will give the French this: they managed to convince the Africans they colonised of their superiority while robbing them blind. In turn, many colonised Africans thought themselves “French”. The former French colonies in West Africa are exhibit one. Today, those societies are tearing free of the French orbit, sick and tired of France’s looting. As the French Empire has shrunk, so has its influence at home and abroad. Abroad, the French find themselves shunned, especially in Africa.
At home, the French republic is under siege from white nativists and racists, as well as the progressive left. As the empire’s largesse has thinned, so has its affinity for its own citizens at home. Increasingly, France looks like a deer caught in the headlights.
A person uses a megaphone during a demonstration organised by labour unions as part of nationwide protests called by the "Yellow Vests" movement joined by French high school and university students against the cost of living and rising fuel prices, in Paris, France, October 31, 2026.
Photo credit: Pedro Nunes | Reuters
Is France now the sick man of Europe, a label other Europeans once used to describe Turkey? Let’s look at some basic facts. France is in late-stage capitalism. In human anatomy, that would be similar to late old age, when the grave starts to beckon. Here, decline – mental and physical – is irreversible. The real weight of mortality is on full display. The body breaks down as it prepares for a final exit. They haven’t found a cure for human ageing yet, and I don’t see one for states. Empires are in decline everywhere, including the mighty United States. Only a jingoistic fool or a brainwashed Third World idiot can’t see the obvious. Implosion usually starts at home and then becomes generalised.
In France, all these signs are there. It’s been evident for a long time. The current political unrest says it all. What began as student protests against the poor state of French schools was only the tip of the iceberg. Soon, the crisis metastasised into a national cancerous tumour. All the national failures and vectors of cultural retardation have become an existential crisis for the French republic. Schools have deteriorated so much that one can’t recognise them as places of learning or of rearing responsible citizens. The cost of living and inflation have gone through the roof. Austerity measures and budget cuts have deepened childhood and general poverty. Violent clashes reminiscent of primeval blood feuds have turned the French into modern Neanderthals.
What are the French to do? The temptation for the racist is to blame it on Black and Brown people, including immigrants of all hues. Remember, the “cost” of empire is often the multiculturalisation of White Western societies. The racist’s response is ready-made: our society wouldn’t have become dysfunctional but for Black and Brown people. In fact, often, it’s Black and Brown peoples who have brought some renewal to dying White Europe. In some countries, population declines are sharply negative. What France needs is a renaissance in governance and the economy.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. @makaumutua.
