French President Emmanuel Macron has rapidly emerged as Europe’s most important national leader. France is not only one of the biggest economies in the EU, but is also the bloc’s only nuclear weapons power. With war in Ukraine continuing, frictions with China persistent and deep fissures between Europe and the US under Donald Trump, France is once again trying to redefine its role—both within Europe and on the world stage.

Paris sees itself not just as a middle power, but as a shaper of order, a proponent of strategic autonomy and a multipolar world. But what exactly guides French foreign policy? How does France perceive threats and opportunities, and how is power distributed across its institutions and leadership?

In this episode of The Great Power Show, I speak to Philippe Le Corre, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis and a Senior Advisor on Geopolitics to Asia Society France.

The conversation focuses on France’s foreign policy worldview, from its foundational principles to its evolving posture on Ukraine, the EU, and its partnerships with the US, UK, and Germany. We then zoom out to examine France’s global strategy: how it views the Indo-Pacific, China, India, and the shifting international order.

Read Philippe’s latest publication: A New Triangle: The Interplay Between China and EU-India Relations

About: The Great Power Show is a bi-weekly podcast featuring candid conversations and thought-provoking interviews with leading scholars, thinkers and practitioners on the geopolitical and geo-economic changes shaping our world.