The Middle-East strategy of the National Front nowadays
Zhidkova Alexandra
The Middle-Eastern region that is usually one of the principal areas of international tension has traditionally attracted attention of various political forces of France. The Middle East has gained a prominence in the foreign-policy strategy of the French extreme right party National Front, which is integrating now into political space of the Fifth Republic and becomes its important structural element. The full-scale renewal of the National Front after Marine Le Pen election as the new president of the party in the January 2011 touched also the foreign-policy course of the NF, in particular its attitude towards the Middle-East problems. The author of the article analyzed the ideological fundamentals of the party’s foreign-policy doctrine, the evolution of the Middle-Eastern strategy of the National Front and its key modern features. The author pays a special attention to the changes in the NF strategy towards the Arab–Israeli conflict which were connected with the party’s modernization. It’s also examined the party’s attitude towards the events of the Arab spring that encompassed many the Middle East countries during the period 2010-2011.