Prénom de l'expert

Dorothée

Nom de l'expert

SCHMID

France’s current presidential campaign has created an unprecedented situation fuelled by revelations and a total absence of restraint, but it has not truly taken account of the disruptions of the last year: Brexit, the attempted coup in Turkey, the election of Donald Trump, the recapturing of Aleppo by Bashar al-Assad, Xi Jinping’s declarations about “economic globalization”, or the behavior of North Korea. The debate, or rather its absence, can be looked at in two ways.

What will become of US foreign policy under Donald Trump? A selection of Ifri researchers has come together to offer their thoughts on this question. Our experts cover an array of topics through 14 contributions, ranging from the future Sino-American relations, through US engagement in the Middle East, to the prospects of a renewed transatlantic relationship. This analysis intends to help readers anticipate the outcomes of this election in order to facilitate decision-making.

The Armenian Genocide has been a topic of trials and tribulations in American politics for quite some time.  It has been an issue in Presidential campaigns, like that of now-President Obama: when he promised to recognize it. It has been the topic of votes, such as the most recent 2010 vote which failed to recognize the genocide. It has been a funnel for interests, lobbying, and foreign investment. With Germany recently recognizing the genocide and an American Presidential election at hand, speculation of American recognition is once again at a high. As politicians debate the issue, or avoid it altogether, the American political system moves forward. There are various key players in American politics, but in specificity to the Armenian Genocide issue, there are the Armenian, Turkish, and Israeli lobbies, and the constituencies they represent.

For the Turks, the Treaty of Sèvres symbolizes the liquidation of the Empire and the carving up of Turkey by outside forces.

Relations between Germany, France and Turkey have been strictly bilateral for a long time, with varying intensity, styles and areas of cooperation. The European perspective that is now part of these relations has introduced a three-way dynamic. 

For a long time, the Turkish Republic created by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was regarded by France's elites and political class as a sister republic: secular and Jacobin, the concrete embodiment of the universalism of the shared values of the French Revolution. However, the political change that has occurred since the AKP has come to office has questioned these classical republican convictions.

Report written by Séverine Neervoort, Intern, Ifri Brussels.