Francophonie: a language-based movement in world politics1

Because of France's traditional use of culture and language as an instrument of foreign policy, it would be easy to dismiss any movement involving French as serving her national interests. Francophonie, whose purpose is to strengthen the French language and serve the interests of those who use it, depends on nongovernmental organizations and subunits of government in about 26 countries. Its leaders claim it serves the purposes of all French-speaking peoples and that it is transnational or outside the control of governments. In fact, however, some French elites do try to control directly and indirectly the formal organizations of Francophonie, and, thus, it may fail to become a transnational force in world politics. On the other hand, the work done by professionals and language specialists to strengthen French, to extend it to the masses and to build a closed circuit for the communication of vital information responds to needs for protection against so-called “Americanization” and for access to modernization. Therefore, despite its intangible nature, a new cultural force might emerge, and it then could affect the way states interact with each other.