Ukraine and the transformation of French strategic imaginaries: The discursive reconfiguration of European strategic autonomy under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron (2017-2026)
Ukraine and the transformation of French strategic imaginaries: The discursive reconfiguration of European strategic autonomy under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron (2017-2026)

Summary/Abstract: This article examines how the war in Ukraine has reshaped French strategic imaginaries and contributed to the discursive reconfiguration of European Strategic Autonomy (ESA). Grounded in a constructivist framework, it conceptualizes ESA not as a fixed policy objective but as an evolving security imaginary co-constructed through political discourse. The study conducts a qualitative analysis of a selection of Emmanuel Macron’s speeches and long-form interviews between 2017 and 2026, spanning both presidential mandates. Drawing on a comparative corpus of speeches and interviews delivered in comparable discursive settings and using NVivo coding for analyzing them, the article traces shifts in threat construction, referent objects of security, and the articulation of ESA by France. Prior to 2022, ESA is primarily framed in relation to terrorism, multilateralism, and global governance. After 2022, continental war and the Russian threat become structuring elements of French strategic discourse. In this context, Ukraine emerges as both a critical actor and a catalyst, accelerating the Europeanisation of French strategic narratives, with national capabilities increasingly framed as contributions to collective defense. Rather than positioning France as determining ESA, the article shows how French strategic imaginaries participate in its ongoing coconstruction, highlighting the discursive politics through which Europe’s security identity is renegotiated in times of war.

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