Geopolitics and Political Regime: The Case of Russia and France

The question of democratization and presidentialization in post –Soviet states is often analysed throught the comparison of the different model of democracy emerging in these countries and the Western model of democracy supposed to be the reference after the Cold War and the fall of USSR. However, this question can also be approach through the geopolitical angle, that is how the territorial characteristics and geo-historical legacy of a nation can be a determining factor in the construction of the model of democracy. An interesting comparative approach could be applied to Russia and France, Russia as a « post-Soviet state » and « sovereign democracy » and France as a « Western democracy ». These two countries developed a presidential regime with strong executive powers. Their respective model can be explained by the geopolitical configuration of the two countries : their geographical location (France at the crossroads of different physical geography configurations and cultural influences in Western Europe, Russia at the crossroads of Eurasia), the history of the national expansion/regression of their national territory (Geo-history), the geopolitical configuration with other allies /rival powers. Common features but also different developments can be underlined through the use of geopolitical maps used as analysing material.