Ambitions and Reality: French Presidential State Visits in the Framework of Middle Power Diplomacy (1958–2024)

This interdisciplinary article seeks to explore French presidential state visits and examine them against the backdrop of French middle power status. While France actively refuses to accept its middle power identity, French presidents have had to adapt their diplomatic activities to this reality in view of the country’s material capabilities. By examining a novel dataset of French presidential state visits in a longue durée time span (1958–2024), this article demonstrates that these visits serve increasingly as a means of promoting visibility and enhancing France’s status. This is enabled especially through the active engagement of French presidents in crises worldwide. The study concludes that high-level bilateral visits remain a vital component of a middle power’s foreign policy toolkit, especially for a country whose ambitions surpasses its material capabilities. It also argues that these visits are essential for France, a balancing middle power with global ambitions, to maintain its influence, visibility, and strategic presence on the international stage.