The unusual strike movement which mobilized a significant part of the French diplomatic corps on Thursday, June 2, must be considered a warning. Organized more than a month after the publication of the application decrees removing two specific bodies in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this strike could hardly have the aim of constraining the initiator of the project, Emmanuel Macron, to come back to it. The diplomats, often reduced, in the eyes of their fellow citizens, to worn clichés, also knew that they could not count on the support of public opinion to establish a power relationship which is more favorable to them. Their mobilization, however, testifies to a lively fear that the public authorities must take into account.
The abolition of these two bodies (that of foreign affairs advisers and that of Plenipotentiary Ministers) opens the way to dreaded competition with other non -diplomatic senior officials. It fits into the general reform of the high public service that Emmanuel Macron launched, in 2019, the day after the movement of “yellow vests”, when he announced his desire to reform ENA and end with corporatism. Based on popular pressure, the Head of State then decided to bring together in a single body a large part of the highest state executives – prefects, diplomats, general inspectors – to widen recruitments and promote the mobility. The stated objective is to adapt to a world in movement where the border between what is only the national framework and what exceeds it is less asserted than in the past.
May diplomacy be on the occasion trapped in a certain form of conservatism, like any institution, is hardly questionable. Two elements, however, made the slinge inevitable which manifested itself in broad daylight through the June 2 movement. This reform comes after two decades of budget cuts, practiced including by former foreign ministers who are of an imminent danger today. Diplomats also retained in memory of the stigma by Emmanuel Macron, in 2019, of a “deep state” incapable of adapting to his attempt to open up to Russia, a criticism that has aged badly in front of the war in Ukraine .
tragic resurgence
Since the reform will come into force in the coming months, it must now be deemed, in complete transparency, in terms of warnings launched by its detractors. Precious tool of influence, which allows France to keep a flattering rank on the international scene, the diplomatic corps should not suffer from a risky experiment of which other comparable powers have been kept well so far. Even if the previous powers have not deprived themselves of political promotions based more on collusion than on competence, it is also necessary to avoid any slip towards a “system of remains” as it is practiced in the United States.
By entrusting the Quai d’Orsay to Catherine Colonna, a particularly seasoned career diplomat, Emmanuel Macron made a gesture. The minister will have to ensure the preservation of this asset. It is all the more strategic as the resurgence of the tragic in history supposes a more political than economic practice of international relations. The return of the war, the questioning of international standards previously better accepted and respected, the new power relations between great powers which are exhausted in fact the importance of diplomacy and expertise.