2022 Paris Peace Forum to conclude
The Paris Peace Forum´s annual conference will conclude today.
The conference focuses on global governance issues and aims to incentivize multilateral action. This year’s forum priorities are managing human security risk brought about by COVID-19 and conflict, managing international conflict and navigating a globalized economy. Additionally, one key project this year is the Peace by Africa initiative focusing on peace building on the continent. Key figures attending the forum include French President Emmanuel Macron and Argentinian President Alberto Angel Fernandez.
Forum host France has recently changed its Africa policy, ending the controversial Operation Burkhane, and with it its counterterror activities in the Sahel . Part of a new French strategy towards Africa involves a reduction in direct interventions and more cooperation with the militaries of African countries. Macron is also emphasizing closer inter-European relations with the UK and Germany which may lead to a decreased focus on Africa overall.
Expect the forum to brainstorm effective solutions for international conflict largely with a focus on the global south. This could allow France to maintain its influence in Africa through the Peace Forum even as it focuses its foreign policy elsewhere.
