Skip to content
Inside Story
About
Donate
Sign up
Search
Search
Menu
About
Donate
Sign up
Search
Search
France
Books & Arts
To Paris, from the land of fire
Sara Dowse
22 December 2023
Newly translated, Azerbaijan-born Banine’s memoirs chronicle her extraordinary early years
Essays & Reportage
France’s stubborn grip
Hamish McDonald
5 October 2023
While the French president risks a new civil war just three hours’ flight from Australia, Canberra’s diplomacy remains muted
Books & Arts
Case closed?
Anne Freadman
23 August 2023
A distinguished historian of France scrutinises the trial of Vichy leader Marshal Pétain and its aftermath
Correspondents
Death of a newspaper
Nic Maclellan
8 May 2023
The closing of New Caledonia’s only daily comes at a delicate point in the debate over the French territory’s future
International
Crash through or crash
Nic Maclellan
8 December 2021
By forcing the pace of New Caledonia’s self-determination process, France’s overseas minister risks an illegitimate vote this weekend
National Affairs
Going nuclear
Nicholas Stuart
23 September 2021
The AUKUS alliance represents a dramatic step away from multilateral diplomacy. Or is it a first step towards an independent nuclear deterrent?
Books & Arts
That elusive je ne sais quoi
Alexis Bergantz
25 July 2021
Why did French culture matter not only to French migrants but also to colonial Australians?
International
Macron, memory and Moruroa
Nic Maclellan
21 July 2021
The French president won’t be able to avoid the legacies of nuclear testing when he visits Tahiti this week
International
Third time lucky in New Caledonia?
Nic Maclellan
15 June 2021
France’s unilateral decision to bring forward a third independence vote might end in tears
From the archive
French sensations
Zora Simic
19 March 2021
Two new books illuminate France’s #MeToo moment with more than a Gallic shrug
International
New Caledonia’s triple opportunity
Nic Maclellan
10 December 2020
After weeks of protests, the Goro nickel smelter is up for grabs. Independence groups see the outcome as vital for the French dependency’s future
International
“Our accession to sovereignty is inevitable”
Nic Maclellan
2 October 2020
A vote against independence in New Caledonia this weekend won’t end the quest for nationhood
Essays & Reportage
“Before Noumea, there was only London, Washington and Ottawa”
Nic Maclellan
18 September 2020
Eighty years after helping defend New Caledonia against Japan, Australia is mobilising to counter another rising Asian power
International
New Caledonia’s bleu-blanc-rouge vote
Nic Maclellan
11 September 2020
As the Pacific nation heads for a fresh independence referendum in October, many loyalists are clinging to the flag of the French Republic
International
“We would like the French state to apologise”
Nic Maclellan
27 July 2020
As the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings approaches, the legacy of cold war–era French nuclear testing is still in dispute
Correspondents
Global Britain’s frayed edges
Nic Maclellan
7 February 2020
In the South Pacific, France is the likely beneficiary of Brexit
Books & Arts
A story that refuses to accept its own moral
Tom Greenwell
17 April 2019
Books
| Was the Vietnam war a failed but noble bid to save a free nation, or a stubborn attempt to thwart self-determination?
Correspondents
Ouvea looks forward, and back
Nic Maclellan
26 October 2018
With New Caledonia’s self-determination vote looming, our correspondent visits the scene of a turning point in the independence struggle
National Affairs
A Macron moment
Natalie J. Doyle
3 May 2018
Macronmania came to Australia this week, but back in France the president might be facing his “Thatcher moment”
National Affairs
Remember the nuclear renaissance? Well, it’s over
John Quiggin
4 August 2017
After a three-decade gap, George W. Bush initiated a new phase of nuclear reactor construction in 2002. Then economic reality got in the way
Correspondents
In France, another European populist vanquished
James Panichi
8 May 2017
Letter from Brussels
| Is Emmanuel Macron’s victory – just days after Matteo Renzi resumed the leadership of Italy’s Democratic Party – a turning…
International
The French left’s risky choice
Philippe Marlière
27 April 2017
With only lukewarm support from progressives, could Emmanuel Macron lose the French presidential election?
International
Old countries, new problems, new leaders
Tim Colebatch
1 December 2016
In their different ways, the trajectories of François Fillon and Theresa May highlight the challenges facing Europe
International
France and the Forum
Nic Maclellan
13 October 2016
France’s Pacific dependencies, New Caledonia and French Polynesia, have joined the Pacific Islands Forum as full members. Has French colonialism become entrenched in the…
International
Crowdsourcing terror
Greg Barton
18 July 2016
The attack in Nice reflects a shift in the dynamics of the Islamic State, writes
Greg Barton
. And the attempted coup in Turkey has complicated the task of responding effectively
International
France’s unwelcome choices
Tim Colebatch
8 December 2015
The National Front’s surge could deliver the French presidency to Marine Le Pen in 2017, writes
Tim Colebatch
. But the electoral arithmetic might change after…
Correspondents
Paris: assembling the fragments
David Hayes
16 November 2015
The “13/11” massacre reveals the scale of the ISIS threat, writes
David Hayes
in London. That makes a coherent response vital
International
Citizens of the world
Jane Goodall
16 November 2015
In the face of the attacks in Paris and Beirut, the philosophical heritage of stoicism carries a radical challenge, writes
Jane Goodall
Correspondents
“Something which touches every citizen in my country”
Daniel Nethery
30 October 2015
It’s seventy years since France introduced major social security laws.
Daniel Nethery
was there for the celebration
National Affairs
Gallipoli and forgetting
Nic Maclellan
23 April 2015
More French soldiers died at Gallipoli than Australians, writes
Nic Maclellan
, and many of the allied troops were African and Indian
Older posts