The French flex their muscles.

• Author: Howell, Llewellyn D.

At its peak as a colonial power earlier in the century, France had an imperial reach that extended to virtually every continent. Indochina brought together a number of minor kingdoms that today compose the three nations of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Islands under France's control were sprinkled throughout the Pacific Ocean. French Guyana was a major outpost in South America, and a number of islands were in its domain in the Caribbean.

Real strength lay closer to home in Algeria and protectorates Tunisia and Morocco, but especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. There, it included French Equatorial Africa, French West Africa, French Somaliland, and the islands of Madagascar and the Comoros. In 1914, at the dawn of World War I, the French empire included more than 4,000,000 square miles and over 60,000,000 people.

As with other European colonial empires, the French sought markets and materials, labor and investments. However, where the British were inclined to view the future of colonies as one of independence, the French saw their presence as a permanent one, implanting Roman Catholicism and French culture, these functions being nearly as important as business and economic success.

In the post-World War II period, when colonialism was ideologically in decline and France was forced into surrendering much of its imperial holdings, former French colonies seldom have fared well in efforts at governing and managing their economies. Their former colonial world has remained troubled through the 1990s. At home, unintended and unforeseen consequences also have plagued France. Bombings by Muslim militants have resulted in official French reactions that make this formidable democracy look like a police state. Ethnic divisions characterize much of the country, belying France's history as a sanctuary, both political and intellectual. Domestically and internationally, France has become a victim of its own global imperative.

Its presidents, with varying consistency, have tried to revive French foreign policy and elevate France's international standing. Charles de Gaulle probably made the most headway in this regard following World War II.

Since the time of de Gaulle, France had remained aloof from NATO, even though it was a member, declining to participate militarily in a military alliance. This policy finally was reversed on Dec. 5, 1995. Until then, France had pressed its own agenda within NATO, including a demand for a singular role in Bosnian peacekeeping.

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