Finally, the outcomes of French interventions demonstrated the ultimate limits of military force as a method for building sustainable political order. The success of French policy greatly depended upon the agreement and cooperation of local elites. Third, allied African elites exercised a great deal of influence over French policymaking on the continent, including military interventions. Instead, these interests were indirect and were mostly concerned with protecting the economic bases of client or allied regimes. Second, economic interests only played a secondary role in the reasoning of French decisionmakers. First, strategic considerations, strongly linked to ideological concerns relating to security, prestige, and credibility, were the principle factors behind French decisions to intervene. In studying these interventions, as well as conducting a broader analysis of French Africa policy, this dissertation makes four arguments. It is principally based upon two case studies: the French interventions in Zaire in 19, and in Chad between 19. This dissertation focuses on French military interventions in Subsaharan Africa during the presidency of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
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