The naive hopes of the 1990s have long since faded, and the trajectories of many African countries remain, to varying degrees, chaotic: Mauritania, the DRC, or Nigeria, to name a few. The case file of Politique étrangère reminds us that the establishment of institutions deemed to cultivate democracy is no more than a symbolic act—a prelude. Progress on the ground owes far more to societies themselves than to the intervention of external actors, no matter how well intentioned. Once again, this realization should encourage those actors to rethink their policies, adapting them more closely to local political conditions.

In an international arena where the clamor for power is growing louder, what is the role of the G7, this year under the presidency of France? Is it still relevant as the only forum capable of addressing the world’s greatest challenges, from economic policy to marine conservation to women’s rights? Or is it just an expression of the desire to see the West persist, divided and isolated, in a world that has turned away? The Counter Analysis section juxtaposes perspectives from Canada (which held the G7 presidency in 2018) and Russia (ejected from the G8 in 2014). It invites us to reflect on how Moscow perceives its own interests, and on the new global hierarchy of power.

CASE FILE

DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA: A LONG AND WINDING ROAD

Will There be an Authoritarian Resurgence in Africa? by Victor Magnani and Thierry Vircoulon

Nigeria: Democrazy and its Ills, by Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos

"Post-Conflict" Democratization in Central Africa: An Anatomy of Failure, by Thierry Vircoulon

The Paradoxical Progression of Democracy in Mauritania. by Alain Antil

COUNTER ANALYSIS

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE G7?

The Value of the G7: Reflections of a Sherpa, by Peter M. Boehm

The Moscow-G7 Relationship: A Tragedy in Three Acts, Prologue and Epilogue, by Andrey Kortunov

CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Yemeni War: Year Five, by François Frison-Roche (Guerre au Yémen : an V)

Jihadism in the Sahel After the Fall of Islamic State, by Djallil Lounnas

Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro's Foreign Policy, by Mathilde Chatin

BAROMETERS

The Digital Revolution and Better Public Policy, by Carlos Santiso

REFLECTIONS

The European Union as Seen from Russia, by Roman Volkov

Russia in a Post-Putin Era: An Open Succession?, by Vladimir Tchernega

BOOK REVIEWS

The Empty Throne: America's Abdication of Global Leadership, by Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay

A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism, by Jeffrey D. Sachs

The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World, by Robert Kagan

By Laurence Nardon