The study, conducted by Toluna Harris interactive for the consulting firm MGH Partners, was carried out from May 5 to 11, 2026 with a sample of 1,240 people representative of the French population.
“Spontaneously, when the French think of France’s foreign policy, they evoke above all the role of diplomacy, with the perception of an international context strained by wars and conflictswhich arouses concern and various criticisms”, summarize the authors of the investigation.
The previous study was carried out in December 2021 with a view to the 2022 presidential election. Since then, conflicts have broken out all over the world: war in Ukraine in February 2022, then war Israeli-Palestinian and war in Lebanon since the attacks of October 7, 2023. And more recently in the spring, American-Israeli offensive against Iran with direct effects on the daily lives of the French due to rising oil prices.
In total, 51% of the French people questioned believe that the first priority is the defense of the security of the French against external powers, compared to 32% in December 2021. And only 22% (-13 percentage points) now see the climate change as a priority.
Promoting France’s economic interests is the second priority for 46% of French people surveyed (+3 points). The election of Republican American President Donald Trump, openly hostile to Europeans, also had a marked impact on the French’s perception of France’s allied countries.
United States: a threat to a third of French people
“While in 2021 the United States was mostly perceived as an ally, only a third of the French still consider them that way today,” the pollsters point out. Only 32% consider them as allies compared to 53% in 2021. And 34% even believe that they represent a threat to France.
Conversely, the United Kingdom and Ukraine — supported by France against Russia — are now more identified as allies, as are the Gulf countries (excluding Iran) and Morocco, according to the study. “In five years, French opinion has made a clear shift in security,” Hamza Hraoui, co-founder of MGH Partners, told AFP.
He further notes that “the French are now fully seized by world affairs”: “The geopolitics invites itself into their daily lives, even onto their plate, with inflation directly indexed to open conflicts.
Finally, he observes “a convergence between public opinion and the main principles which structure French diplomacy”, in particular on the need for European sovereignty in matters of defense. Nearly 6 out of 10 French people believe that to strengthen its weight in the world, France should spend more on its defense.
In addition, almost half of French people (47%) believe that, to prevent conflicts, “the most effective method consists of enforcing international law, far ahead of asserting one’s power without taking this framework into account” (17%).
President Emmanuel Macron himself continues to call for respect for international law and constantly calls for de-escalation, particularly in the Near and Middle East.
This barometer is carried out every 5 years in the run-up to the presidential elections to measure opinion on international issues.
With AFP.
