MAIRI MACLEAN is Professor of International Business at Bristol Business School, UWE, UK. She was previously Reader in European Business at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her recent books include Business Elites and Corporate Governance in France and the UK (with Charles Harvey and Jon Press) and Economic Management and French Business from de Gaulle to Chirac.

JOSEPH SZARKA is Reader in European Studies in the Department of European Studies, University of Bath, UK. His research interests are in politics and policy studies, specialising in environmental, economic and energy policy-making. His recent publications include The Shaping of Environmental Policy in France and Wind Power in Europe: Politics, Business and Society.

Globalization and the Nation State: Conceptual Lenses on French Ambitions in a Changing World Order; M.Maclean & J.Szarka French-American Relations after the Iraq War; G.Parmentier From Confidence to Confusion: Franco-African Relations in the Era of Globalisation; T.Chafer France in East Asia: The Europeanization of French Foreign Policy; R.Wong The Burdensome Heritage of Prestige Politics; A.Sonntag The French Rejection of the 2005 EU Constitution in a Global Context; N.Startin Supporting Europe and Voting 'No'?; L.Binet Using Europe to Keep the World at Bay: French Policy on EU Economic Governance; D.Howarth French Corporate Governance in a Globalized World: A Changing Business Model?; M.Maclean From Industrial Policy to Competitiveness Policy?: The New French Strategy; J-M.Trouille & H.Uterwedde Facing Global Climate Risk: International Negotiations, European Policy Measures and French Policy Style; J.Szarka Pushing Back and Reaching Out: French Television in the Global Era; R.Kuhn Globalization and the Specificity of the French Republic: The End of the French Counter-Model?; G.Raymond

This book examines the ways in which France's relations with the international community have evolved in a period of accelerating globalization. It considers the role of the nation state, and its capacity for political initiative, examining French strategies to reinforce French influence on the world stage.