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France - still Central Africa's 'gendarmerie'?
Although it's almost 50 years on from the era of decolonisation, French soldiers are again in the frontline of a number of conflicts on the continent of Africa - and some people argue it's taken on a neo-colonial role in the region.
Just last week, French fighter planes were helping to suppress a rebellion by a somewhat mysterious resistance movement in the Central African Republic. Meanwhile, in Chad, France continues to play an important role in supporting the effort by President Idriss Deby to put down an uprising in the east of the country.
Until a few years ago, French policy was the deciding factor in the conflicts of Central Africa. Between 1962 and 1995, Paris intervened a total of 19 times in various African nations. However, with the arrival of multi-party politics on the continent some 15 years ago, and the establishment of the African Union in 2002, it seemed that France's role as the 'police man' of the region was almost over.
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