Since 2013, France has enhanced its security cooperation with Egypt to unprecedented levels, including the sale of a wide range of military technologies, creating a financial windfall for French defence contractors while simultaneously serving the policy objectives of France’s strategic agenda.
Since 2013, France has enhanced its security cooperation with Egypt to unprecedented levels, including the sale of a wide range of military technologies, creating a financial windfall for French defence contractors while simultaneously serving the policy objectives of France’s strategic agenda. As part of this trend, In 2015, France’s Dassault Group inked a deal to sell Rafale fighter aircraft to Egypt. In recent years, the Rafale’s manufacturer has increased its stake in France’s media landscape, including the acquisition of one of the country’s largest dailies, Le Figaro. As outlined in this report, the Dassault Group, as the parent company of Le Figaro, mobilized its media resources in support of the deal in what represents a clear conflict of interest. Using the sale of French manufactured Rafale fighter aircraft to Egypt as a case study, this report examines French policy towards Egypt through the framework of ‘Organized Hypocrisy’ and explores the relationship between the increasingly integrated corporate, military, media and state nexus and France’s policy orientation in the Middle East.
Download the Report
