France – AIL : Statement Against War Economy and French Colonialism
We hereby share a translation of a joint statement published by AIL France, on September 25, we have received by e-mail.
Anti-imperialists of the world, unite!
Against the war economy and French colonialism: for the self-determination of all peoples!
Imperialist France is preparing for war whilst maintaining its colonial domination. Behind the rhetoric of ‘national defence’, ‘security’, ‘sovereignty’ and ‘European strategic autonomy’, the French state is massively increasing military spending, deploying its forces across several continents and intends to retain, by force, control over the territories, seas, resources and peoples it dominates. The updated military programming law now provides for €436 billion in funding for the period 2024–2030, compared with €400 billion in the initial programme. Expenditure on the ‘Defence’ mission, excluding pensions, is set to rise from 47.2 billion euros in 2024 to 57.1 billion in 2026, and then to 76.3 billion in 2030. This represents an additional €36 billion allocated to militarisation between 2026 and 2030. This increase will fund, in particular, rearmament, missiles, drones, strike capabilities, cyber capabilities, ammunition stocks and nuclear deterrence.
Whilst the state is spending tens of billions more on its military apparatus, workers, young people and colonised peoples are being forced to accept austerity, the high cost of living, the dismantling of public services, job insecurity and unemployment. The war economy is an economy organised for the benefit of monopolies, arms manufacturers, banks and the imperialist bourgeoisie. It guarantees neither security nor peace: it paves the way for new wars, new occupations and new waves of repression.
France cannot claim to be a major world power without its colonies and territories under its control. It is this maritime, territorial and strategic control that the French state defends when it speaks of sovereignty, power projection abroad or the defence of national interests. The populations of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Kanaky, Réunion, Corsica and many other territories under French control are not only faced with social inequalities; they suffer the tangible consequences of a colonial relationship. Resources, land, waters, maritime areas and geostrategic positions are subsumed within the interests of the State and French capital, whilst the peoples concerned are denied any real control over their future. Meanwhile, on France excluding Mayotte, the French state is indoctrinating young people and preparing them to be sent to their deaths in the service of its interests. This is achieved through the SNU, the increasing presence of the military on university campuses and constant media indoctrination. This campaign by the French bourgeoisie must be denounced and fought against.
This domination is ensured by a permanent military presence. The Ministry of the Armed Forces reports 9,050 military personnel in the ‘sovereignty forces’ overseas. This figure does not include so-called aid to the population or an abstract defence of the territory but reflects the strategic role of the colonies within the global apparatus of French imperialism. Bases, garrisons, airstrips, naval installations, surveillance systems and police forces are all instruments enabling the French state to maintain colonial order, defend its economic interests and project its power into the surrounding regions. In French Guiana or Corsica, the military presence is linked to the defence of strategic infrastructure, border control and the exploitation of resources. In the Indian Ocean, Mayotte and Réunion serve as strategic footholds for controlling a region characterised by military rivalries and global maritime traffic. In the Pacific, Kanaky and Polynesia give France a major military and maritime role in a key area of competition between powers.
In Kanaky, the French state responds to national and popular aspirations by maintaining its imposed sovereignty, through a police and military presence, and by refusing to fully recognise the Kanak people’s right to self-determination. In Polynesia, the legacy of nuclear testing remains a bloody symbol of the French state’s colonial contempt for the health, land and lives of the peoples. In French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique, the social, health, environmental and democratic crises show that no real equality is possible within a framework where economic and political power remains concentrated in the hands of the imperialist state and the ruling classes. In Mayotte, this domination takes a particularly brutal form. 77 per cent of the population live below the poverty line, and a large proportion of the population has no access to drinking water. In 2024, unemployment affected 29 per cent of the working population there, compared with 7 per cent in mainland France. These are the consequences of a colonial policy that combines social neglect, administrative control, border violence and a heavy security presence.
As the presidential election approaches, the colonial issue is resurfacing in the rhetoric of the bourgeois parties. Some promise dialogue, autonomy or institutional reform; others call for more assimilation, more police, more control and a more aggressive defence of ‘national unity’. Many shift from one position to another depending on electoral interests, parliamentary calculations or the balance of power at any given moment. But no people can be free if the fundamental instruments of power remain in the hands of the colonial state. There can be no real autonomy as long as Paris retains a monopoly over the army, the police, the judiciary, the borders, strategic resources, major economic policies and international relations. Autonomy granted from above, which can be revoked by law and is subordinate to the interests of French imperialism, cannot replace the right to self-determination. The electoral pledges of the bourgeois forces are aimed above all at preserving the existing order. They do not challenge the occupation of territories, the military presence, the plundering of resources or economic subordination. When colonised peoples mobilise, demand sovereignty, organise strikes, defend their land or challenge the French presence, the state responds with repression, prosecutions, exceptional laws and the criminalisation of political activity.
It is against this backdrop of struggle that the campaigns initiated and supported by the AIL since its creation in March 2026 have taken place, notably the ‘The Age of Colonies is Over’ campaign to denounce and combat French colonialism. For months, across France, rallies bringing together hundreds of people were organised, and press releases were published, and leaflets were distributed in the streets, on university campuses, workplaces and markets, banners were unfurled, and anti-colonial posters were spotted in many cities accross France and in the colonised territories. In June alone, the AIL took part in a conference with Ka Ubuntu (Réunion), the anti-colonial weekend in Ceini Hnei (Kanaky), and the CRPC’s international meetings (Corsica), which form part of a wider campaign against NATO and militarisation in the Mediterranean. It is also within this internationalist and anti-imperialist framework that the AIL actively took part in the counter-rally against the G7 summit and in the campaign in support of those repressed for their support of the Palestinian cause.
The struggle against French colonialism is inseparable from the struggle against global imperialism and capitalism. Wars, occupations, military bases and competition between major powers do not reflect the interests of the people: they reflect the interests of the ruling classes and monopolies vying for markets, resources, trade routes and strategic positions. Workers in France have no interest in defending the colonial conquests of their bourgeoisie. They have no interest in footing the bill for the war economy, in accepting the dismantling of public services, or in being sent off to fight for the profits of industrial and financial groups. Colonised peoples and the popular classes of France have a common enemy: the imperialist state, its military and police apparatus, and the capitalist system that sustains them.
That is why we are launching this new campaign, which will run throughout September and October, to call on anti-imperialists to join us in denouncing and fighting French colonialism, particularly through the march towards imperialist war!
Down with imperialism and French colonialism!
Down with the war economy and the militarisation of the Mediterranean!
Down with NATO bases and imperialist alliances!
For the right of peoples to self-determination!
No war between peoples, no peace between classes!
20 November 2026
The Anti-Imperialist League (French section)
