ABSTRACT
Senegal is a former French colony that has maintained strong links with the former metropole. The resilience of this cultural factor is demonstrated by the Senegalese constitution's recognition of French as the "official language" of all government activity and the self-classification of the elite as belonging to a greater French-speaking community whose cultural center is France. Four sets of principles or policy orientations are essential to a comprehensive understanding of Senegalese foreign policy. The analysis of Senegalese foreign policy suggests that the dependency, Cold War, or personal rule–oriented explanations of African foreign policies are inadequate and possibly misleading. Specifically, Senegal offers an important case study not only of the continuities and changes in the substance of foreign policy that occur when a peaceful transition of power takes place but also of the evolving role of a variety of official and nonofficial policy actors within a democratic setting.
