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Within the newly theorised “global diplomacy”, economics is at the heart of the action, but culture isn’t a serious issue of debate, while it represents a great French particularity, and probably one of its main assets in globalisation. “Cultural cooperation” and “Francophonie” labels conceals a unique mechanism and a global presence that no other country has.Recent calls against the Alliance Française somehow overwhelm a secular history made of ambitious visions but also empirical sums and pragmatic agreements. At least, it allows to recall that France still has influence thanks to its cultural network. If it characterizes a unique asset in international relations, its long-time breathlessness is the outcome of successive layers of a complex history, leading to turn over a new page.