The islands in the Indian Ocean bearing the name are indeed 'scattered' around Madagascar, mainly in the Mozambique Channel. Formally under French sovereignty, their tiny size belies their growing strategic importance for the world's most powerful players
Mayotte, a French Département in the Comoros archipelago, is overpopulated, underemployed, and poorly educated - a potential target of unvarnished Chinese and Russian ambitions, and a basket case for a medium-sized ex-colonial power
Troubled Central African Republic, a former French colony, proffers another complex arbitrage medium-sized ex-colonial powers – such as France or the United Kingdom – have to resolve to confront larger resurgent world powers
The hardships of French Guiana and its scant hopes for a better future, while sitting on a 'mountain of gold', might slowly dissolve the bonds with France, with some challenging world powers ready to take advantage
Fresh strategic opportunities in France’s ultra-marine territories could be viewed as a blue print for second-tier countries, calling for a long view and a readiness to confront probable encroachments in a world of swaggering upstarts