Emperor in France not carrying a big stick! (8)
I believe the answer is:
napoleon
'emperor in france' is the definition.
'napoleon' can be an answer for 'emperor' (Napoleon is an example). I am not certain of the 'in france' bit.
'not carrying a big stick' is the wordplay.
'not' becomes 'non' (I've seen this in other clues).
'carrying' indicates putting letters inside.
'big stick' becomes 'pole' (I am not sure about the 'big' bit.).
'a'+'pole'='apole'
'non' enclosing 'apole' is 'NAPOLEON'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for napoleon that I've seen before include "Open loan to the French general. strangely" , "Cake" , "French VIP" , "Gold twenty franc piece" , "Leading pig in Animal Farm" .)