The French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces recently released a report called “Ballistic Missile Defense: Military Shield or Strategic Challenge?” This report urges France to take a strong role in the NATO missile defense program and to develop a space-based (exoatmospheric) ballistic missile defense interceptor. This would be a great step in the right direction for NATO and the French defense industry—one the United States should learn from. Space-based interceptors present the best option for a boost-phase missile defense. In the boost phase, ballistic missiles …
Amidst the ongoing aerial campaign against Muammar Qadhafi’s forces in Libya, NATO is struggling with a problem that is affecting the integrity of the alliance. Arms producers in France, Italy, and Germany are selling advanced weapons, sensitive dual-use systems, and military supplies to Russia. These military sales to Moscow, which is flush with cash from oil and gas sales, signal the decline in strategic cohesiveness among some of NATO’s most important members. Such military sales include a record-breaking deal signed on June 17 between France and Russia in which Russia …
The Franco-American-British coalition leading military intervention in Libya has demonstrated the cardinal rule of international security: enduring alliances matter. Ultimately, when the chips were down and the rebel stronghold in Benghazi was under threat, it was a coalition of long-standing allies that rallied behind one another to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. British Prime Minister David Cameron quickly emerged as Europe’s unofficial leader on the issue of Libya and was among the first to call for Libya to be suspended from the U.N. Human Rights Council. French President Nicolas …
The Obama administration is not known for its pro-British track record, but this is by far the strongest indication yet that the current White House has little regard for the Special Relationship and its unique role in modern American history. During a White House photo-op with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, President Obama had this to say: We don’t have a stronger friend and stronger ally than Nicolas Sarkozy, and the French people. Quite what the French have done to merit this kind of high praise from the US president is …
In 2007, the director general of Britain’s internal security service described al-Qaeda and its associated groups as, “the main national security threat that we face today.” Revelations that al-Qaeda linked terrorists planned to carry out Mumbai-style attacks in Germany, France and Britain once again underscores this fact. The capture and interrogation of a German national returning to Europe from a Pakistani training camp revealed a fledgling plan to terrorize European cities through murderous shooting sprees. Through a series of attacks and attempted attacks, Islamist extremists have declared war on Europe …
France’s declaration of war on al-Qaeda is merely a public statement of fact: France takes counterterrorism seriously. Following last weekend’s statement from al-Qaeda that it had murdered a septuagenarian French aid worker, Prime Minister Francois Fillon declared “war.” French troops have since attacked al-Qaeda bases in North Africa and ramped up cooperation with Paris’s regional allies. French President Nicolas Sarkozy should translate this public show of strength to France’s other theater of war against Islamist terrorists: Afghanistan. France has been just one of several European countries to under-resource the U.N.-mandated …
British Prime Minister David Cameron has completed a visit to Turkey with a passionate defense of Ankara’s aspiration to join the European Union. The charismatic young leader, who also completed a successful Prime Ministerial visit to Washington this month, has joined leading figures, such as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in accusing Brussels of not playing fair with Turkey. They’re right. When negotiations with Ankara began, Brussels set out 35 chapters of EU law for Ankara to discharge before a final vote on …
Although it remains to be seen whether Iran’s latest diplomatic ploy, assisted by Turkey and Brazil, will actually lead to any lasting agreement on a nuclear fuel swap, Tehran’s recent behavior teaches several lessons, according to Patrick Clawson, a leading Iran expert based at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. First, Iran reacts to international pressure but not so much to inducements. Iran’s resurrection of a mutated October deal that it previously had rejected undoubtedly was triggered by the imminent passage of a fourth U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution. …
As the Obama administration makes it clear they want to pursue a carbon capping policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the French government announced that it would abandon plans to impose a similar carbon tax on domestic energy and transportation fuels. The reason for the French government’s change of tune is obvious. Sarkozy’s party knows that the carbon tax, which would have raised gasoline prices by 17 cents per gallon and domestic gas bills by 7 percent, would have significantly harmed the intra-continental and international competitiveness of French businesses and …
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev arrived in Paris on Monday for a three-day visit and to launch a new strategic partnership with France. The new Franco-Russian embrace is marked by major arms sales, a space deal, lucrative energy contracts and greater market access—all under the banner of a blossoming personal relationship between President Nicolas Sarkozy and Medvedev. But the blossoming Franco-Russian friendship appears poised to come at the expense of European security. We’ve been to this show before. The historical connection between France and Russia dates back before World War I. …
