{"id":1104,"date":"2026-06-03T07:06:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T07:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=1104"},"modified":"2026-06-03T07:06:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T07:06:02","slug":"france-loses-influence-while-macron-chases-strategic-autonomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=1104","title":{"rendered":"France loses influence while Macron chases strategic autonomy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OPINION:<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to geopolitics, few ideas have been as persistent as France\u2019s long-running quest for \u201cstrategic autonomy\u201d from the United States.<\/p>\n

Read more At the midterms, we will have a choice between two Americas<\/a><\/p>\n

For decades, successive governments in Paris have envisioned themselves as Europe\u2019s indispensable power: a bridge between East and West and a key architect of a more pluralistic global order.<\/p>\n

That impulse has been given new life of late. Over the past year and a half, the Trump administration has presided over a very public parting of the ways with Europe, citing insufficient military burden-sharing, societal decay in Europe and other issues.<\/p>\n

The result has been a resurgence of European plans for \u201cautonomy\u201d and a renewed push by France, under President Emmanuel Macron, to carve out a \u201cthird way\u201d in world affairs.<\/p>\n

In practice, however, this high-minded vision is delivering diplomatic irrelevance, economic vulnerability and political marginalization.<\/p>\n

The most glaring example has been France\u2019s handling of the conflict with Iran. When Israel and the United States moved militarily once again this spring to target the Islamic republic, France found itself sidelined \u2014 \u201cneither informed nor involved,\u201d as the French president acknowledged.<\/p>\n

Paris\u2019 reaction was telling. Rather than rallying to Washington\u2019s side as its longtime political ally, Mr. Macron\u2019s administration opted for procedural complaints and coordinated with Moscow and Beijing to complicate the U.S.-Israeli effort.<\/p>\n

France also adopted an obstructionist stance that blocked American overflights and complicated military coordination, earning the White House\u2019s ire without any real dividends.<\/p>\n

That same logic took Mr. Macron to Beijing in December on a much-publicized state visit. The goals of that trip were extensive: to rebalance trade, secure Chinese help in containing Russia and showcase France\u2019s independent clout.<\/p>\n

Still, the tangible results were scant, reflecting that, for China, France is less a serious partner than a useful foil to drive a further wedge between the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n

Read more Some helpful notes on Iran\u2019s \u2018Islamic revolutionaries\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

France\u2019s traditional influence in Africa has mostly evaporated as well. The country, which previously boasted an extensive military footprint (and pervasive political influence) across the continent owing to its former colonial presence and holdings, has suffered a dramatic collapse in its regional position in recent years.<\/p>\n

Since 2022, France has been ejected from countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Senegal and the Ivory Coast, rendering it strategically irrelevant.<\/p>\n

So rapid has this decline been that it has even acquired a label: the end of Francafrique. Although Paris, under Mr. Macron, is still attempting to court the rest of the continent, there is no question that France\u2019s footprint there is now a mere shadow of its former self.<\/p>\n

France is facing problems in its remaining colonial holdings as well. In its overseas Pacific territory of New Caledonia, it is clinging to the area despite indigenous unrest and severe United Nations criticism. Though subject to fluctuations in the global market, New Caledonia represents a strategic prize because of its rich nickel deposits, which rank as the third largest in the world.<\/p>\n

France annexed the territory in 1853, thereafter suppressing a subsequent series of indigenous uprisings against its rule. Just two years ago, French security forces suppressed riots there, causing fatalities and many injuries. There are fears that it may happen again.<\/p>\n

Paris now maintains some 2,000 military sovereignty forces in New Caledonia to preserve its national standing, even as it has preached decolonization elsewhere. Needless to say, such a contradictory stance serves only to undermine the moral authority that France has sought so assiduously to cultivate.<\/p>\n

The problem is that Mr. Macron\u2019s gambit rests on a fundamental miscalculation. It presupposes that France has the economic heft, military capabilities and political legitimacy to chart a truly independent course in world affairs.<\/p>\n

Reality, however, tells a very different story. No matter how much it might chafe against it, France\u2019s history of chronic underinvestment in defense, its lingering energy dependence and its deep domestic political divisions make partnership with Washington a much more sustainable way for Paris to secure a global position.<\/p>\n

What remains is for France to demonstrate its worth to the United States.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ilan Berman is senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Threats to America\u2019s prosperity begins in Washington<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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