.@Mathieu_Droin and I argue that as the US aims to change its involvement in West Asia from a sole security guarantor to a defense/military partner, #France's coalitions can contribute to a West Asia security architecture. #IndoAbrahamic @MiddleEastInst
orfonline.org
orfonline.org
France has been one of the most active European players, alongside the UK, in building minilateral formats in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, with similar momentum to the US-backed ones.
Paris shares with Washington the ambition of assembling tailored coalitions to protect its security interests and to establish itself as a credible security provider for partners in regions that lack a proper security architecture.
🇫🇷 is a member of the East Med Gas Forum, of which the 🇺🇸 is an observer, and aims at establishing a balance of power in the Mediterranean Sea as the competition intensifies over the gas resources in the region, and so far, has preventer the eruption of a full-fledged war
These four countries opted for French-made strategic capabilities, such as the flagship Rafale air fighters, and key naval assets for Greece, India, and Egypt, creating de facto the potential for interoperability between them.
These dynamics hold particular significance for the geopolitical space that ranges from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, a region increasingly presented as West Asia.
Although Paris insists that it is “not equidistant” either in the growing competition between the US and China, Washington feels that French efforts are playing against its interests.
But the US and France, collectively, should instead see their mutual efforts as an opportunity. Neither France nor the U.S. can cover the whole transoceanic corridor from the Mediterranean to the Indo-Pacific.
Washington should acknowledge that historic, enduring Allies such as France stepping up its strategic role is much better than leaving it to strategic competitors and rivals.
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