FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

Sarkozy: the French Paradox

New Atlanticist
May 2, 2025

France’s foreign minister on Europe’s role in the ‘new era of multilateralism’

By
Daniel Hojnacki

Jean-Noël Barrot laid out his vision of European strategic autonomy and cautioned Washington against pulling back from the multilateral system it helped build.

Economy & Business
European Union

Sarkozy: the French Paradox

Transcript
Apr 24, 2025

France’s François Villeroy de Galhau on a US recession: ‘Bad news for the US is bad news for all, including for Europe’

By
Atlantic Council

The governor of the Banque de France, speaking at the Atlantic Council, said that the European Central Bank would likely cut interest rates further this year.

Europe & Eurasia
European Union

Sarkozy: the French Paradox

Issue Brief
Dec 20, 2024

Europe needs a coalition of the resolute

By
Léonie Allard and Elie Tenenbaum

Europe must develop a “coalition of the resolute” to provide security guarantees to Ukraine and to show resolve to take more responsibility for their own security.

Conflict
Europe & Eurasia

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The Europe Center promotes the transatlantic leadership and strategies required to ensure a strong Europe.

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Content

Article

Oct 2, 2014

Sarkozy: the French Paradox

By Nicholas Dungan

Nicolas Sarkozy’s return to politics is fraught with uncertainties, not least about the man himself. In French, “retour” can mean a return, or it can signify a comeback. If Sarkozy attempts a personal comeback, to avenge his defeat by François Hollande in 2012, he may well lose. If his return genuinely means a new man […]

France
RAF Typhoon lifts off for Libya, May 25, 2011

NATOSource

Aug 28, 2014

US and Europe have a Feasible Military Option for Defending Ukraine

By Jorge Benitez, U.S. News & World Report

It is becoming harder and harder to ignore Russia’s growing military intervention in Ukraine.

Central Europe France
Protest in Prague, July 14, 2014

NATOSource

Jul 23, 2014

Putin’s Crime, Europe’s Cowardice

By Bernard-Henri Lévy, New York Times

Faced with this new Lockerbie, will we in the West do no more than beg Mr. Putin to provide “free and complete” access to the crash site and offer “full cooperation” in the recovery of remains?

Europe & Eurasia France
French President François Hollande and President Barack Obama, Feb. 11, 2014

NATOSource

Jul 23, 2014

Members of Congress Urge Obama to Make Personal Appeal to Stop Mistral Sale to Russia

By Mark R. Warner, Mark Kirk, Adam Kinzinger, and William R. Keating

Text of letter to President Barack Obama from US lawmakers.

France NATO
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Dec. 4, 2012

NATOSource

Jul 21, 2014

Special Summit Series: France and NATO

By Jeff Lightfoot

As France looks toward the 2014 NATO summit in Wales, it does so with a foreboding sense that ‘international taboos’ are increasingly being broken by state and non-state actors alike.

France NATO
Mistral class warship off Lebanon, March 17, 2012

NATOSource

Jul 14, 2014

Will France’s Mistral Warships Make Russia a Naval Threat?

By Matthew Bodner, Moscow Times

With the first of two French-built Mistral class amphibious assault carriers set to be delivered to the Russian Navy in October, France is handing Russia the keys to one of the world’s most advanced warships

France NATO
Mistral class ship under construction, St. Nazaire

NATOSource

Jul 2, 2014

NATO Should Buy French-built Warships

By Eliot Engel, World Affairs

[L]ast month I wrote to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, urging a plan by which the alliance would collectively purchase or lease the warships as a common naval asset.

France NATO
About a dozen of NATO's 28 members reluctant to see Georgia join alliance

NATOSource

Jun 24, 2014

NATO Unlikely to Grant Georgia Step to Membership-Diplomats

By Adrian Croft, Reuters

NATO countries, wary of antagonising Russia, are unlikely to grant former Soviet republic Georgia a formal step towards membership of the alliance at a summit in September, NATO diplomats say.

France Germany
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk

NATOSource

Jun 17, 2014

Putin Has Exposed Divisions in Europe

By Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal

To the east Russia is on the march. After a spike in violence over the weekend in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin on Monday cut gas exports to the country, using an economic cudgel to go with the military one.

Central Europe France
President Barack Obama in Normany, June 6, 2014

NATOSource

Jun 6, 2014

Obama Honors D-Day Sacrifice: Normandy is ‘Democracy’s Beachhead’

By Barack Obama, Washington Post

Just last week, I received a letter from a French citizen. “Dear Mr. President and the American people,” he wrote, “we are honored to welcome you to thank you again for all the pain and efforts of the American people and others in our common struggle for freedom.”

France United States and Canada
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Experts

Fellow

Didier Acouetey

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Africa Center

Africa Economy & Business

Fellow

Léonie Allard

Visiting Fellow

Europe Center

Africa Chinese

Fellow

Gérard Araud

Distinguished Fellow

Europe Center

English Europe & Eurasia

Expert

Olivier-Rémy Bel

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

Defense Industry Defense Policy

Fellow

Jason Davidson

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia European Union

Fellow

Jérémie Gallon

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

Economy & Business English
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