FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

Pentagon Ordered to Expand Potential Targets in Syria, May Also Use Bombers

Report
Nov 10, 2025

France’s policy on China: Strategic autonomy and less naïveté

By
Zoltán Fehér

Over the last decade, France’s long-standing engagement with China has transformed into a more nuanced and cautious dynamic, reflecting a growing emphasis on balancing. This shift is guided by France’s pursuit of strategic autonomy, its effort to “de-risk” economic and security ties, and the broader geopolitical realities unfolding in the Indo-Pacific.

China
Economy & Business

Pentagon Ordered to Expand Potential Targets in Syria, May Also Use Bombers

New Atlanticist
Sep 8, 2025

Experts react: The French government has collapsed again. What does this mean for France, the EU, and Macron?

By
Atlantic Council experts

On Monday, Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a confidence vote in the National Assembly, removing him from office and leaving France in a state of political uncertainty.

France
NATO

Pentagon Ordered to Expand Potential Targets in Syria, May Also Use Bombers

New Atlanticist
Jul 16, 2025

Reading between the lines of the new France-UK nuclear entente

By
Léonie Allard

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer released a “truly historic” declaration on nuclear planning on July 10.

France
Nuclear Deterrence

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Content

B-1 Bomber

NATOSource

Sep 6, 2013

Pentagon Ordered to Expand Potential Targets in Syria, May Also Use Bombers

By New York Times and Wall Street Journal

From David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt, New York Times:  President Obama has directed the Pentagon to develop an expanded list of potential targets in Syria

France
Syria
Assad regime "poses a clear and present danger to the alliance"

NATOSource

Sep 3, 2013

NATO Must Help Obama on Syria

By James G. Stavridis, New York Times

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization must be part of an international effort to respond to the crisis in Syria, beginning immediately with punitive strikes

France
International Organizations
President Barack Obama

NATOSource

Aug 30, 2013

US Seeks Allies as UK Shuns Syria Action in Shock Vote

By Lorna Shaddick, FRANCE 24

The United States is still seeking an “international coalition” in response to Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons, despite a vote against military action by British MPs, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Friday.

France
Syria
President of France Francois Hollande

NATOSource

Aug 30, 2013

Despite UK Vote, France Backs Action in Syria

By David Gauthier-Villars, Wall Street Journal

France sent a clear signal on Friday that it was preparing strikes against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, with President François Hollande saying the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons against its own people cannot go unpunished.

France
International Organizations
USAF KC-135R Stratotanker at Incirlik air base

NATOSource

Aug 28, 2013

Turkey may Open İncirlik Base for NATO Mission in Syria

By Murat Yetkin, Hurriyet Daily News

Turkey may open its strategic İncirlik air base for possible military operations into neighboring Syria, if the Western defense alliance NATO decides for an intervention in the ongoing civil war, a ranking Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News on Aug. 26.

France
Germany
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

NATOSource

Aug 26, 2013

Syria: Russia Dooms Hopes of UN Security Council Resolution

By Raf Sanchez and Roland Oliphant, Telegraph

As the US, Britain and France edged closer to approving strikes in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons, the Kremlin said that the West was moving down “a very dangerous path.”

France
International Organizations
Meeting of the North Atlantic Council

NATOSource

Aug 26, 2013

NATO Members Could Act Against Syria Without UN Mandate

By Ian Traynor, Guardian

Barack Obama is unlikely to have much trouble mustering a Nato coalition of the willing if Washington opts for military intervention in Syria in response to the alleged chemical weapons atrocities by the Assad regime.

France
Germany
"A reaction that could take the form of a reaction with force"

NATOSource

Aug 22, 2013

France Calls for Force if Chemical Arms Confirmed in Syria

By AFP and Wall Street Journal

France is seeking a reaction with “force” if a massacre in Syria involving chemical weapons is confirmed, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Thursday, although he ruled out the use of ground troops.

France
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Aug 19, 2013

Hollande Finds Confidence, Vision, and Voice—Now It’s the French People’s Turn

By Nicholas Dungan

Earlier today, President François Hollande provided what many had been waiting for since his inauguration a year ago: a confident vision of the future and a clear idea of France’s place in it. It would be easy, but erroneous, to underestimate how big a difference this change of discourse can make.

Economy & Business
France
Coat of arms of Eurocorps

NATOSource

Aug 19, 2013

Europe: Strategic Drifter

By Jakub Grygiel, National Interest

The European Union is a strategic drifter, unclear about its world role, unable to articulate a purpose and divided in its perception of external threats.

Eastern Europe
Europe & Eurasia
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Experts

Fellow

Phyllis Berry

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia France

Fellow

William Drozdiak

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

Europe & Eurasia France

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

Fellow

Jason Davidson

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia European Union
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