https://arab.news/rwgbs
French President Emmanuel Macron has just delivered what may prove to be the most consequential European security speech since the Cold War’s end. Drawing lessons from the long cycle of conflicts that began four years ago in Ukraine, Macron announced sweeping changes to France’s nuclear doctrine and unveiled a new framework for nuclear cooperation with key European allies.
“To be free, one must be feared.” With that striking maxim, Macron laid out a vision he calls “forward deterrence,” which would redraw Europe’s strategic map. France’s nuclear umbrella, long confined in doctrine to the defense of strictly national interests, will now extend across a significant portion of the European continent.
The diagnosis driving this shift is stark. Europe faces a convergence of threats at its borders, compounded by what Macron diplomatically described as “a rearrangement of American priorities and a strong incentive for Europe to take more direct responsibility for its own security.” At the same time, Macron emphasized that the new doctrine is not directed against the US; rather, it complements America’s strategic pivot toward the Indo-Pacific.
Macron warned that Europe’s own strategic terrain has evolved in dangerous ways. “We are witnessing both an increased risk that conflicts will cross the nuclear threshold,” he observed, “and at the same time an intensification of conflict below that threshold.” This proliferation of subnuclear confrontation, Macron argues, makes nuclear escalation more likely. “Have we not seen in recent months salvos of missiles striking nuclear-armed powers or nuclear-possessing states? Europe could one day find itself in a similar position,” he said.
