The World Through the Lens of Ukraine Politique étrangère, Vol. 89, No. 1, Spring 2024

Two years on from Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine appears (on the ground at least) to have reached a temporary deadlock, but the conflict has already set in motion profound changes to the surrounding geopolitical landscape. As the European Union ponders its own limitations and its future path, Central European countries intend to make their presence known. Meanwhile, defense institutions are struggling to adapt to the prospect of a new Russian threat, and Moscow is initiating a shift in its foreign policy, turning toward the Global South in opposition to the “Global West.” And that same Global South, marked as it is by divisions and contradictions, is emerging as the scene of struggles for influence between new powers.

The war in Gaza is itself a testament to this vast power reshuffle. Israeli and Palestinian societies, deeply traumatized by October 7 and its aftermath, seem to be shelving any hope of a political agreement for the foreseeable future. How can we understand the desired outcomes of both peoples for the same land, and how can we move toward an inevitably common future?

In Africa, the French authorities seem to be taking a defensive stance, but this should not blind them to the continent’s diversity—the Sahel does not represent Africa as a whole—nor to the urgent need to reorient their strategies toward the construction of a new vision of Africa, a space in which all stakeholders, whether African, French, or European, share a common destiny. A conversion, both intellectual and political, is required here, reflecting a foreign policy that must constantly evolve in step with a changing world. 

THE WORLD THROUGH THE LENS OF UKRAINE

The Military Stakes in the War in Ukraine: An Illusory Stalemate?, by Yohann Michel, Olivier Schmitt, and Élie Tenenbaum (in French only - Les enjeux militaires de la guerre d'Ukraine : une impasse en trompe-l'oeil ?)

Euro-Atlantic Institutions and Collective Security, by Claude-France Arnould

Central and Eastern Europe: New Center of Gravity or Source of Disruption?, by Łukasz Kulesa

Ukraine and the World: What Russia Wants, by Dmitri Trenin

The Global South and the War in Ukraine, by Pierre Andrieu

ISRAEL AND PALESTINE: UNDERSTANDING THE WAR

Israel after October 7: A Bruised and More Fractured Society, by Samy Cohen

Gaza, a Twenty-First Century Colonial War, by Camille Mansour

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Africa, A Mirror for France’s Troubles?, by Hervé Gaymard (in French only - L'Afrique, miroir de nos peines ?)

The French Army in the Sahel: A Corpus Doctrinae Put to the Test, by Niagalé Bagayoko

The European Union in the Balkans: An Indecisive Power?, by Florent Marciacq

BAROMETERS

European Budget Standards: The Rules and the Game, by Jean Comte

REFLECTIONS

The Changing Role of the Naval Air Group: In all Directions of the Compass, by Thibault Lavernhe

FOR HISTORY

Toward Peace in Palestine, by Robert Montagne

BOOK REVIEWS

Editor: Marc Hecker

Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology, Anu Bradford
By Mathilde Velliet

This issue is available in French only : Le monde au prisme de l'Ukraine