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The World Through the Lens of Ukraine Politique étrangère, Vol. 89, No. 1, Spring 2024
This issue of Politique étrangère looks at three conflicts currently unfolding around the world.
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
232 pages. 23 euros.
March 8th, 2024.
Diffusion : Pollen/Dif'Pop.
Subscription: Armand Colin.
To buy an issue: CAIRN.
To buy the Epub (in French): Immatériel.fr.
Have a look on Politique étrangère's blog: Politique étrangère.