Faced with the risk of losing investments in the technologies of the future, due to subsidies that its global competitors are pumping into their economies, the European Union is forced to rethink its industrial policy.

The United States and Europe risk entering into a subsidy war, each trying to support the competitiveness of their economies… their market economies… with public money. Meanwhile, member states expect from Brussels solutions that will allow them to remain relevant in a world where interventionism is the order of the day.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to help convince Russia to hold negotiations toward ending the war in Ukraine as the two leaders met in Beijing on Thursday.

Training and equipping of Ukrainian forces is an immediate priority.

The European Union and NATO have promised a path to membership for the embattled country. But real partnership will hold risks and benefits for both sides.

President Emmanuel Macron’s nuanced position on the war in Ukraine is part and parcel of yet another French specificity, an attitude towards Russia which is unique in Europe. Macron prides himself on being a moderate among western warmongers.

The Kremlin wanted Russia's invasion of Ukraine to yield a lightning victory, but 12 months on the war is dragging into a stalemate with neither side achieving military breakthrough nor prepared to agree a settlement based on the status quo.

A conference with Esa Pulkkinen, Permanent Secretary of the Finnish Ministry of Defense, and Peter Sandwall, State Secretary to the Swedish Minister of Defense, held at Ifri on February 9, 2023. 

The heads of the three leading NATO navies, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Mike Gilday, First Sea Lord, Admiral Ben Key, and the Chief of Staff of the French Navy, Admiral Pierre Vandier, met last week in France for the first ever "Paris Naval Conference".