French President Emmanuel Macron was poised to arrive in Jordan for a two-day visit starting on Tuesday, December 20. French troops are deployed in the country as part of the Chammal military operation. Héloïse Fayet, a researcher with the Institut Français des Relations Internationales (French Institute of International Relations) who specializes in the armed forces present in the Middle East, told Le Monde that the terrorist threat in the region was almost eliminated. This, she said, should lead Paris to rethink its strategy. Ms. Fayet published a study in mid-November examining France's strategic posture in the Middle East.

Ukraine is facing a grim festive period. Civilians are hunkered down in below-freezing conditions with periodic power as Russian missiles and drones continue Moscow's punishing infrastructure offensive. Ukrainian troops, bogged down by mud, are still pushing forwards gradually in the south and northeast, while defenders around Bakhmut are locked in hellish combat with Russian regulars and mercenaries.

Two leaders under pressure to repair relations after rifts over defence, energy and China. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosted the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for lunch on Wednesday as they sought to iron out significant differences on energy and defence that have weakened their relationship at a time of war in Ukraine.

Does the war in Ukraine change the prospect of European Union enlargement? What is the possibility and future of Europe's common foreign and security policy? Does russian aggression unite or unify Europe and what is the role of the European political community? What is Russia's ultimate strategic goal?

When Prime Minister Fumio Kishida becomes the first Japanese leader to attend a NATO leaders summit on Wednesday, he’ll be looking to stress the need for unity in preventing China from taking the “wrong lessons” from the Ukraine war as the bloc looks to expand its footprint in the Indo-Pacific.

France’s presidency of the EU ends on June 30 with Emmanuel Macron’s new big idea, a “European Political Community”, hanging in the balance. This community would encompass EU membership candidates like Ukraine and possibly ex-member Britain. For some observers, the French president’s idea offers a way to bring countries into the European project while the long accession process takes its course. Others argue that Macron’s plan offers few clear objectives.

This online discussion takes stock of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed national foreign and security policies and how these shifts affect Europe’s security architecture.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has reignited discussions about the status of neutrality and non-alignment in several parts of Europe.