Defence and political integration in the EU: France's particular role

In 2023 INION RAS published a monograph entitled “The Military-Political Dimension of European Integration: The Position of France” by Alexander S. Sidorov, the reputable specialist on France and military expert. The release of such a study seems to be very timely because of a broad expert discussion regarding the European Union's quest for strategic autonomy and its feasibility amid the confrontation between Russia and the West. The author of the book proposes to re-explore the history of political integration in the EU and highlights the special role of France as the initiator of many projects. He emphasizes that the French elites sought to focus the integration process in favor of their own national interests, seeing the emergence of a European power as a way to reinforce France's global positions. Based on the book this article states that, despite some continuity in the European policy of the French presidents, their strategy has been implemented differently over time. The key problem was the limited room for maneuver: realizing the limitations of national instruments of great-power politics, Charles de Gaulle's successors made more and more concessions to their European partners to deepen the integration process. Nowadays, the “Europe of defense” has a wide range of directions and formats, the expansion of which has been achieved by the current president Emmanuel Macron. Yet, there is still no unconditional unity of approaches to this process, and French diplomacy has not fully achieved its goals. As Alexander S. Sidorov rightly summarizes, a united Europe has not become a self-sufficient military and political power, and is unlikely to become one in the nearest future. This raises questions for further discussion on the effectiveness of France's leadership and the extent of its real influence in a changing world.