Power rivalries: France and the great game
The programme asks whether France is still a player or has become a playing field in the three-way contest among Washington, Beijing and Moscow, which compete without waging direct war. It cites Trump received in Beijing in May, Xi and Putin displaying their entente at the Bichkek summit in late August, a possible three-way summit in Shenzhen in November, no remaining treaty limiting American and Russian nuclear arsenals, and Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb almost closed. The guests are vice-admiral Pascal Ausseur, director general of FMES and former maritime prefect of the Channel and North Sea, Céline Bayou of INALCO, and Valérie Niquet of the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique; the programme was recorded in Toulon alongside the Mediterranean Strategic Meetings organised by FMES.
Why it matters: The discussion places France's room for manoeuvre inside great-power competition, the theme the briefing tracks through the alignment of Washington, Beijing and Moscow.