The Bottom Line

Does the US support France’s idea for ‘strategic autonomy’?

Despite some attempts to set itself apart from US policies, France is falling more in line with Washington.

From the outset of the war in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron warned the West that Russia must not be “humiliated”.

France was berated by its allies for its relatively low support for the war, as Macron argued that France needed to differentiate itself from the rest of the West in case it was needed as a go-between for the two sides.

More recently, Paris stepped up the pace of military support for Ukraine and joined Germany in its “change of course”.

Host Steve Clemons asks the French ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, about the latest in Franco-American relations.