France: From Defence to Security. On the Defence and National Security White Paper

In June 2008 the French Ministry of Defence published a very eagerly awaited Defence and National Security White Paper. It was the aim of this document to specify France’s defence policy and the prospects for its development in the current European and international context.
The White Paper was eagerly awaited because the preceding framework document of this kind dated back to 1994 and the operational context has changed greatly in the intervening years (9/11 attacks, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan etc.).
Unfortunately, the White Paper has not met all expectations, as General Éric de La Maisonneuve points out in this article. Though it confirms the transformation of the French defence system into an instrument of national security in the broad sense of the term, based on the professionalization of French forces, it fails to provide a proper conceptual framework, either by taking into account the new threats that arise or France’s role within the European defence framework and in international collective security structures.