Peter Zeihan discusses France 🇫🇷 discussing sending troops to Ukraine 🇺🇦 & why it makes sense. Also thoughts about the European Union 🇪🇺.
Peter Zeihan offers his unfiltered thoughts about France’s 🇫🇷 proposal to send troops to Ukraine 🇺🇦. Interesting points he makes:
French 🇫🇷 troops could defend Ukrainian 🇺🇦 borders along Belarus 🇧🇾 & Moldova 🇲🇩 (along the renegade Transnistria region)
France 🇫🇷 is a land power, not a navel power
European Union 🇪🇺 was an economic trading club but that is fading:
Globalization is going away so the European Union 🇪🇺 is losing their ability to sell on the global market bit-by-bit
France’s 🇫🇷 market is more “nationalist” so they would not be affected by the decline of globalization (I disagree, but I digress)
Most of Europe is aging so rapidly that all the major countries will cease functioning as modern economies in 5-15 years
France 🇫🇷 has a higher birth rate compared to the rest of Europe, so their economic model is not in danger
Europe needs to take security measures in their own hands
France 🇫🇷 recognizes this & wants to take a lead regarding security issues
Ukraine 🇺🇦 under influence of the European Union 🇪🇺
Ukraine 🇺🇦 has a lot of resources (especially in agriculture) which France 🇫🇷 wants under European Union 🇪🇺 control
Ukraine 🇺🇦 on the technological forefront in drone warefare, which France 🇫🇷 wants to learn
European Union 🇪🇺 will be less about economics & more about culture, identity & politics (which France 🇫🇷 is more comfortable with).
France 🇫🇷 government is more united than Germany 🇩🇪 right now, so it is easier for France 🇫🇷 to take a leadership role regarding Europe
What French 🇫🇷 troops will do in Ukraine 🇺🇦
France 🇫🇷 troops would repair equipment that Ukrainians 🇺🇦 needs, so it is fixed in Ukraine 🇺🇦 rather than shipped to Western Europe
France 🇫🇷 would train Ukraine’s 🇺🇦 special forces
French 🇫🇷 troops would provide a strategic backstop, helping Ukrainian 🇺🇦 troops redirect to the front line
These are some very interesting (albeit controversial) thoughts from Peter Zeihan regarding France’s 🇫🇷 emerging role in Europe.
For those who are unfamiliar with Peter Zeihan, he is (more or less) a data analyst that governments & companies hire as a consultant to look at numerous amounts of data.
President Emmanuel Macron is currently making NATO allies nervous with his insistence on sending troops from France 🇫🇷 to fight Russia 🇷🇺 in Ukraine 🇺🇦.
Image Credit: Flag of the French 🇫🇷 Foreign Legion with seven flame grenade.
President Emmanuel Macron is willing to send troops from France 🇫🇷 into Ukraine 🇺🇦 to keep Russia 🇷🇺 from conquering its neighbor.
“If the situation should deteriorate, we would be ready to make sure that Russia never wins that war,” Macron said during an interview on French TV, warning that anybody advocating “limits” on aid to Ukraine “chooses defeat”.
He said it was important for Europe not to draw red lines, which would signal weakness to the Kremlin and encourage it to push* on with its invasion of Ukraine. He refused to give detail on what a deployment to Ukraine might look like. […]
In late February, Macron caused an uproar by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine. French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu later said that while the deployment of Western combat troops to fight in Ukraine was not on the table, a greater military presence could include mine clearance and training Ukrainian soldiers on Ukrainian soil.
Via France 24, *article originally type “topush” which is grammatically incorrect; corrected it above to what they intended to mean but italicized alteration
President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons if NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) members send forces to assist Ukraine’s 🇺🇦 fight to liberate the latter’s homeland from Russia’s 🇷🇺 rugged hands.
Russian 🇷🇺 President Vladimir Putin threatens nuclear war if NATO sends troops to assist Ukraine 🇺🇦
President Macron figuratively fired back at President Putin by reminding the latter that France 🇫🇷 also has nuclear weapons & is not afraid to use them.
For those wondering why France 🇫🇷 would risk nuclear Armageddon against Russia 🇷🇺 over Ukraine 🇺🇦, @ajsadauskas sums it up perfectly:
If Ukraine falls, Russia suddenly gains a land border with the Transnistria region of Moldova. (That’s the region Russia has been ramping up tensions recently.)
More importantly, it gains a land border with Orban’s Hungary.
Hungary shares a border with another Russian ally: Serbia.
In that situation, the US had really better hope that Russia and Serbia won’t allow Russian troops to be stationed on their soil.
Because Hungary’s western border is within a few miles of Austria’s capital Vienna, meaning Russian troops are deep within the centre of Europe.
France 🇫🇷 fears having to face Russia 🇷🇺 in a potential future where the latter can strike in the heart of Europe using conventional weapons, putting French citizens in danger.
So how can France 🇫🇷 thwart Russia 🇷🇺 without risking nuclear Armageddon‽ It is less glamorous, but France 🇫🇷 could send in the French Foreign Legion.
Promo Video from the French 🇫🇷 Foreign Legion (In French)
Note: Here is a video report about the French Foreign Legion from France 24 (in English) five years ago.
Explanation of the French 🇫🇷 Foreign Legion (In English)
Why The French 🇫🇷 Foreign Legion‽
A conflict between Russian 🇷🇺 troops & French 🇫🇷 troops in Ukraine 🇺🇦 could potentially escalate into Russia 🇷🇺 directly attacking NATO nations, especially if Putin’s forces are being pushed back into Russia 🇷🇺 proper.
However, if French mercenaries are the ones fighting, Putin would have a more challenging time justifying an attack on NATO member nations (an option that would make Russian generals & citizens nervous).
Another benefit of the French Foreign Legion is that member’s identifications are (more or less) anonymous, which is critical as many nations forbid their citizens from serving in foreign countries.
Could The French 🇫🇷 Foreign Legion Save Ukraine 🇺🇦‽
According to estimates, the French 🇫🇷 Foreign Legion boasts under 10,000 soldiers, which would not be enough to help Ukrainian 🇺🇦 forces push out Russian 🇷🇺 invaders in western Ukraine 🇺🇦 & Crimea.
However, if France 🇫🇷 expanded recruitment operations worldwide, they could probably expand that number to over 200,000 legionaries, provided they receive enough funding to maintain a force of that size (which would probably have to come from the European Union 🇪🇺).
An expanded French 🇫🇷 Foreign Legion might be seen as an acceptable option by NATO allies, as it would allow them to save their Ukrainian 🇺🇦 neighbor while reducing the risk of nuclear war.
Apparently being rich & (in)famous has its perks in the court room of “justice.”
Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been acquitted of aggravated pimping charges by a French court.
He told the court yesterday that he participated in sex parties reminiscent of orgies in antiquity because he needed “recreational sessions” while he was busy “saving the world” from one of its worst financial crises. (Business Insider)
The women participating in these “recreational sessions” were not having fun according to Business Insider, although their failure to vocally inform Strauss-Kahn that they were obviously prostitutes helped the ex-IMF chief score victory (pun not intended).
While this mockery of justice will cause furor amongst those in favor of ending the exploitation of human beings in the “sex trade,” it may motivate IMF to purge members engaging in these prostitution parties within the highest ranks—maybe…
Via: @BreakingNews
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn acquitted on charges of procuring prostitutes, French court finds – @AFPhttp://t.co/MGLyUxhuaP
