Conclusions

Abstract

Few things about France lend themselves to simple summary and matters of defence are no exception. The diversity of French interests, the scale of the French military diaspora, the nature of the French armed forces and the complexity of the French defence discourse require considerable caution in attempting to draw firm conclusions. Moreover, the evolution of French defence is ongoing and a study, such as this, which has reflected on the past, on a decade of transition and on the events, trends and processes which have shaped that transition must be cognisant of the fact that no end point has been reached. With these caveats in mind, what follows are some observations about the trajectory of French policy which, as the title of this work indicates, may be useful in thinking about French defence in the new millennium.