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> Plenty of other EU nations have had deployments in nato context as well The Brits and the French have had plenty of their own non-NATO adventurism. The artic

> Plenty of other EU nations have had deployments in nato context as well The Brits and the French have had plenty of their own non-NATO adventurism. The article notes "[they're] almost never not at war somewhere, officially or otherwise". They also have _by far_ the most troops deployed abroad; twice as many when taken as a percentage, and an order of magnitude more when taken in absolute numbers[0]. Apparently I was overestimating the Dutch contribution. > Of course, the Brits aren't going to be part of this That is far from clear[1] > Of EU nations, Ireland would be most appropriate for this club Actually, France would, followed by Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway[2]. > Jean-Pierre is already fighting to save Mbene In Francophone Africa, where people speak Jean-Pierre's language, where Camus comes from, and where the French have nostalgic ideas about empire. Far from the same thing. Also, the top three names in a random Francophone African country I just chose are Florent, Yves, and Frank. Isn't Mbene a Nigerian name? [0] https://www.statista.com/chart/11916/which-countries-have-the-most-active-troops-abroad/ https://www.statista.com/chart/11916/which-countries-have-th... [1] https://www.politico.eu/article/brexit-or-not-france-and-britain-deepen-military-alliance-lancaster-treaties-defense-david-cameron-nicolas-sarkozy/ https://www.politico.eu/article/brexit-or-not-france-and-bri... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes#Six_Eyes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes#Six_Eyes

timwaagh 7y ago
I have no idea where Mbene is from. It sounded African enough. It is not like France never fought for Eastern Europe (ww1 they got drawn in because their alliance with Russia, ww2 because of alliance to Poland). Other than explanations based fantasies about empire based on a neo romantic conception of France as this old world place lost somewhere five hundred years ago, deployments to places like Mali are of interest for the protection of France and the rest of Europe against unchecked propagation of Islamic extremism. Which is why other European allies have joined that operation. In that sense, it is similar because in both cases the reason for intervention is the strategic interest of France. It's unsurprising that France still has bilateral military cooperation with Britain. But Britain's historical track record on the EU level military cooperation issue is that they do not want anything to do with it.

timwaagh 7y ago

I have no idea where Mbene is from. It sounded African enough. It is not like France never fought for Eastern Europe (ww1 they got drawn in because their alliance with Russia, ww2 because of alliance to Poland). Other than explanations based fantasies about empire based on a neo romantic conception of France as this old world place lost somewhere five hundred years ago, deployments to places like Mali are of interest for the protection of France and the rest of Europe against unchecked propagation of Islamic extremism. Which is why other European allies have joined that operation. In that sense, it is similar because in both cases the reason for intervention is the strategic interest of France. It's unsurprising that France still has bilateral military cooperation with Britain. But Britain's historical track record on the EU level military cooperation issue is that they do not want anything to do with it.