Part V - International Relations and Diplomacy
Exit from NATO and European security
Exiting NATO is, like exiting the EU, a logical consequence of the restoration of sovereignty. NATO in its current form is an alliance with integrated command dominated by the United States, which imposes on its members engagement obligations and strategic orientations defined in Washington.
The exit: method and timeline
Exiting NATO is announced from the first weeks of the transition, with a six-month delay to complete ongoing operations and secure the reorganization of command chains. During these six months, France continues to honor its ongoing operational commitments: not out of obligation, but because reliability is a strategic asset.
Nuclear deterrence: the foundation of independence
French nuclear deterrence protects the vital interests of France, defined sovereignly, and those alone. It is not a collective umbrella: it is a national guarantee. De Gaulle had stated this clearly; France does not delegate its nuclear decision, nor does it extend it. It is precisely because France possesses this autonomous capacity that it can afford to exit NATO without weakening its fundamental security.
The reconstruction of a complete national capacity
Exiting NATO requires filling the capability gaps that integration into the Alliance had made it possible to avoid addressing: satellite intelligence, electronic warfare, strategic transport, in-flight refueling, heavy logistics. The Planning Commission identifies these dependencies and plans their elimination over five to ten years.
Bilateral defence coordinations
France proposes to its willing partners precise, thematic and reversible bilateral cooperations: without integrated command, without automatic engagement obligation, without delegation of sovereignty. The model is a network of flexible bilateral cooperations, articulated around the concrete interests of each party.
The question of European security
France's exit from NATO raises the question of European security as a whole. This is not France's problem: it is the problem of Europeans who chose to outsource their defence to the United States for seventy years. France protects its territory, its nationals, its vital interests. It has no vocation to substitute itself for NATO nor to become the policeman of Europe.