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Posted by:
Jan Techau
Tuesday, November 17, 2015 | http://carnegieeurope.eu/
The terrorist mass murder committed in Paris
on November 13 warrants a decisive foreign policy reaction from France
and its European partners. Most political leaders and commentators in
Europe seem to agree that the attacks are not just a homeland security
matter but also one with immediate relevance for Europe’s external
affairs. But what happened that night in Paris has hit a continent that
stands empty-handed in the face of the big foreign policy challenge
posed by the self-styled Islamic State and other Islamist groups.The problems start with what seems to be the easiest of things, air strikes. France duly conducted a few bombing runs against Islamic State targets in Syria’s Raqqa province. These strikes might even have inflicted some damage on the group’s military infrastructure, but in reality they were largely symbolic. France needed to demonstrate that it was willing and able to strike, and that the perpetrators should not feel too safe in their hideouts in the Middle East.
However, the real value of these strikes is negligible. A much larger bombing campaign against the Islamic State has been going on for months, with rather limited impact. Additional French firepower in this campaign is useful and welcome, but it won’t turn a halfhearted campaign into a military success. Most other European countries are absent from the operation. http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=62001&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvKXNZKXonjHpfsX57uQsW6Sg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIGRcR0aPyQAgobGp5I5FEIQ7XYTLB2t60MWA%3D%3D
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