French President Emmanuel Macron announced the deployment in the Middle East of special forces units designed to fight ISIS, with which Paris continues to fight.

“We deployed Jaguar Special Forces on the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf,” Macron wrote on his Twitter page.

Earlier, in a speech to military personnel at the Air Force base in the Orleans area, the head of the Fifth Republic announced that the nuclear carrier Charles de Gaulle would be sent to the Middle East to support Paris military operations. According to the president, the aircraft carrier will be accompanied by ships from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece.

In addition, on the eve of the US Department of Defense said that about two hundred French troops deployed in Baghdad, resumed their mission, which was recently interrupted.

Domestic political motive

Experts draw attention to the fact that information about the strengthening of France's position in the Middle East began to come actively from Paris after another wave of large-scale demonstrations that swept the country.

  • Mass demonstrations in Paris, January 16
  • AFP
  • © Thomas SAMSON

As Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, noted in an interview with RT, “the domestic political aspect is very burdensome for Emmanuel Macron,” and this partly prompted him to “demonstrate the power of France and distract public attention from internal problems,” switching it to international questions.

“Perhaps, the leader of the republic will succeed, because the French public reacts quite easily and quickly to external political events,” Olenchenko says.

The analyst also recalled that the presence in the Middle East is a traditional topic for the French, since in the past the republic “had a tremendous influence on Lebanon and Syria.”

“Macron hopes that the population will take its steps as a return to its former greatness and historical roots,” the analyst explained.

“Independence in decision making”

At the same time, experts point out that the buildup of the French contingent in the Middle East cannot be considered in isolation from what is happening in the Persian Gulf zone.

Recall that the situation in this region escalated after the assassination by the United States of the Iranian General of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Kassem Suleimani and the deputy head of the Iraqi Shiite militia Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. US President Donald Trump believes that in this way Washington allegedly prevented the destabilization of the situation in the region and many violent actions.

However, Paris assessed the situation in a different way. Immediately after the incident, on the initiative of the French side, a telephone conversation took place between Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron. Both leaders expressed concern over the killing of Suleymani.

“It has been stated that this action can seriously aggravate the situation in the region,” the Kremlin’s press service said.

The position of Paris regarding the incident was also indicated by the Secretary of State for European Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry Amelie de Monschalen in an interview with RTL. According to her, the escalation of tension in the Middle East will negatively affect the activities of the international coalition against ISIS and the solution of the nuclear problem. As Monschalen emphasized, Paris is interested in acting in such a way as to help stabilize the situation in the region.

“This is a positive factor. Paris is returning to the realization of its own national interests in this region, while still interacting with Washington as its ally, but more independently, ”said a senior researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies of the IMEMO RAS named after E.M. Primakova and Associate Professor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Avatkov.

He also emphasized that the world is currently undergoing a “transformation of the system of international relations,” and the situation around the Middle East illustrates this “most vividly”.

“Gradually, a unipolar world, where the United States, which are at the head of global processes, goes down in history. In the framework of this, on the one hand, the geopolitical significance of the East is increasing, and on the other, European countries, including, first of all, France, are gradually beginning to show activity in these world political processes and independence in decision-making, ”the expert emphasized.

“Fraught with increased military tension”

At the same time, however, political scientists believe that an increase in the French military contingent in the Middle East is unlikely to help normalize the situation in the region.

According to Vladimir Avatkov, the desire of Western countries to strengthen their positions in the Middle East, and, in particular, France, "can expand the field of escalation in the region."

“The increase in military presence is a generally negative factor for the region, which is now trying to find a new balance after a conflict broke out here because of Western policies. Any additional expansion and the presence of other states here can only destabilize the situation, the analyst said.

Recall that Russia earlier proposed to create a regional security system.

“We propose to put aside the accumulated prejudices, mutual claims and, in fact, from scratch try to create an organization for security and cooperation in this region, which, in addition to the Gulf countries, could include Russia, China, the United States, the EU, and India as observers and other interested states, ”said Vladimir Putin.

  • French Ministry of Defense
  • AFP
  • © Thomas SAMSON

Vladimir Olenchenko believes that building up the military power of France is clearly not going to benefit the Middle East region.

“Instead of increasing its contingent, Paris should support Russia's initiative to create an organization for security and cooperation in the Persian Gulf,” he said, emphasizing that “the saturation of the region with armed forces is fraught with increased military tension.”

* “Islamic State” (IG) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.