A European researcher described Macron's vision of Europe as a great intellectual edifice that is currently collapsing under the weight of its contradictions, which were exposed by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Bart MJ Zivczyk, senior researcher at the German Marshall Fund, detailed Macron's vision for Europe in an article published by the US Foreign Policy website.

This vision can be summarized in the fact that Europe should be able to assert its independence and ensure its own security, in addition to its recognition that the United States belongs to the “Western camp” but “does not advocate the same kind of humanity” as Europe, and that “Chinese civilization” does not have the same Values ​​like Europe.

Equality between Washington and Beijing

By equating Washington and Beijing as hostile to European interests, Macron argues that "what Europe stands for" cannot be left "on the other side of the Atlantic or on the fringes of Asia".

In Macron's vision, Russia enjoys a special place as "part of Europe", and France is an active player in leading the "European civilization project."

This detailed vision of Europe just collapsed and burned in Ukraine, Zivchik says, and unlike a series of failed attempts at personal diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Macron has been completely absent from the European rally on the continent's most serious threat since 1945.

approximation of Russia

He added that Macron's conviction of the need to bring Russia closer to Europe and alienate the United States made him seek a "new relationship" with Putin's Russia against the clear interests of many European countries that viewed Russia and the United States differently.

He said Macron was aiming to "build a new structure based on trust and security in Europe" with Putin, and claimed that countries like the United States were urging Europe to "impose more sanctions on Russia because it's in their interest."

Macron said Europe's interests "certainly" would not be served by sanctions against Russia.


Before the Russian invasion, Macron positioned himself as the main mediator who could talk to all sides - Russia, Ukraine and the West - as well as negotiate a way out of the conflict.

Macron was surprised

Motivated by his theory of Russia's place in European civilization and confidence in his abilities as a negotiator, he appears to have focused little on building deterrence by placing forces on Europe's eastern side or announcing in advance tough sanctions.

No one was surprised, except for Macron.

Diplomacy without influence has proven ineffective.

Instead, he bet on diplomacy and his thought to reconcile Russia's perceived fears and build a new security and stability order for Europe with Putin.

He traveled first to Moscow and then to Kyiv, unlike other leaders, such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who coordinated his position with the Ukrainians first.

Even as Russia's increasingly brutal war raged, Macron did not admit that he seriously misjudged Putin.

Rather than change course and help build the coalition to stop Russia, Macron has since redoubled his diplomatic efforts with multiple calls to Moscow since the invasion, even warning US President Joe Biden against escalation by word or deed.

Not a miscalculation

Zivchik commented that Macron's choices are not just a tactical miscalculation;

Rather, it reflects a long-term strategy based on a firm ideological construct that claims that "the European continent will never be stable, and will never be safe, if it does not ease and clarify its relations with Russia."

Macron has been nearly invisible about the Ukraine crisis in the past few weeks.

It is unclear whether he has changed his mind about wanting to accommodate Russia and its so-called security concerns.

Instead of leading Europe, as he had hoped, Macron ceded the field to others.

Russia's war revealed the error of its strategic concept, as we find at the present time that the main line of European defense - along with the Ukrainian army - is 100,000 American soldiers in addition to tens of thousands of troops from other NATO countries.

Zivczyk concluded his article by invoking the phrase that former West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer said at the height of the Cold War, "Americans are the best Europeans," saying that it is an old phrase, but Macron would do well if he took it into account.