The fight against terrorism in France during the presidency of N. Sarkozy (on the issue of France's return to NATO military command structures)

The paper discusses the return of France to the NATO Joint Military Command in the context of the anti-terrorism policy of the Fifth Republic. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was able to convince both the National Assembly and the people of France of the need to return the state to the Joint Military Command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in order to effectively counter international terrorism. On March 17, 2009, the country’s parliament voted to return to NATO military structures. The paper assesses the effectiveness of the tools for countering terrorism, which the country endows with full-fledged participation in the activities of the North Atlantic Alliance. The analysis shows a discrepancy between the declared and actual correlation between the incorporation of the French state into a military bloc and its ability to counter the terrorist threat. The actions of N. Sarkozy’s administration to return the country to NATO’s military structures seem to be motivated rather by political expediency.