France Steps Into the Global Leadership Void

My Weekly Global Dispatch

This month, France holds the Chair of the UN Security Council. It’s a critical juncture for global security. France plans to focus the work of the security council on the ongoing crises in the Middle East, Ukraine, and across West Africa and the Sahel region. France’s insistence on the importance of the rule of law, multilateral cooperation and human rights offers a glimmer of hope for progress on these urgent conflicts.

At a time when international institutions face unprecedented challenges, France has partnered with Mexico on an ambitious initiative to limit Security Council veto power in cases of mass atrocities—a proposal already endorsed by over 100 nations.

The push for reform of the Security Council comes as France increasingly asserts itself as a leader in European and global geopolitical security. There are rumors, for example, that a French nuclear submarine’s recent docking off Nova Scotia was meant to send a signal in response to talk of a possible Canadian invasion.

Although I am an American and my allegiance is to my country, I have room in my heart for France too. I grew up in Lyon and recently was honored as a Chevalier in the Order of Palms of the French Republic. And I do believe that France’s leadership is sorely needed at a moment when peace, democracy, and international law face threats on an order not seen for generations.

The French Republic stands alongside the United States as a birthplace of modern democracy. Beyond this shared heritage, France has cultivated a deep appreciation for science, culture and ideas—valuing universities as spaces for collective deliberation and academics as architects of societal solutions.

To be sure, France confronts its own significant human rights challenges. Its continued imperialism in the Pacific, where Indigenous populations have suffered the devastating consequences of nuclear testing, remains an unresolved stain on its human rights record.

Nevertheless, I believe Americans have much to learn from the French civic tradition. Consider France’s commitment to truly national education accessible to all citizens, its reverence for cultural institutions and their accessibility, its comprehensive social safety net, and its pragmatic approach to gun control. These values are encapsulated in the republic’s enduring motto:

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.

What does this motto mean for us, today? In America, we consistently champion liberty. We don’t talk enough about equality. And fraternity? This concept barely enters our national conversation. Perhaps the next evolution of democracy requires exactly this—a reinvigorated and reimagined sense of fraternity, fostered both within and across borders.

Fraternity means respect, and care for one another as brothers and sisters, not just transactional relationships. It means that there doesn’t have to be just one leader of the free world—not just one father figure. Instead, each country brings its own historical experience and expertise, as siblings. France, for example, has a deep bench of regional knowledge and expertise about many parts of Africa and the Middle East that is lacking in the United States.

So here’s to French leadership this month at the UN, and beyond. And to liberty, equality, and fraternity in global governance—principles our turbulent world needs now more than ever.

P.S. I’d love to hear your thoughts on France’s leadership and whether institutions like the UN can be effective in today’s geopolitical climate! Reply to this email or post your comments below in the app or on the website.