# Macron, France, Europe and China/Taiwan **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 10, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macron-france-europe-and-china-taiwan/982472 "2023-04-10T22:05:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WellHelloThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9dc877/32.png) [@WellHelloThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WellHelloThere)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macron-france-europe-and-china-taiwan/982472/21 "2023-04-18T19:53:22Z")
I was stating a fact in opposition to your statement that France should stay within its borders. They never have done so, and they show no sign of planning to do so. There are also economic and linguistic ties but yes, France does use its military to mantain its influence in its former West African colonies when necessary. And of all the NATO states it has historically been the most independent of US influence. This is not new, though, it is French policy since the start of the current republic in 1958. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macron-france-europe-and-china-taiwan/982472/22 "2023-04-18T20:52:20Z")
> [@WellHelloThere](#): > > France is the strongest military in the EU, which it actively uses in West Africa outside of NATO. It’s only the strongest military in the EU if your sole metric is total number of nuclear warheads, in which case yes it currently edges out the UK. Otherwise, it isn’t the strongest military in the EU, nor has it ever been. Since the end of the Cold War, a lot of non-US NATO nations let their militaries atrophy to shadows of what they once were. It might be surprising, but in conventional arms the strongest non-US NATO nation is in fact Poland - or it might not be that surprising considering Poland’s history with Russia. ---
**Author:** ![WellHelloThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9dc877/32.png) [@WellHelloThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WellHelloThere)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macron-france-europe-and-china-taiwan/982472/23 "2023-04-18T20:59:45Z")
The UK is not in the EU anymore. You may be correct with regard to Poland but France has force projection capabilities that Poland does not. They would be close, in my opinion, but they have different specialties for sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macron-france-europe-and-china-taiwan/982472.md?page=1)