With Washington absent and Berlin indifferent, it has fallen to Paris to deter and defuse the situation.

The winner of the presidential election this spring will heavily influence how France approaches foreign and domestic issues, including its future with the European Union.

The International Criminal Court was created to bring justice to the world’s worst war criminals, but debate over the court still rages.

President Emmanuel Macron of France hosted a summit in Pau, southwestern France, with the heads of state of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauretania, and Niger. The purpose of the summit was to improve military coordination against insurgents with a particular focus on the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) and al-Qaeda affiliate Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM). Macron also sought, and received from the African chiefs of state, an endorsement of France’s continued presence in the region. He, in turn, pledged a small increase in the number of French soldiers to be deployed there.