France Deploys Special Forces to Yemen; Paris' Increasingly Interventionist Foreign Policy Opens Another Theatre of Operations

Amid calls by France’s President Emanuel Macron for the country to play a more active role abroad, under which the French military has deployed aircraft carriers to East Asia, conducted airstrikes against and deployed forces to Syria, and threatened Iran with economic sanctions over its ballistic missile program, French special forces have recently been deployed to Yemen in an active combat role. With the forces of Western aligned Arab states, namely Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, increasingly failing to achieve tangible objectives while suffering heavy losses to Yemeni Ansurullah Coalition forces, a number of Western powers have involved themselves in the conflict. With the United States having recently deployed Special Forces to the Arab country to seek and destroy Ansurullah's ballistic missile forces, key to the coalition’s ability to retaliate against Saudi airstrikes, French force appear to also be contributing to the war effort.

The involvement of French forces in Yemen has been confirmed by French parliamentary forces, according to Reuters, while France’s defence ministry has indicated that its navy could also play a greater role in the conflict in future. France has served as a major arms supplier to both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with the former making extensive use of French built Mirage 2000 fighters alongside its newer and more capable U.S. built F-16E, and carrying out regular strikes on Yemeni targets. France’s move to put boots on the ground however represents a significant escalation, one which is wholly in line with the country’s new policy which has increasingly emphasised the deployment of force abroad. Alongside reconsidering the military draft, a form of conscription which would swell the ranks of the country’s armed forces, France has also set about vastly expanding its military presence in Africa, the Middle East and even East Asia where the navy is increasingly involved in confrontations with China in the South China Sea alongside its Western partners.

The outcome of the French intervention in Yemen remains to be seen, but considering the capabilities of Ansurullah forces and the heavy toll they have exacted from previous adversaries, highly trained Academi contractors included, French special forces are at risk of suffering considerable losses. With Saudi led forces currently besieging the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, a key strategic position where France's allies have suffered heavy losses, French forces may well have a role to play in undermining Ansurullah's ability to resist attack. The potential political ramifications of losses on foreign soil, particularly for President Macron’s increasingly embattled administration, are considerable.