“We are entering a war economy.” On June 13, 2022, at the opening of the Eurosatory arms fair in Villepinte, near Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron, for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four months earlier, had called on the defense industry to “move faster, rethink the pace, ramp-ups and margins in order to more rapidly rebuild what is essential for our armed forces, our allies or those whom we want to support.”
Three and a half years later, Macron remains unsatisfied, and he made that clear to industry leaders on Thursday, January 15, at the Istres air base in the southern Bouches-du-Rhône department, during his New Year’s address to the military. “A lot of efforts have been made. I acknowledged it; we have doubled, sometimes tripled, our production capacities and rates. Let’s be honest with ourselves. Are we truly operating under a war economy? The answer is no. Because if we were at war, I would like to think we would not be producing as we are now,” declared the commander-in-chief.
Macron cited drones as an example where “we are lagging behind.” He noted, “On one hand, the Ukrainians have displayed remarkable innovation,” but also, “partners and manufacturers from other countries have been faster than us and perhaps have not looked down on this sector as much as we have,” the president criticized. “We do not face the same event-driven pressure” as the Ukrainians, Macron admitted, to explain France’s delay, but he “looks at what the Ukrainians have managed to do.” In 2025, they produced 4 million drones compared to just a few thousand in France.
I know Macron is not exactly popular but damn we need more of this in Canada.
It feels like we’re still clinging to normality and just patching some trade gaps, when we need to prepare to be fighting like Ukraine in 6 months.
In Canada we have a tightrope to walk, unlike France.
Our best strategy is to delay, delay, delay. Drag out negotiations while we reduce our dependency as quickly as we can behind the scenes. Build up our defense capacity as quietly as possible. Diversify trade, get alternative auto manufacturers into Ontario, find other markets for LNG, potash, metals and critical minerals, etc. If possible buy the Gripens behind the scenes, negotiate some loaners and some manufacturing ahead of time, try to put as much in place before any news breaks of decisions. Lie to Trump, flatter him, pretend like we’re listening, but push every decision off as much as possible. Buy SK subs and negotiate auto side deals. Go back to the table with India, keep removing tariffs like we did with Indonesia. I think we should get some lessons from Ukraine on drone manufacturing, and lean into it for a Canada built drone sector. Start a civilian drone ES/SAR training program that can flip over to military application if needed.
Careful what you wish for. Macron is very much like Thatcher.
This just means “we’re turning Europe into a warzone for profit, and perhaps even starting shit around the world with America receding, and all these companies pay me big bucks to make it happen.” I’m both French and a veteran and I can tell you, both from personal experience and also from a cursory glance at history, that Western powers militarizing has pretty much never been good for the world nor for good reasons.
"we’re turning Europe
We Europeans are not. Our pacifist trade & appease policy has bitten us massively in the ass, and are finally waking up and reacting to territorial landgrabs by authoritarian warmongers.
And yes, life isn’t fair, and we should do better. But surrendering is the other extreme.
Even Americans, at their core, prefer peace to war (they just prefer profit to no profit…), when I said “we” I meant our democratically elected leaders who sold their souls and are whores for the empire, or simply corrupt folk who dance to any tune, including to the tune of weapon manufacturers who truly give no fucks about who dies as long as the stock is used. I know the average European just wants to chill, ofc, but we need to understand who we are to the rest of the world, who we’ve been and what it means for us as times change. Will we be hit with the imperialist boomerang like America is? I assume a little bit, and we need to find new partners as America retreats and further fuck with us because a united Europe (Russia included) is not good for American regional supremacy (Western and Central Europe have been under American admin to differing degrees since WW2). :/
