Conflict in the Middle East, war in Ukraine, threats from Donald Trump on NATO… Nicolas Tenzer’s 8:30 am franceinfo

The teacher at Sciences-Po, specialist in geostrategic issues, was the guest of “8h30 franceinfo”, Thursday February 15.

Nicolas Tenzer, teacher at Sciences-Po and specialist in geostrategic issues, was the guest of “8h30 franceinfo”, Wednesday February 15, 2024. Conflict in the Middle East, war in Ukraine, threats from Donald Trump on NATO. He answered questions from Salhia Brakhlia and Jérôme Chapuis.

Gaza: “this war is legitimate in principle but the response is disproportionate”

While Israel is preparing a large-scale military operation in Rafah in the south of Gaza, with the objective still of victory against Hamas, despite the dramatic human losses on the Palestinian side and the alerts of the international community, “we cannot imagine continuing this conflict until the end“, estimates on franceinfo Nicolas Tenzer, the author of Our war: crime and oblivion because “no one, and particularly in the Jewish tradition, can accept that people die in an indiscriminate, indifferent way, only because we are in a justified and legal operation against a terrorist group“.

For Nicolas Tenzer, “this war is legitimate on principle” because “Hamas committed genocidal crimes against humanity“, but “the response is disproportionate“towards civilian populations. Thus, taking into account the evolution of the conflict, “we have the impression that we are no longer in an anti-Hamas operation but in an operation to eliminate any possibility, one day, of the Palestinians having their state“, estimates the specialist, citing the comments of the Israeli extreme right, some of whom are ministers in the current government.

War in Ukraine: “Ukrainians are left to their own devices”

Just appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the new chief of staff of the Ukrainian army describes a military situation “extremely worrying” in Ukraine. “It is a speech of truth” but “we have known this for a long time, since the failure of the counter-offensive“, estimates Nicolas Tenzer. This failure”is due to the lack of sufficient arms and ammunition deliveries by the Allied Powers“, analyzes the teacher at Sciences-Po for whom “Ukrainians are left to their own devices“.

For Nicolas Tenzer, the difficulties encountered on the front by the Ukrainians can also be explained by the demographic question. “Russia has three times more people than Ukraine“, it is a country “who is ready to sacrifice all of his soldiers“, explains the specialist, who assures that time is on the side of the Russians.

Comments from Donald Trump on NATO: “We have to spend a lot more in Europe on our defense”

Asked about the comments of Donald Trump, who affirmed that he did not guarantee the security of NATO against Russia if he was re-elected, Nicolas Tenzer explains this position by “an old collusion between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump“, linked to the real estate projects of the former American president in particular.

“These are comments from the platform which are not the first. Donald Trump’s message is to say, we are not interested in Europe“, estimates the teacher for whom the comments of the Republican candidate for the American presidential election relaunch the question of the European budget devoted to the armies. “We need to spend a lot more in Europe on our defense.”, estimates Nicolas Tenzer. On the subject, the French Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu, affirmed on Thursday that France will achieve in 2024 the objective of 2% of GDP in military spending, recommended by NATO.

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Watch the entire 8:30 a.m. franceinfo broadcast on Thursday February 15, 2024: