France

Political

High unemployment and economic stagnations are some of the politcal challenges facing Hollande.  His socialist party is under scrutiny for not doing more which has given rise to right wing parties.

The Paris attacks could accelerate the rise of nationalist parties across Europe. After the dust settles in France, voters could decide that Hollande's Socialist government has failed to protect them.

Three parties

1. Parti socialiste (PS) - LEFT WING (Promotes Social democracy, Democratic socialism and socialism.)

2. les Républicains (formerly Union for a Popular Movement)   RIGHT WING

3. Front national (FN) - RIGHT WING (Promotes strong law enforcement, anti-immigration, Euroscepticism and a return to traditional French values.) party leader Marine Le Pen polling strongly ahead of the 2017 presidential election

Hollande, leader of the center-left Socialist Party, which traditionally takes a softer line on social, security and privacy issues and is therefore vulnerable to accusations from the public that it has not done enough to protect French citizens. Adding to this problem, France has experienced other terrorist attacks this year aside the Nov 13 Paris attacks, most notably in January when gunmen attacked the offices of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, and people expected the government to have learned from these experiences in addressing security threats.

Military

6th most powerful in the world, 2nd most powerful in europe (united kingdom in #1).

today France maintains a well trained and modern force, commonly ranked as the sixth most powerful in the world, and 2nd is EU.

Army, 100K+ as of 2014

Navy - employed a total of 40K regular personnel; 112+ ships;  includes a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, nuclear-powered submarines, frigates, patrol boats and support ships

Air Force - French Air Force employs a total of 45K regular personnel; and about 1200+ planes

Another 100K in reserve..

The French view the world in much the...