Statements by French President Emmanuel Macron on the possibility of independent play in Syria without regard for the United States should be regarded as an attempt at self-affirmation in a situation where no one expected independence from him.

France can launch preventive strikes against chemical weapons in Syria without securing Washington's support: the red line for it will be the use of weapons of mass destruction Damascus, said the owner of the Elysee Palace. In passing, Makron noted that he does not intend to "be weak", condemning his predecessor Francois Hollande for indecision, but also added that the change of power in Damascus is no longer an "absolute priority" for Paris,.

Both in the United States and in France, an unhealthy domestic political situation has arisen, when the heads of these states are forced to overcome stereotypes and prove in the international arena that they are strong leaders - because this is always being questioned, says Mikhail Remizov, president of the National Strategy Institute.

In the United States, such a trend was outlined with Obama, for whom the idea-fix was to show that he was not the weakling losing to Putin, as his opponents paint. Trump has another motive, another dominant - he must compensate in the foreign policy field his vulnerability within the country.

Now in a similar situation, and Macron - a man who at the time of his election was least expected to be a strong leader, was reproached for being a puppet of Merkel and global elites, a PR project, and not an independent politician. In principle, this is true, but the problem is that, having concluded a marriage with France on the calculation, the new president should now fill this marriage with some other content, and the international arena looks quite attractive for these purposes, notes M. Remizov.

This situation can be called unhealthy because some people, including the French president, need to make strong gestures and take some poses, without having a program of reforms and a new content agenda, especially in such a complicated region and in such a complicated crisis , Like the Syrian. As a result, there is a risk that decisions will be made not based on the tasks of implementing a meaningful integrated regional scenario (even if hostile to Russia), but based on considerations of constructing a political image.

"This risk in both France and the US, with their pronounced culture of political leadership, is now great, as their presidents are simply obliged to demonstrate their independence and determination," the analyst said..

In addition, France has a special relationship with Syria, given its colonial past, and the notion that it knows this region better than the Anglo-Saxons has leverage in it and has a special responsibility for it. But all these considerations are not backed up in any way by a scenario for the region - it was not as it was, it does not, the expert points out..

Act in the Arab Republic with the consent of the US or independently, in this case, a secondary issue: the main thing, why, for what purpose. "But there is a feeling that many players act simply to show that they are able to act. The situation is peculiar, "- says the interlocutor" Utra ".

The question arises: could not Macron, playing at the peak of Washington, make friends on this basis with Russia? Mikhail Remizov is sure that this will not happen. "The French still under Holland - and under Macron, I believe, will have a complete continuity of approaches - were to Syria even less compliant and more rigid to the Russian approach, than sometimes Americans and even more so the Germans. I do not think that something will change here, "Mikhail Remizov points out..

As for the policy with regard to other countries of the Middle East region, the choice between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which observers believe to have to be done by Macron, is not so tragic for France. Paris with the new leader is unlikely to take anyone's side: both Qatar and Saudi have their influence in France, but it is not in a position to be forced to occupy someone's side. This is the problem of these regional states themselves, and these are not the powers that are capable of putting European capitals ahead of choice and dragging into their conflict, the expert believes..

More importantly, how France will be determined in relation to the possible development of events around Iran, to fuel tensions around this country, to a new strategy for isolating Iran from the US. Until now, it has been and is one of those powers that sought international detente with Iran and supported a nuclear deal, hoping to derive benefits from it, including economic. France and other European players do not like the idea of ??Republicans again to drive Tehran into a corner. But the question of exactly how she will react to the events around Iran, if the US will bend its line, remains open.