Less than a couple of weeks away from its application, Emmanuel Macron gave a speech shedding light on the new law regarding internal security. Given the context, it directly deals with the terrorist threat which has become the number one concern of the state and its citizens since the increasing number of attacks on French soil. Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, the worst attack in recent French history, the government has set a state of emergency, an exceptional and temporary measure which ended up being maintained over time. This new law aims at putting an end to this radical answer by creating and adapting counter-terrorist measures to be run in the long term. This change also comes at an alarming time with the gradual fall of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Like many others, French Military Chief of Staff General Jean-Pierre Bosser fears that the Islamic State fighters returning to France might carry on the fight through terror attacks on their homeland.

The French government is aware of this new reality and believes that the modifications regarding the counter-terrorist measures will bring a more stable and efficient answer to the threat. Different aspects have been worked on including : an increased intelligence operation, a harder stand on non-French citizens without residence permits, and a new plan on radicalization. The law also mentions the reorganization of the cornerstone of its counter-terrorist effort : Operation Sentinelle. With this operation, the number of soldiers deployed on French soil in unequaled in modern times–numbers fluctuating between 7000 to 10000 soldiers depending on the context and the level of threat.

This military presence demonstrates France’s determination to adopt a strong military answer to the threat. The upcoming law does not question this stance. Indeed the changes with regard to this measure are very limited. The changes aim at making the soldiers more comfortable with the mission. Operation Sentinelle does not fit with the soldier’s original training and they find themselves beset by weariness, and pressure. The readjustments mostly focus on staff turnover and more flexible actions. Changes are made in the form but not in the substance of the operation.

The number of soldiers remains unchanged and the new adjustments aim at “heavily deploying them at the right place and the right time.” A turn of phrase employed by French Ministry of Defense Florence Parly perfectly encapsulating the central problem of French counter-terrorist military strategy. An important number of soldiers is a unsuitable answer for such an unpredictable threat. Operation Sentinelle is strategically inefficient and is more of a reassuring and deterrent function as specialist Elie Tenenbaum rightly underlined. It is presented as a military mission but the outcomes of the operation are only psychological and political.

The cost of such an operation is way too important considering its very limited security efficacy. France needs an important budget and available armed forces to support its interventionist doctrine. France’s largest overseas military mission, operation Barkhane, only counts 4500 soldiers: . An upcoming budget cut is also going to give another blow to security measures. Before his election, Emmanuel Macron promised to increase the defense budget to allow France to pursue its international ambitions. But last July, Military Chief of Staff Pierre de Villiers resigned after the president announced a cut of 850,000 million euros in the army’s budget. Too much money and attention is given to an inefficient and inappropriate counter-terrorist measure which can not survive on the long run. Unlike terrorism.