Originally Posted by
mopardave
Agreed on Germany.......but France?
Fair point, France does still have superior functioning military capability, even though Germany spends more on defense than France,
That said, the French forces have failed entirely to contain the insurgencies they set out to quell, in Mali for instance.
So the social utility of the force is in question, large enough to get into trouble, but not large enough to power its way out of it.
Of course that could also be said of the US forces, after some decades of 'nation building' efforts.
In any case, I do not believe the Chinese see these forces as relevant.