By Captain Edouard Jonnet, French Defence Attaché in the Netherlands
France and the Netherlands are both NATO and EU founding members, but have inherited sometimes differing strategic cultures. The war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and the Caribbean, among others, lead us to rethink how to defend our shared interests. As a defense attaché, one of my duties is to cultivate a shared strategic thinking and foster our “intellectual re-armament”.
Beyond the percentages of GDP allocated to defense, this intellectual re-armament should allow us to shape our military capabilities in a way that will enable us to prevail in the event of a high-intensity conflict. In this spirit, the participation of the Netherlands as guests of honour in the Paris Defense and Strategy Forum last March and the Franco-Dutch Defense Talks in September are examples of how to build bridges between our strategic cultures.
In the past months, several developments had a positive impact on the build-up of a common strategic culture.
Lessons learned from WWII encourage us to develop a common strategic culture. The 2024 twining between the municipalities of Kapelle and Orry La Ville supports this way forward.
At the beginning of the Second World War, France was the only country to deploy large units to support Dutch Armed forces in Brabant and Zeeland in May 1940. Most remarkably, after the capitulation, Dutch troops in Zeeland kept fighting for a few more days under French command. Nowadays, French soldiers who died in the Netherlands during WWII are buried in the town of Kapelle. To a certain extent, the poor coordination between French and Dutch forces back in 1940 had been nurtured by the lack of a shared strategic culture. This lesson learned from history should not be forgotten now.
It is also worth noting that, in similar fashion, Dutch forces fought on French soil. The Princess Irene brigade took part in the battle of Normandy in 1944, and Dutch soldiers are buried in the cemetery of Orry La Ville. In 2024, Orry La Ville and Kapelle have officialized their twinning programme, during a moving ceremony in Orry[1].
Training with similar equipment is a catalyst for a common strategic culture build up
In terms of capabilities, the acquisition by the Netherlands of four Orka-class submarines from Naval Group and its Dutch partners marks a turning point[2]. Beyond the industrial links that will emerge from this cooperation, it is also an opportunity to build up a shared strategic thinking on submarine warfare and therefore contribute together to the security of Europe in the coming decades. As a defense attaché, but more importantly as a submariner, I am of course very enthusiastic about this perspective. Several other projects regarding helicopters, mine warfare, radars and smaller equipment are also great opportunities to build bridges between our strategic cultures, just like radars or other.
Organizations’ rapprochement eases a common strategic culture
The creation of a Joint Force command[3] in the Dutch ministry of defense is a very interesting move. The Dutch organization will be more joint and closer to the French organigram. This kind of rapprochement should not be underestimated. Officers will definitely be more eager to exchange information if they don’t struggle to grasp someone else’s organization.
In a way, evolutions towards similar organigrams and decision-making processes are key topics for bringing strategic cultures closer.
Even if there is still room for improvement in order to bring our strategic cultures ever closer, the evolutions of the last few years have been significant and encourage us to move forward with greater energy and will.
Finally, strategic culture is about learning who we are, and understanding each other. It may be the most decisive step of the much-needed intellectual rearmament of Europe.
[1] https://www.kapelle.nl/orry-la-ville-et-kapelle
[2] https://www.defensie.nl/actueel/nieuws/2024/06/12/politieke-steun-voor-bouw-onderzeeboten-door-naval-group
[3] https://www.defensie.nl/actueel/nieuws/2025/09/04/met-joint-force-command-beter-voorbereid-op-grootschalig-conflict
