France Plans Draft White Paper by Year's End

France's secretary general for national defense will deliver to the president by the end of this year an early draft of a planned update of the 2008 white paper on defense and national security, said Francis Delon, the senior civil servant who heads the office that will produce the work.

Delon announced the upcoming draft at the French military's annual two-day "summer defense university," hosted this year in Rennes by the Direction générale de l'armement.

An update of the defense review was always scheduled for 2012, intended to keep the document up-to-date. The white paper sets out the strategic overview and is used as a planning tool for drafting the multiyear military budget law.

The early draft will draw on four working groups.

The first will look at the big geostrategic picture, such as China's military modernization and the Arab Spring.

The second group will look at alliances, including NATO, European Union and the U.N., and the attitude of the BRIC group of emerging regional players - Brazil, India and China - toward international organizations.

A third group will look at "transverse" issues such as cybersecurity, terrorism and environmental issues.

The fourth group will consider economic and financial issues and their impact on national security. This is a new area that went uncovered in the 2008 report.