The debate on whether to return to Nato’s permanent command structure that has recently been unleashed in France – 43 years after Charles de Gaulle pulled his country out – has impassioned its political class much more than the wider public.

The opposition has seized the opportunity to attack President Nicolas Sarkozy on an issue where his governing centre-right party happens to be divided. But if one goes beyond the political calculations and ideological reflexes of this debate and considers the long-term strategic implications, what is at stake?