European military footprint in the Middle East

The recent death of a French soldier in a drone attack on a Kurdish base in Erbil, in northern Iraq, triggered a moment of public disorientation. ‘What was a French soldier doing in Iraq?’ The map of European military deployments in the Middle East shows that such a presence is part of a layered and enduring strategic architecture.

This architecture is rooted in successive waves of engagement, from post-Cold War stabilization missions to the post-9/11 interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and more recently the anti-ISIS campaign and limited European participation in airstrikes in Syria.

What this map first reveals is not a unified European force, but a composite presence structured across different institutional frameworks. European troops in the region operate simultaneously under national command, within NATO structures, under UN mandates and in ad hoc international coalitions. At the most basic level, European states deploy forces under national authority.

In Iraq, the European military presence is primarily structured around the fight against Islamic State (ISIS), with key deployments in Erbil and Baghdad. Several European countries including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are involved in training, advising and supporting Iraqi and Kurdish forces within this framework. This engagement is largely embedded in the broader international coalition against ISIS, combining national contributions with coordinated efforts. It also reflects a longer trajectory of European involvement in Iraq following the 2003 invasion and its aftermath, even among states that did not initially participate in combat operations. A similar logic extends to Kuwait, where European forces, most notably Italy, maintain a presence linked to counter-ISIS operations, providing logistical support, training and regional coordination capabilities. Jordan, notably through the Al-Azraq base, functions as a key logistical and training hub linking operations across Iraq and the Levant.

The United Nations constitutes another framework of engagement, though more limited in this region. The map identifies peacekeeping operations, notably in Lebanon under UNIFIL, where several European countries contribute troops. These missions differ significantly in nature. They are governed by international mandates, operate under stricter rules of engagement, and are framed explicitly as stabilizing rather than combat operations.

A third layer is maritime security. The Iran War has brought the Strait of Hormuz into sharp focus, revealing it as both a strategic chokepoint and a geopolitical fault line. It is here that Europe has sought to assert a discreet form of strategic presence through Operation AGENOR, which brings together a coalition of European states including France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. The mission is less about force projection than about vigilance. It monitors flows, accompanies vessels and maintains a fragile continuity of circulation. Neither fully aligned with NATO nor subsumed under United States command, AGENOR reflects a tentative European effort at strategic autonomy, concentrated on the protection of maritime routes on which its economies depend. This type of deployment allows European states to remain engaged in regional security without formally entering into the Iran conflict.

On the other side of the peninsula, the French Navy plays a frontline role in securing commercial traffic through the Bab el Mandeb Strait, another maritime chokepoint between Eritrea and Yemen. French frigates are deployed to escort vessels and counter emerging threats, including drones and missiles launched by Houthi forces from Yemen. In this narrow passage linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, maritime security operations have become an essential component of Europe’s presence, forming a continuous chain of operations that extends across key chokepoints from the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and beyond.

In addition to its presence in Cyprus, the United Kingdom maintains a naval base in Bahrain, reflecting a long-standing British imperial and post-imperial network stretching across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf. The RAF base at Akrotiri, on the island of Cyprus, is the United Kingdom’s largest air base outside its national territory and a key hub for operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its strategic value lies in its proximity to multiple theatres, allowing for rapid air deployment, surveillance and logistical support. As a sovereign base, it also provides the United Kingdom with a rare, permanent foothold in the region, enabling sustained power projection and operational autonomy. In a context of recurrent crises across the Middle East, Akrotiri functions as both a forward operating platform and a critical node in Britain’s broader defence posture, linking European security concerns to regional dynamics. It has notably supported operations in Iraq and Syria since 2014, as well as earlier interventions tied to the post-9/11 security environment. This strategic role has recently been reinforced by temporary French and Spanish deployments.

For their part, the French maintain a permanent military base in the United Arab Emirates, designed to ensure rapid intervention across the wider region. Located in Abu Dhabi, this forward presence includes naval, air and land components. More broadly, European forces are embedded across Gulf states through a network of bilateral agreements, extending their operational reach across the region. Beyond specific missions, these deployments also reflect a broader logic of air and naval power projection, enabling rapid response across multiple theatres from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.

Taken together, these deployments reveal the disunity of current European strategy and the fragmented geography of power, where each state secures its own strategic nodes, echoing older imperial geographies while adapting to contemporary alliances and strategic imperatives.