On foreign policy, France's new leader is untested, unclear

President-elect Emmanuel Macron has been loud and clear on his policy of keeping France at the center of the European Union. Less certain, however, is where he stands on other global issues.
In Macron's previous jobs as an investment banker and from 2014-16 as economy minister, foreign policy wasn't among his areas of expertise.
The careful, measured forays into foreign affairs during the campaign signaled that France's youngest president is aware of his limitations and is allowing himself time to bone up on the issues before crafting his diplomacy.
"You have politicians who know that they don't know and want to learn. And you have those who don't know that they don't know and who shoot off their mouths. He belongs, quite clearly, to the first category," says Francois Heisbourg, a leading French expert on foreign affairs, defense and terrorism who has been advising Macron and his campaign team.

Macron has given some broad outlines but, on more than one occasion, has been wishy-washy.
On the Middle East, Macron repeatedly has said his top priority will be to continue the fight against the Islamic State group, which has claimed or inspired multiple attacks in France since 2015 that killed more 230 people.

French warplanes have flown thousands of sorties and carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against the extremists as part of an international coalition.
Macron also has said he wants an engineered exit from power of Syrian President Bashar Assad. He labeled Assad "a criminal" after a sarin gas attack killed dozens in the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.

The president-elect said the use of the deadly nerve agent should be punished with UN-sanctioned military force if Assad's involvement is proven.
But Macron also has expressed concern that Syria could become an even more chaotic failed state if Assad is ousted without a carefully planned transition.
"It's very complicated," Macron said last month. "We have to be serious."
On Russia, Macron set himself apart from other candidates by adopting a tougher stance toward President Vladimir Putin.
He said he wants to work with Russia, which backs Assad, in the fight against IS. But he laced his appeals for cooperation with warnings that Moscow "doesn't share our values and preferences."

Vowing not to be "accommodating" with Russia, he said last month: "We need an extremely demanding dialogue."
Macron favors renewed peace talks to stabilize the situation in eastern Ukraine in order to gradually diminish sanctions against Russia.
His tone hardened as the campaign wore on. There was widespread -- but as yet unproven -- speculation that Russia may have had a hand in the document leak that targeted Macron's campaign in the final hours of the race.
Foreign affairs expert Heisbourg said Russia and France's allies will be watching how Macron handles the aftermath of the hack, which is being investigated by the French government's cybersecurity agency, ANSSI.

"The cyberattack was timed exquisitely. Russia's fingerprints were all over the place. This was not simply a belated attempt to disrupt the campaign. It was a gauntlet, a challenge," said Heisbourg, an adviser at the Paris think-tank Foundation for Strategic Research.
"He will be expected to respond one way or another to the challenge," Heisbourg said.
With the US, Macron says he wants continued intelligence-sharing and cooperation at the United Nations, and he hopes to persuade President Donald Trump not to pull Washington out of a global climate change accord.
Macron, committed to free trade, and Trump, who campaigned on promises to protect US jobs from foreign competition, appear poles apart. They're also from different generations -- Macron is 39, Trump is 70.