French President Francois Hollande... the most unpopular French president since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958... diverting hostile public opinion... French troops, mainly Foreign Legion, began deploying to Mali in Operation Serval on January 11... without prior consultation with his potential allies... Germany quickly ruled out sending combat troops... The European Union... finally promising a modest training mission for African troops in Mali... NATO... declined to get involved. The European Defense Agency (EDA)... too busy with visionary projects like using solar power to reduce military energy needs... That left Britain to volunteer a couple of military transports...
France has a history of doing this too, that’s how Algeria got annexed.
Of course, Charles X didn’t stay on his throne to see it through. Hollande should keep that in mind.