France’s François Hollande heads to Washington Tuesday as a self-declared wartime president. But US president Barack Obama will pose stiff conditions to joining any alliance that includes Russia.

FRANCE 24's Douglas Herbert explains why building a coalition will be tough.
The French president is in Washington this Tuesday in full wartime mode. It's the latest leg in a week-long diplomatic marathon to rally world leaders against the Islamic State group. The Paris attacks have hardened the resolve of France's allies to step up the anti-terror fight. But coralling the US and Russia into a single alliance will prove more difficult.
Even as the US shares more intelligence with France, Obama is laying down a gauntlet of tough conditions for any military cooperation with Vladimir Putin's Russia - starting with Moscow training more of its firepower on the places where the Islamic State group operates. Hollande is under tremendous domestic pressure to protect his country. But if that means appeasing Putin, Washington wants none of it.
This article was originally published on November 24, 2015.

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