The June 2026 Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Cyprus and France, and the 2024–2029 US–Cyprus Defence Roadmap, mark a radical departure from Nicosia’s historic military neutrality. While Cyprus hopes that anchoring itself within Western defence networks will deter Turkish aggression, secure “strategic depth,” and alter the parameters of the solution to the Cyprus problem, this pivot is highly perilous. A realist analysis reveals that Nicosia is dangerously overestimating Western
