Cyberspace, as a major but intricate field of action, represents both a challenge and a great strategic advantage. At a time when information technology affects all relationships at a global level, states are destabilized by growing dependence on...

The context of budgetary constraint offered a strong incentive for the 2010 Coalition Government to improve its management of defence equipment. Before that, the previous Labour governments already focused on smart acquisition so that the...

While French military expenditures have remained relatively constant over the last ten years, equipment production tended to decrease, resulting in capability gaps. This situation highlights the increasing costs of both acquiring and maintaining...

The 2011 insurgency in Libya brought about the demise of Supreme Leader Mouammar Qadhafi. A NATO-led coalition operated to meet a unique United Nations mandate including an arms embargo, no-fly zone, and the requirement to protect the population...

Although defense spending is the fourth budget item in France, it is rarely a matter of public debate. During the past three decades, defense has been affected in turn by the desire to rip the benefit of the post-Cold War “peace...

Economic globalization has developed in favor of an increase of maritime flows, thus offering a revival to the millennium history of piracy. Present on all the seas around the world – particularly in the Gulf of Guinea, the Horn of Africa and...

Traditionally, maneuver units are designed for mobility and control of the ground, while supporting forces (artillery, aviation) deliver fires to protect the former and ensure their freedom of action. As a result of the introduction of mobile...

A central piece of national security during two centuries and an essential link between the military and the people, the French reserve forces have considerably decreased over the last decades. Nevertheless, new economic constraints now urge for...

After its rapid military victory over the Taliban, the international community underestimated the resources, time and work that would be required enforce to Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Afghanistan. Even though the Afghan population was...

Created on the 10th July 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244, UNMIK was responsible for restructuring the institutions of a country devastated by war and establishing democratic governance. The security of people and goods and the existence of...

Airborne operations draw their strategic importance from the scale and magnitude they provide to air-land operations. Yet, their concept of employment, shaped by their historical legacy may seem unfit to contemporary requirements – especially...

Although defense spending is the fourth budget item in France, it is rarely a matter of public debate. During the past three decades, defense has been affected in turn by the desire to rip the benefit of the post-Cold War “peace...

Traditionally, maneuver units are designed for mobility and control of the ground, while supporting forces (artillery, aviation) deliver fires to protect the former and ensure their freedom of action. As a result of the introduction of mobile...

Military helicopters have evolved into technologically sophisticated weapon systems. Originally designed to counter Soviet armor, attack helicopters now have to cope with a wide spectrum of threats, some of them bringing them back to their...

FELIN, the world's first "integrated soldier system", will enter service in the French Army this year. Throughout history, infantrymen have sought to capitalize on technology while seeking the best compromise between three basic requirements:...

Created on the 10th July 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244, UNMIK was responsible for restructuring the institutions of a country devastated by war and establishing democratic governance. The security of people and goods and the existence of...

Whether in times of war or in times of peace, uncertainty is an inherent characteristic of conflicts. It is in this unpredictable environment that armies operate, and so they must constantly adapt in order to remain effective political instruments....

For more than a decade, US defense circles have been concerned about the emergence of capabilities and strategies, which, as they spread, risk imperiling the United States’ position in the world by their ability to disrupt or prevent force...

Force projection has become a general posture and a fundamental dimension of the influence Western powers intend to exert over the world by means of their armed forces. However, for the last fifteen years, Western states' adoption of expeditionary...

Military helicopters have evolved into technologically sophisticated weapon systems. Originally designed to counter Soviet armor, attack helicopters now have to cope with a wide spectrum of threats, some of them bringing choppers back to their...

The new Strategic Concept takes stock of the past ten years but outlines only modest objectives for the future of NATO. Partnership falls under the third core task, cooperative security. A subsequent partnership policy was unveiled, but has provided...

FELIN, the first "integrated soldier system" in the world, will be effective this year in the French Army. Throughout history, infantrymen have tried to capitalize on technology while trying to arbitrate between the three basic requirements that are...

The war in Afghanistan and David Galula’s reputation in the United States have revived France’s counterinsurgency legacy. This legacy must be divided into two separate periods: the colonial era and later on the wars of decolonization...

In 1998, Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests, transforming the regional strategic balance. India's previous posture, based on the Sundarji doctrine, was found to be inadequate in this new context. To break this strategic deadlock, India...

Refugee and IDP camps, intended to protect civilians affected by conflicts and natural disasters, have an undeniable strategic importance, and their management can be critical for the resolution of crises. During the Cold War, camps – often...

Amaury de Féligonde has just spent one year in Kapisa and Surobi as a project manager within the Afghan-Pakistan Interministerial Unit. Back in France, he expresses his personal views and draws conclusions from his experience. Thus, he...

Lorsque le 25 octobre 1999 les Nations unies sont chargées d’administrer le Timor-Leste et de le mener à l’indépendance, le territoire est en ruine. Les Indonésiens ont saccagé les infrastructures, le...

More than 40 years after the unilateral decision by General de Gaulle to withdraw French forces from NATO's integrated military command, President Sarkozy decided that France would reintegrate the Atlantic Alliance’s military structure,...

Les conflits d’aujourd’hui se déroulent dans un environnement technologique bien plus sophistiqué que pendant la période de la décolonisation. De nouveaux moyens aisément accessibles permettent aux...

L'auteur de ce Focus stratégique vient de passer un an en Kapisa et Surobi en qualité de chef de projet au sein de la Cellule Interministérielle Afghanistan Pakistan. De retour en France et s'exprimant à titre...

  Le Royaume-Uni est entré dans l'ère de l'après 11 septembre avec un modèle d'armée repensé à la fin des années 1990 en fonction de deux grands axes de réflexion. L'absence de...

Plus de quarante ans après la décision unilatérale du général De Gaulle de retirer les forces armées françaises du commandement intégré de l’OTAN, le président Sarkozy a...

For more than a decade, US defense circles have been concerned about the emergence of capabilities and strategies, which, as they spread, risk imperiling the United States’ position in the world by their ability to disrupt or prevent force...

Force projection has become a general posture and a fundamental dimension of the influence Western powers intend to exert over the world by means of their armed forces. However, for the last fifteen years, Western states' adoption of...

Contrairement aux progrès continus réalisés par la médecine civile, les améliorations en matière de traitement et d'évacuation des blessés de guerre dépendent d'abord de la...

The term "transformation" is often heard in Western – especially U.S. – military circles. "Transformation" is generally intended to convey the notion of major, productive change for the future that will result in improved military...

Cette étude analyse le recours à l'armée de Terre en vue d'assurer la protection du territoire national. Dans la logique du Livre blanc qui a consacré le continuum sécurité-défense, l'auteur...

The firepower potentially available to Western armies is nowadays almost unlimited. Yet most conflicts are fought for limited stakes, and the political constraints on the use of force have increased accordingly. This study proposes to analyze how...

Afin de dépasser les débats entre les partisans de la 'Transformation militaire' et les tenants du modèle de 'guerre au sein des populations', cette étude souligne la nécessité de concevoir un format...

From Afghanistan to the Central African Republic, through Haiti and Guinea Bissau, 'failed' or fragile states have finally turned out to be much more resilient than planned to the Security Sector Reforms (SSR) and other imported reforms of...

Dans des conditions d'engagement actuelles qui diffèrent des combats de haute intensité ou des opérations extérieures " habituelles " menées en Afrique, l'armée française fait face à des...

While the Pakistani state is on the decline, the militarization of the society increases. By arming the Pashtun tribes so that they stand up to the local Taliban, the Pakistani state fully contributes to its own process of marginalization. That...

Germany has made significant efforts and many "small steps" to adapt itself to the challenges of foreign military operations as the implementation of the "security and development" approach has demonstrated. However, those efforts have turned out to...

At the beginning of 2007 the creation of the organization called Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was announced. Contrary to a generally accepted idea, that designation is not only a new label for the former Groupe Salafiste pour la...

The term "transformation" is often heard in Western – especially U.S. – military circles. "Transformation" is generally intended to convey the notion of major, productive change for the future that will result in improved military...

The concept of strategic surprise has rarely been defined precisely and generally conveys the idea of a badly or non-anticipated threat which unexpectedly hits a state, shaking its conceptions and its position towards security. Until the 1980s...

From Afghanistan to the Central African Republic, through Haiti and Guinea Bissau, 'failed' or fragile states have finally turned out to be much more resilient than planned to the Security Sector Reforms (SSR) and other imported  reforms of...

In Europe and to a lesser extent in the rest of the world, the last decades have been characterized by two concomitant phenomena : the increasing cost of armament technology which has become always more sophisticated as well as the reduction in the...

Development aid has progressively penetrated the fields of conflicts and "fragility". It tends to become a key component of external interventions, next to military action and diplomacy. As a result, it is subjected to the final goals of those...

What is the role of terror in wars in general and in asymmetric conflicts in particular? Why have democratic countries such as France and the United States been confronted to torture in Algeria and Irak? Do terrorists have to be "terrorized"? That...

Jadis simple corollaire de l'action militaire, ce qu'il est convenu d'appeler la bataille des cœurs et des esprits constitue désormais l'un des enjeux principaux du conflit et en tout état de cause, l'enjeu majeur de la sortie de...

Thème lancé pendant les années 1980 et constamment repris depuis, érigé en obligation impérieuse et presque en dogme pendant l'ère Rumsfeld, l'interarmisation ou jointness s'inscrit en...

La commission Winograd a mis en avant certains dysfonctionnements de l'armée israélienne au cours du conflit de l'été 2006. Les errements du processus de décision stratégique ont également...

Apparue aux États Unis dans l'euphorie de l'éclatante victoire aéroterrestre de la première guerre du Golfe en 1991, l'idée de concevoir les opérations à partir des effets que l'on souhaite obtenir...