Security - Defense
As a result of global strategic competition, security and defense issues are marked by the return of major wars and nuclear deterrence, the transformation of terrorism and the race for military technologies.
Related Subjects
La sécurité énergétique des armées françaises. Le soutien pétrolier à l’heure de la transition
Ever since its inception on the eve of World War One, the concept of securing fuel supply has consistently proven its vitality to military operations.
Kurds against IS: An Effective Military Solution?
The Kurdish military’s recent history immediately brings to mind images of its mythical female fighters, and of its real victories against Daesh. But its successes have been primarily in Syria. In Iraq, the Kurdish military has been hindered by poor preparation, lack of effective weaponry, and various political and tactical disagreements between actors. Without support from the West, Kurdish forces will not be able to win the on-ground offensive.
Cooperation Despite Frictions in Northeast Asia
Cooperation Despite Frictions in Northeast Asia
Despite the political tensions that oppose Japan, China and South Korea, recent months have seen a certain rapprochement between Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing. The first trilateral summit in three years was held in November 2015.
Cooperation Despite Frictions in Northeast Asia
Japan and its Alliance with the US. Structure, Dynamics, Evolution to 2030
China’s rise, US rebalancing in Asia, historic defense reforms in Japan, the adoption of new Guidelines for bilateral cooperation: the Japan-US alliance has reached a turning point in its history.
Chinese missile crisis? Escalation over disputed China Sea islands
Reports have emerged that China has set up a missile launch base on Woody Island, part of an archipelago disputed with Taiwan and Vietnam. This comes just as the US President was wrapping up an ASEAN summit to strengthen ties after the recent Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. How will this shape policy not only among Washington's traditional allies in the region but also in countries like Vietnam? Once again, a war-weary US is being called upon and has to look at the broader picture.
Forces terrestres et réassurance : Quelles options pour l'Alliance ?
Born into the Cold War, the very notion of ‘reassurance’ was revived in the wake of the 2014 Ukraine crisis as NATO had to label the measures destined to reassert the lasting relevance of collective defense towards its member states.
The Challenges of Maintaining Nuclear Cultures : US and UK perspectives
After the world entered the nuclear age, civilian and military organizations have witnessed the slow emergence of nuclear cultures, defined as the set of values and knowledge, shared among the national security community, about the relative importance of nuclear weapons in the country’s defense posture, the distinctive features of nuclear weapons in terms of security, safety and operational requirements, and the workings of deterrence.
China quiere aumentar su protagonismo en Oriente Próximo
Después de haber rehuido durante años implicarse en una región que considera un avispero, China quiere finalmente mostrarse como un participante más activo en Oriente Medio. La visita que el presidente chino, Xi Jinping, comienza este martes a Arabia Saudí, Irán y Egipto señala la creciente importancia que Pekín concede a la zona, tanto desde el punto de vista económico como de seguridad, y representa un paso más en su estrategia para presentarse como una alternativa al modelo estadounidense de potencia mundial.
La prueba nuclear norcoreana refuerza el papel de EE UU en Asia
Corea del Norte ha tratado esta semana de aumentar la presión para ser reconocida como una potencia nuclear con la prueba del pasado miércoles en la que aseguraba que empleó una bomba de hidrógeno. Y ha introducido un nuevo elemento en el gran juego de alianzas estratégicas y comerciales que Estados Unidos y China disputan en el siglo XXI en Asia, un tablero de ajedrez que representa el 38,8% del PIB mundial. La prueba nuclear ha dejado en evidencia la falta de control de Pekín sobre Pyongyang y ha reforzado el papel de Washington como garante de la seguridad en la región.
Hybrid Warfare in the Strategic Spectrum: an Historical Assessment
"Hybrid Warfare" is a fashionable concept, but in order fo it to be really relevant, it has to be visualized within the whole strategic spectrum.
Après Paris et San Bernardino, le terrorisme dans le débat américain
Both the Paris attacks and the San Bernardino shooting reopened the wound of terrorism in the United States. Although President Obama has not shifted his stance or his strategy on the issue, public opinion is worried and populist rhetoric is ever more present in the campaign for the 2016 election.
The ICTY Story: A Clear Failure?
Established to hold trials for crimes committed during the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has vacillated between its punitive purpose and writing the history of this period.
De-radicalization and the Prevention of Radicalization in Germany, Great Britain and Denmark
To date, a few thousand Europeans have left Europe to join jihadi fighters in Syria and Iraq. Several hundreds of them have already returned. To deal with this phenomenon, some countries have developed radicalization prevention and de-radicalization programs.
War’s Indirection or the Return of the Limited War
Over the last few years both the United States and Russia seem to have changed their conception of how to deploy force.
Sweden's Nato Workaround: Swedish security and defense policy against the backdrop of Russian revisionism
Russia’s revisionist foreign policy and military build-up has considerable security implications for the Baltic Sea region, including for Sweden.
Before Paris Attack, the Bataclan Had Long History in Music and Politics
PARIS — Crowds gathered on Monday to place flowers and candles and pay their respects to the 89 people killed at the Bataclan, as speculation swirled about why the legendary music hall was the target of the most brutal of the terrorist attacks on Friday.
Cross-Domain Coercion: The Current Russian Art of Strategy
This paper traces the evolution of Russian views on the art of coercion, and on the role of nuclear weapons in it, from the post-Cold War “regional nuclear deterrence” thinking to the current “Gerasimov Doctrine”.
Le piège de la guerre hybride
Since its inception in the mid-2000s, hybrid warfare has become a fashionable concept among Western strategic community. However, it lacks a clear definition and, if loosely used, could lead to possibly dangerous misunderstandings.
In Search of the Nuclear Taboo: Past, Present, and Future
One of the most puzzling - if positive - phenomena of the past half century is the non-use of nuclear weapons.
NATO 1949-2009
A little more than 60 years after its creation, questions about the future of the Alliance emerge at the intersection of three observations. First, the complexity of the world, which makes the Alliance ‘inevitable,' since it is a rare source of stability and solidarity in a world marked by uncertainty. Second, American doubt. If the United States was the global policeman for some simple minds at the start of the 1990s, others see the US as having used up its power in the adventurism of the Bush Administration. The future will wipe out these two caricatures. For members of the Alliance, the US will long continue to be a necessary friend, whose power and possible abandonment are feared. The third observation is, obviously, Europe's incurable ethnocentricity: if Europeans knew how to look at the world and their place in it, they would rapidly give up their mediocre powerlessness. History is moving on elsewhere and raises questions on its chaotic path to which others are replying more quickly. In the years ahead, therefore, the Alliance may lorge ahead without Europe or nearly without it, despite the fact that Europeans' specific know-how could be useful.
Dangerous Weapons in Dangerous Hands: Responding to the Challenges of Chemical and Biological Terrorism
The World After: Proliferation, Deterrence and Disarmament if the Nuclear Taboo is Broken
Candide in Congo. The Expected Failure of Security Sector Reform (SSR)
Strategic Stability Reconsidered: Prospects for Escalation and Nuclear War in the Middle East
The Evolution of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis: Implications for Iran
President-elect Obama and Nuclear Disarmament: Between Elimination and Restraint
Ifri, a foundation recognized as being of public utility, relies largely on private donors – companies and individuals – to guarantee its sustainability and intellectual independence. Through their funding, donors help maintain the Institute's position among the world's leading think tanks. By benefiting from an internationally recognized network and expertise, donors refine their understanding of geopolitical risk and its consequences on global politics and the economy. In 2026, Ifri partners with over 90 French and international companies and organizations.
European & Transatlantic Security
The European & Transatlantic Security Program aims to contribute to the strategic debate by developing analyses around three main axes: European defense and the security architecture of the European continent, institutional and strategic links between the Treaty Organization of North Atlantic (NATO) and the European Union (EU), as well as the evolution of the transatlantic relationship.
Internal Security
The distinction between internal and external threats is often exaggerated, as the borders are so porous. Conflicts taking place thousands of kilometers from France can have tragic resonances on national territory. Radicalization, terrorism and even organized crime have an international dimension that cannot be ignored.
Deterrence and Proliferation
The conflicts in Europe, Asia and the Middle East demonstrate a return of nuclear power to the balance of power. Arsenals are being modernized and expanded, while arms control is collapsing. This research program aims to analyze these phenomena.
Observatory on Future Conflicts
The Observatory of Future Conflicts is a research program carried out by the French Institute of International Relations and the Foundation for Strategic Research on behalf of the three army headquarters aimed at studying developments in tensions and armaments at the horizon 2040 in a transversal perspective, taking into account the issues of each army.
Security Studies Center
Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.
Defense Research Unit
The Defense Research Unit is a program that aims at stimulating the strategic debate by dealing with subjects at the junction of the “technico-operational” and the “political-strategic”. A unique structure in France, it brings together civilian researchers and “military fellows” from each of the three armies to produce work on defense policies, the capability and strategic adaptation of armies, and foresight on tomorrow's conflicts.