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
The Wind Rose’s Directions: Russia’s Strategic Deterrence during the First Year of the War in Ukraine
After the success of its army in Mozambique, Rwanda expects economic rewards
Companies affiliated with the powerful Crystal Ventures holding company, the financial arm of Kigali's ruling party, are already present in Mozambique.
TB2 Bayraktar: Big Strategy for a Little Drone
Since 2016, the tactical drone TB2 Bayraktar—“standard bearer” in Turkish—has received considerable media attention, particularly during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Thanks to Azerbaijan’s victory over its neighbor Armenia, the drone, manufactured by Baykar, is now a proven combat system with increasing numbers of export clients.
Imagining Beyond the Imaginary. The Use of Red Teaming and Serious Games in Anticipation and Foresight
The Red Team Defence demonstrates the Ministry of the Armed Forces' desire to appropriate new foresight tools. Thus, brain games or serious games aim to bypass the weight of the military hierarchy, the standardisation of thoughts and cognitive biases in order to avoid strategic unthinking.
France is already sending an armored ‘oddity’ to Ukraine. Now this can send a little odd.
France may send Ukraine its AMX-10Ps, an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle that was phased out of service by the French army nearly a decade ago.
Analysis: France and Britain’s relationship built on defence co-operation
Training and equipping of Ukrainian forces is an immediate priority.
High hopes UK-France summit will reset soured post-Brexit relations
As Emmanuel Macron prepares to welcome Rishi Sunak to Paris, hopes are high that the first UK-France summit since 2018 will turn the page on years of strained post-Brexit relations.
What Strategic Posture Should France Adopt in the Middle East?
France has a historical presence in the Middle East, where it has many interests to defend: the fight against terrorism, the promotion of the arms industry, the dissemination of humanitarian values, etc. To this end, it has a number of resources at its disposal, notably military: French forces are deployed in Iraq, Syria and Jordan as part of Operation Chammal, in Lebanon for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and in the United Arab Emirates.
France's Macron Set For Four-nation Tour Of Africa
President Emmanuel Macron kicks off a tour of Central Africa on Wednesday in a diplomatic drive to test out a new "responsible relationship" with the continent as anti-French sentiment runs high in some former colonies
Rebooting the Entente: An Agenda for Renewed UK-France Defense Cooperation
The Franco-British Summit on March 10th, 2023, will mark a much-needed reset in bilateral cooperation, following years of strained relations. With a recently re-elected French president and a new British Prime minister, both sides are committed to making this summit a success and re-launching a positive agenda for bilateral cooperation. The summit, the first since Sandhurst in 2018, will focus on three key topics: migration, energy, and foreign policy. Defense cooperation will also be addressed, as it remains the cornerstone of the bilateral relationship, though it may take a less prominent part than on previous occasions.
Strategic Risk Reduction between Nuclear-Weapons Possessors
The topic of nuclear risk reduction has gained momentum in the international security debate among policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, and experts.
No Peacemakers for the New / Old Caucasian War: Understanding the Armenia-Azerbaijan Clash
A full-blown war erupted in the South Caucasus last Sunday, September 27, and as the two belligerents — Armenia and Azerbaijan — mobilize their forces under martial law, no international authority is trying in earnest to stop the hostilities. The conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region ignited 30 years ago as the Soviet Union was collapsing and has never effectively “frozen.” The cease-fire Russia negotiated in May 1994 was not backed by a peacekeeping operation, and clashes have kept occurring, most notably in April 2016.
Global Order in the Shadow of the Coronavirus: China, Russia and the West
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown a harsh spotlight on the state of global governance. Faced with the greatest emergency since the Second World War, nations have regressed into narrow self-interest. The concept of a rules-based international order has been stripped of meaning, while liberalism faces its greatest crisis in decades.
The European Equation of Nuclear Deterrence, Variables and Possible Solutions
Ever since nuclear weapons were developed by the United States and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, Europe has lived under the nuclear shadow. A major direct confrontation between “the West” and “the East” could have very likely resulted in the detonation of nuclear weapons on the continent. As the Cold War ended, massive reductions in the US and Soviet arsenals (from 70,300 in 1986 to 13,890 in 2019) and a new security architecture radically transformed the European security environment.
Confettis d’empire ou points d’appui ? L’avenir de la stratégie française de présence et de souveraineté
France is one of the few nations in the world to benefit from a permanent global military presence. With more than 10,000 military personnel from all three services, deployed across the five continents and the three main oceanic basins, it benefits from the second largest network of prepositioned forces in the world.
La fourmilière du général : le commandement opérationnel face aux enjeux de haute intensité
Operational command structures have always been able to adapt to the strategic context. However, they now face a new challenge: high intensity threats.
The Future of Urban Warfare in the Age of Megacities
Urbanization is a relentless trend, and as cities grow and expand, armed conflict and violence are urbanizing as well.
The Franco-German Tandem: Bridging the Gap on Nuclear Issues
The Franco-German couple has long been characterized by divergent trajectories on nuclear matters, and antagonist historical decisions still frame the current relationship.
Les armées françaises face aux menaces anti-aériennes de nouvelle génération
Although it had never entirely disappeared, the surface-to-air threat was mitigated for three decades by Western air superiority. It now benefits from a modernization and dissemination momentum that will increasingly hinder expeditionary forces’ freedom of action.
The Erosion of Strategic Stability and the Future of Arms Control in Europe
The instruments of cooperative security created during and since the Cold War to foster mutual confidence and reduce the risks of war, inadvertent escalation, and arms races, in and around Europe, have come under increasing strain.
Jihadist Prisoners: The Fear of Recidivism
On July 16, Djamel Beghal is expected to be released from the Rennes-Vezin prison in the west of France. Beghal is a well-known figure in the European jihadist sphere. Born in Algeria in 1965, he settled in France in 1987. Ten years later, he moved to the United Kingdom with his French wife and their children. In November 2000, the family left for Afghanistan, a country then governed by the Taliban.
Missiles of March: A political means of last resort for Putin
President Vladimir Putin’s extra-heavy emphasis on new strategic missile systems in his March 1 address to parliament was quite unexpected and rather out of character.
Menace islamiste, loi martiale, ... que se passe-t-il aux Philippines?
Philippines' President wants to limit islamist groups' capacity after several attacks in the South of the country.
At the 2016 Xiangshan Forum, China Outlines a Vision for Regional Security Governance
Beijing has a plan for a new regional security architecture, and it’s not based around alliances.
France wants to feel safe – whatever it takes. But what if it takes too much?
Opinion column published in "The Globe and Mail"
In France, are soldiers outside the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre really worth it?
Sentinel represents a watershed development in French military operations. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the number of French army soldiers actively deployed in metropolitan France roughly equals that of overseas operations. But the military establishment here is far from unified on the value of an operation often seen as a costly and superficial means of reassuring civilians and tourists at the expense of substantive improvement to national security.
NATO wrestles with internal divisions ahead of Warsaw summit
The alliance is struggling to assemble four battalions to safeguard its eastern flank from a possible Russian attack. In addition, many member states are falling short of their financial commitments to the alliance.
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.
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.
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Related centers and programs
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.