21/03/2019
Urbanization is a relentless trend, and as cities grow and expand, armed conflict and violence are urbanizing as well.
Security and Defense
The relative simplicity of the Cold War has given way to a series of crises and conflicts involving heterogeneous actors and unpredictable situations. Today, security studies require an integrated approach that takes into account both regional and global dimensions, as well as political trends (coalitions, pressure from the media, strategic rivalries and limited wars) and military dynamics (nuclear and conventional capabilities, reduced force structures, types and methods of intervention).
Since the 1990s, Ifri’s Security Studies Center has stimulated debate and contributed to the improvement of strategic thinking in France through its conferences and widely read publications (in French and English). The Center also works on behalf of public and private policymakers through briefs and closed-door seminars.
The Security Studies Center analyzes traditional defense issues as well as the evolution of the broader field of security. The Center’s programs are designed to be enduring and cross disciplinary, and are conducted with the help of other Ifri research units. Through its innovative work, the Center has two objectives: influencing a wide public with its publications – in particular its two electronic paper series “Focus stratégique” and “Proliferation Papers” – and making recommendations to all the actors involved in public security. Accordingly, various reports and projects are realized on behalf of the Ministries of Defense, the Interior and Foreign Affairs.
Corentin BRUSTLEIN
Research fellow, Director of the Security Studies Center
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Serge CAPLAIN
Chercheur au Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Défense (LRD) de l'Ifri
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Marc HECKER
Marc Hecker is Ifri's Director of publications and Editor-in-Chief of Politique étrangère. He is a research fellow at the Security Studies Center.
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Aline LEBOEUF
Research fellow, Security Studies Center, Defense Research Unit
Morgan PAGLIA
Chercheur au Centre des Etudes de Sécurité de l'Ifri
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Elie TENENBAUM
Research fellow at IFRI's Security Studies Center, coordinator...
Jean-Christophe NOËL
Associate Research Fellow at the IFRI's Security Studies Center
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Vivien PERTUSOT
Associated Research Fellow
The prospect of completely eliminating nuclear weapons seems distant. In sharp contrast with the pragmatic ambitions outlined by Barack Obama in his 2009 speech in Prague, and even more so with the hopes brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall, nuclear weapons should no longer be perceived...
Western armies today face a triple challenge. First, they have been involved in “wars amongst populations” for twenty-five years, having to cope with failed states, fractured societies, and irregular adversaries. Counterinsurgency (COIN) may be out of fashion, but stabilization operations remain...
The Observatory on Future Conflicts is a multiannual frame contract run by the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) and Geo4i under the supervision of the three armed...
Europe is faced with a degradation of its security environment, which affects all of the neighboring regional theaters and occurs along the entire conflict spectrum (Russian strategic resurgence, instability and civil wars around the Mediterranean Sea, changing patterns of jihadist terrorism, etc...
The porosity of borders has become a key characteristic of contemporary international relations. While this has long been recognized for trade and information networks, it also has an impact on the field of defense and security.
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28/01/2019
The Franco-German couple has long been characterized by divergent trajectories on nuclear matters, and antagonist historical decisions still frame the current relationship.
15/01/2019
Despite a relative weakening since 2017, the international jihadist movement should continue to pose a genuine threat over the next decade.
20/12/2018
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.
19/12/2018
Nowadays, numerous actors are involved in military cooperation programs aiming to strengthen African armed forces and build special partnerships.
04/12/2018
Despite the development of artificial intelligence (AI) only being in its early stages, it has already had an impact on armed forces.
30/11/2018
African borders are well-known for their porosity. Although they are crucial economic interfaces, they also crystallize political and security...
30/11/2018
Often described as an “ungoverned area”, the Niger-Libya border is nevertheless at the centre of major economic, political and security challenges. Both the Libyan authorities and the Nigerien state are struggling to establish tight control over this particularly isolated area.
16/11/2018
For decades, Europe has been trying to chart a path away from the military competition and strategic rivalries that brought it to ruins so many times in history.
09/11/2018
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.
27
Sep
2018
from Thursday 27 September 2018 14:00 to Friday 28 September 2018 13:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
QUAD 2018 Annual Meeting
Since 1983, the QUAD gathers every year, the SWP, RAND Corporation, Chatham House and Ifri.
14
Jun
2018
from 16:00 to 17:15
- Ifri Conferences
Eurosatory conference: "Strategic Landpower for the 21st Century" Conference-debate
Landpower has long been dissociated from "strategic forces", as these generally refer to long-range and/or high-yield strike capabilities.However, the recent military commitments contest this notion and highlight the current and future strategic value of landpower.
10
Apr
2018
from 11:00 to 12:30
- Ifri Conferences
Shedding New Light on Terrorism in France
France is the Western country the most severely impacted by acts of terrorism. Some 1300 French citizens have left for Syria and Iraq, among which 330 have returned.
05
Oct
2017
from Thursday 5 October 2017 14:30 to Friday 6 October 2017 13:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
QUAD 2017 Annual Meeting
Since 1983, the QUAD gathers every year, the SWP, RAND Corporation, Chatham House and Ifri.
07
Dec
2016
from 16:45 to 18:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
Estonia and European Security after the Warsaw Summit
Closed-door Seminar with Her Excellency Kersti KALJULAID, President of the Republic of Estonia.
13
Sep
2016
from 13:00 to 14:30
- Dinners and Luncheons
Iran after the Nuclear Deal: Open for Business? Les Mensuelles Ifri/Entreprises
These luncheon-debates are dedicated to corporate and individual benefactor members. By personal invitation only.
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14
Jun
2016
from 14:30 to 16:00
- External Events
Eurosatory seminar: "Training and Equipping Foreign Forces" Lessons and Future of Capacity-Building
This event will cross various perspectives on the strategic rationale behind capacity-building efforts, assess current and future challenges to those endeavors, and provide an overview of how the European Union and France implement it in the field and in...
27
Oct
2015
from 09:30 to 11:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
Japan’s New Security Legislation: A Rupture with its Postwar History?
Makoto Iokibe, a renowned expert of Japanese diplomatic history and security policy, will offer his insight on Japan’s new security legislation.
23
Sep
2015
from 09:30 to 12:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
Regional and Global Impact: The Changing Situation in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea Area
The French Institute of International Relations and the Embassy of Sweden in France are jointly organising a closed seminar with the Swedish Defence Minister, Peter Hultqvist, and the Director General for International Relations and Strategy at the French Ministry of Defence, ...
28
Apr
2015
from 10:30 to 14:30
NATO's Framework Nations Concept: The Panacea?
This expert seminar gathered officials from national ministries of defense, national delegations to NATO, officials from NATO, the EDA, and the EEAS, as well as experts. The objective was to discuss the ambitions of the framework nations concept for framework nations as well as for partner...
19/03/2019
An interview with Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, by Jean-Dominique Merchet, Defense and Diplomatic Correspondent, L'Opinion.
12/07/2018
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...
23/01/2018
Corentin Brustlein, head of Ifri's Security Studies Center, has appointed as a member of the United Nations Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. He is attending the 69th Session of the Council, which is...
18/10/2017
An interview with Jon WOLFSTHAL, nonresident scholar, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
24/05/2017
Philippines' President wants to limit islamist groups' capacity after several attacks in the South of the country.
28/07/2016
Opinion column published in "The Globe and Mail"
04/06/2016
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...
02/06/2016
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...
16/11/2015
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.
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22/04/2015
Robert Litwak is the Vice President for Scholars and Director of International Security Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.