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.
Research fellow, Director of the Security Studies Center
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Chercheur au Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Défense (LRD) de l'Ifri
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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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Research fellow, Security Studies Center, Defense Research Unit
Chercheur au Centre des Etudes de Sécurité de l'Ifri
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Research fellow at IFRI's Security Studies Center, coordinator...
Associate Research Fellow at the IFRI's Security Studies Center
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Associated Research Fellow
Information dominance through the exploitation of the electromagnetic spectrum has become a cornerstone of military superiority. However, it is now threatened by increasingly advanced electronic warfare capabilities.
Although the first and foremost domain in the history of warfare, Land power has been dissociated from the concept of “strategic forces” for some time now, as these generally referred to long-range and/or high-yield strike capabilities, above all nuclear weapons.
Operational command structures have always been able to adapt to the strategic context. However, they now face a new challenge: high intensity threats.
It is a classic exercise to imagine what today’s world would be like if all satellites were shut down. The exact consequences of such a scenario, which is not unlikely given the inherent vulnerability of space systems to natural, accidental and deliberate interferences, are however difficult...
The war in Yemen has entered its fifth year, and the situation is more complex than ever.
Urbanization is a relentless trend, and as cities grow and expand, armed conflict and violence are urbanizing as well.
The Franco-German couple has long been characterized by divergent trajectories on nuclear matters, and antagonist historical decisions still frame the current relationship.
Despite a relative weakening since 2017, the international jihadist movement should continue to pose a genuine threat over the next decade.
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.
Nowadays, numerous actors are involved in military cooperation programs aiming to strengthen African armed forces and build special partnerships.
International politics are increasingly intertwined with cyber-related issues. Cyberattacks are more and more frequent and sophisticated; their perpetrators, like their victims, may be governments or private actors.
Since 1983, the QUAD gathers every year, the SWP, RAND Corporation, Chatham House and Ifri.
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.
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.
Since 1983, the QUAD gathers every year, the SWP, RAND Corporation, Chatham House and Ifri.
Closed-door Seminar with Her Excellency Kersti KALJULAID, President of the Republic of Estonia.
These luncheon-debates are dedicated to corporate and individual benefactor members. By personal invitation only.
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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...
Makoto Iokibe, a renowned expert of Japanese diplomatic history and security policy, will offer his insight on Japan’s new security legislation.
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, ...
An interview with Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, by Jean-Dominique Merchet, Defense and Diplomatic Correspondent, L'Opinion.
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...
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...
An interview with Jon WOLFSTHAL, nonresident scholar, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Philippines' President wants to limit islamist groups' capacity after several attacks in the South of the country.
Opinion column published in "The Globe and Mail"
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...
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...
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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Robert Litwak is the Vice President for Scholars and Director of International Security Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
