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 as complex as ever. Whether for maintaining peace or countering an insurrection, military intervention cannot deliver victory on its own, yet other “global approach” actors are often either absent or ineffective, not to mention the lack of political support and the constraints posed by permanent pressure from the media.
Meanwhile, Western forces must retain the ability to conduct high-intensity operations when fighting symmetric or hybrid adversaries that benefit from training and advanced weapons. The constituent parts of military transformation tend to spread to regional powers. Accordingly, our defense systems have to stay in the technological race and incorporate into their equipments and doctrines the multiple innovations fostered by progress in intelligence gathering and miniaturisation (sensors, networks, robotics, precision ammunition, etc.).
Remaining full spectrum is also a challenge as our militaries face unprecedented constraints in terms of numbers and budgets. in addition, operational tempo has increased and enemies have toughened. The armed forces are thus being asked to achieve more with less. The political and budgetary context, especially in Europe, is likely to limit the size of militaries and the conditions of their use. It is therefore necessary in the short term to offer solutions for optimization and set the stage for a necessary military build up in the future. The LRD’s analysis focuses on French forces first and foremost, as well as the militaries of their main allies.
Research fellow, Director of the Security Studies Center
...
Research fellow at IFRI's Security Studies Center, coordinator...
Chercheur au Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Défense (LRD) de l'Ifri
...
Research fellow, Security Studies Center, Defense Research Unit
Chercheur au Centre des Etudes de Sécurité de l'Ifri
...Associate Research Fellow at the IFRI's Security Studies Center
...
The African borders are well-known for their porosity. Although they are crucial interfaces, they also crystallize political and security tensions, in both inter-state wars and intra-state conflicts involving rebels or autonomist groups.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a priority defense issue for the military powers of the 21st century. Unsurprisingly, the United States and China are currently at the forefront of this new digitalized arms race.
In the context of a persistent impunity enjoyed by organized crime and drug trafficking groups, many countries in Latin America, and especially Mexico and Colombia, have opted to assign military personnel to internal security tasks.
The designation of an enemy is always the result of a political decision, which generally leads to the opening of hostilities.
Deception operations, which refer to manoeuver, economy of armed forces and surprise, need to be reintegrated at the center of strategy to respond efficiently to modern threats.
Something is happening with the military forces of the Arab monarchies in the Gulf.
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.
The ability to penetrate remote and contested theaters of operation is a crucial asset for any expeditionary military power.
Nowadays, numerous actors are involved in military cooperation programs aiming to strengthen African armies and to build special partnerships. These programs provide trainings and the deployment of military counselors, as well as material and financial support to different sub-Saharan...
As Democratic Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) continuous development of non-conventional weapons and challenges of the international community reaches a new level, Republic of Korea (ROK) appears more than ever as the frontline state on which most of North-East Asia security depends.
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.
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...
Dans le cadre du cycle de séminaires "2012 La Défense en question", le Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Défense de l'Ifri (LRD), la Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS) et
Déjeuner-débat strictement réservé aux entreprises membres et membres individuels bienfaiteurs de l'Ifri, sur invitation personnelle.
...
An event to the attention of Ifri's corporate members, by invitation only
...De retour d'une tournée de six semaines en Irak et en Afghanistan, Montgomery McFate, anthropologue à l'origine du HTS et le Colonel Steve Fondacaro, directeur du programme HTS, présenteront les principes et les résultats de ce programme.
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...
One week after the terrorist attacks in Paris, the police killed two jihadists in Belgium. Officials said that the two men were coming back from Syria and were on the brink of targeting Brussels. The capital of Belgium was already targeted a few months ago: in May 2014,...
