The coming of age of a digital “info sphere” has dramatically changed the nature of military information support strategy.

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.
Ifri's 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 Ifri's Security Studies Center
...Research Fellow, Security Studies Center
...Research Fellow, Security Studies Center
...Research Fellow, Security Studies Center
...Research Fellow, Coordinator of the Defense Research Unit - LRD, Security Studies Center
...Director of Research and Communications, Editor-in-Chief of Politique étrangère, and research fellow at the Security Studies Center
...Research Fellow, Head of Ifri's Geopolitics of Technology Program
...Research Fellow, Security Studies Center
...Advisor, Security Studies Center
...Associate Research Fellow, Security Studies Center
...To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic affected defense priorities across Europe?
France has traditionally taken a security-based approach to the fight against terror. It was a latecomer to the field of radicalization prevention and the establishment of disengagement programs aimed at jihadists. It only started to think seriously about the issue in 2013 and its first...
From basic training to the conduct of international exercises, operational readiness planning aim to make the components of military capabilities (equipment, doctrines, operational know-hows) consistent with the operational contracts decided at the strategic level.
What are the next geopolitical challenges of the century? The global pandemic has altered the equilibrium between Asia and the West and sealed the rift between China and the United States, accentuating the world’s shift towards the East. On this polarized chessboard, two fault lines converge:...
The topic of nuclear risk reduction has gained momentum in the international security debate among policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, and experts.
With a look at evolutions over the past three decades, the thematic chapters cover French defense institutions and civil-military relations, the transformation of armed forces, nuclear deterrence, the defense industry, military interventions, and alliances.
China is in the midst of a long-term effort to develop a world-class space program with a strong military and national security component.
In the Aachen Treaty in 2019, Germany and France agree to deepen their "common program in defense matters" and to pursue a common vision in terms of arms export. These are the preconditions that will help consolidate a culture of common armed forces, common interventions, and European defense...
The untold story of the thriving yet complicated defense relationship of two countries caught between strategic decline and global ambitions. As the UK leaves the European Union and as the multilateral international order is increasingly under stress, bilateral security links are more...
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...
The United States and the Iran Nuclear Negotiations Closed seminar with Robert Litwak
The United States Program and the Center for Security Studies at IFRI hosed Robert Litwak, Vice-President and Director of Security Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center for a closed seminar on April 22.
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Current Challenges in Security and Energy Perspectives from Europe and Asia
Recent tensions in Europe and Asia have underscored once more the question of geopolitics in the context of a highly interconnected, “globalised” world economy.
Boosting Military Spending? Les Mensuelles Ifri/Entreprises
A luncheon-debate with Étienne de DURAND, Senior research fellow, Director of the Security Studies Center.
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Germany, France and the United States: Towards a Renewed Transatlantic Dialog in partnership with Russia Center/NEI, Center for Security Studies, United States Program, Energy Center
Franco-British cooperation in the broader picture: Going beyond the bilateral dimension?
This expert seminar aims to address Franco-British defence cooperation in the broader context. It is organised by the Institut français des relations internationales and the Centre for European Reform.
European Defence: Planning for What?
This expert seminar focused on the planning processes within the European Defence Agency and NATO. It gathered officials from NATO, the EDA, the EEAS, national delegations to the EU and NATO, as well as experts.
Iran, From the Nuclear Crisis to a "Big Bargain"?
A luncheon debate with Denis BAUCHARD, Special Adviser for the Middle East at Ifri, and Corentin BRUSTLEIN, Research Fellow at the Centre for Security Studies, Ifri.
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Lessons Learned from Twenty Years of Air and Land Operations
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
The Armies facing the Web
Déjeuner-débat strictement réservé aux entreprises membres et membres individuels bienfaiteurs de l'Ifri, sur invitation personnelle.
...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.
...Robert Litwak is the Vice President for Scholars and Director of International Security Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Robert Litwak from the Wilson Center joined Ifri on April 22, 2015 for a seminar on the U.S.-Iranian nuclear negotiations. In this video, he analyzes the different views on Iran and its regime.
...European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s call for an EU army has been widely dismissed by defence experts. At a time, when several European countries are failing to meet their NATO defence spending commitments, many question how an EU army could be feasible. The former prime...
The speakers from the Annual Conference on the United States summarize their talks in short videos. Here, Frédérick Douzet discusses the "cyber" element of American power.
For the past two years, French experts on terrorism have felt anxious. They often emphasized: “The question is not whether France will be targeted by a terrorist attack, but when.” The dreaded attack took place on January 7th, 2015. That evening, various speakers across the...
The speakers from the Annual Conference on the United States summarize their talks in short videos. Here, Jeff Mankoff analyzes the strategies put in place by the United States with hopes of containing the situation in Ukraine.
Patrick Keller (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung) and Christopher S. Chivvis (RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center) participated in the seminar “Germany, France and the United States: Towards a Renewed Transatlantic Dialog?” which took place on November 17 and 18,...
Il y aura un avant et un après. En Ukraine, en Russie, dans toute l’Europe, ailleurs.
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