Les bases de la puissance. Enjeux géopolitiques et stratégiques des bases militaires avancées
Throughout history, great powers have relied upon forward military bases, either to support their interventions in areas of interest, to re-assure allies or to control a territory.
Because of their key role in force projection, forward bases have also become priority targets for adversaries. Although intrusion and harassment by indirect fires have been the preferred operating modes employed by armed groups during the wars of Afghanistan, Iraq and Mali, future operational environment will be rigged by the rise of new offensive capabilities, especially in the field of indirect fires and deep strikes, both among non-state actors and emerging powers. These operational threats add to a geopolitical context leading to a more transactional relation with host countries, thus fragilizing the diplomatic seating of some forward bases abroad. Taken together, these trends call for adapting forward presence networks, both in terms of protection (active defense, alternate operational options) and strategic posturing.
This content is only available in French: Les bases de la puissance. Enjeux géopolitiques et stratégiques des bases militaires avancées.
Morgan PAGLIA
Former Research Fellow, Security Studies Center
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.
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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.
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