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Transforming for What ? Challenges Facing Western Militaries Today

Studies
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Focus Stratégique
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Focus stratégique n°11, November 2008
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Transforming for What ? Challenges Facing Western Militaries Today
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The term "transformation" is often heard in Western - especially U.S. - military circles. "Transformation" is generally intended to convey the notion of major, productive change for the future that will result in improved military capabilities. A major issue that faces the militaries of most democratic nations is, however, what missions are they transforming for? This article examines that important question, with a particular focus on the types of operations that are likely to predominate in the coming years, and the implications that they will have for the armed forces of the Western nations as they plan for the future.

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Transforming for What ? Challenges Facing Western Militaries Today

Decoration
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 A soldier watching a sunset on an armored infantry fighting vehicle
Security Studies Center
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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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How does France’s nuclear deterrent contribute to the defense of Europe?

Date de publication
10 July 2026
Accroche

France’s nuclear deterrent, serving first and foremost to defend France’s vital interests, also contributes to the defense of Europe. This contribution has been recognized within the North Atlantic Alliance since 1974, but remains little known. In a speech closely followed by France’s European partners and its adversaries alike, President Emmanuel Macron announced a new concept for French nuclear deterrence: “forward deterrence” (dissuasion avancée). This article aims to explain the origins of this concept, outline its main pillars, and describe the partnerships that are sought. It then discusses the relationship with the U.S. doctrine of “extended deterrence”, and finally offers some ethical considerations.

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Fury from the Skies. A Strategic Analysis of Air Campaign against Iran

Date de publication
07 May 2026
Accroche

What is the outcome of Operations Roaring Lion (RL) and Epic Fury (EF), launched by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28, 2026?

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Finland: The Ally Who Came in from the Cold

Date de publication
10 April 2026
Accroche

Among all European countries, Finland is perhaps the one whose strategic culture and military model have changed the least since the end of the Cold War. Built after the end of the Second World War to deter a potential new Soviet invasion, this model enabled Finland to serve as an example of European rearmament.

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Stability under Pressure. A Pakistani View on Nuclear Deterrence after Pahalgam

Date de publication
24 June 2026
Accroche

The May 2025 India-Pakistan crisis after the Pahalgam attack has generated a familiar but incomplete debate: did nuclear deterrence work, or did it merely allow both sides to fight a limited war under the nuclear shadow? The better answer is that deterrence worked at the level at which it was designed to work. It prevented a general war and an uncontrolled vertical escalation, and kept nuclear weapons in the background. But it did not prevent India from attempting to carve out space for conventional action, nor did it prevent Pakistan from responding conventionally to restore deterrence credibility.

Rabia Akhtar

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Transforming for What ? Challenges Facing Western Militaries Today
John GORDON IV, « Transforming for What ? Challenges Facing Western Militaries Today », Studies, Focus Stratégique, Ifri, 3 December 2008.
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Transforming for What ? Challenges Facing Western Militaries Today

Transforming for What ? Challenges Facing Western Militaries Today