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Defense Policy and Armed Forces

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As military competition increases, nations are adapting their defense policies and transforming their armed forces. Doctrine, organization, equipment and training are key to understanding the evolution of land, air and naval forces.

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Publications
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Return to the East: the Russian Threat and the French Pivot to Europe's Eastern Flank

Date de publication
13 June 2024
Accroche

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has flung Europe’s Eastern flank into a new phase of strategic confrontation. It has had a major effect on France’s position, which was previously somewhat timid, leading it to significantly reinforce its deterrence and defense posture in support of the collective defense of Europe, in the name of strategic solidarity and the protection of its security interests.

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“At the Other Side of the Hill”: The Benefits and False Promises of Battlefield Transparency

Date de publication
27 May 2024
Accroche

Recent conflicts have highlighted a key characteristic of contemporary warfare, unprecedented in its scale and impact on the conduct of operations: “battlefield transparency”. 

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Troubled Twins: The FCAS and MGCS Weapon Systems and Franco-German Co-operation

Date de publication
04 December 2023
Accroche

The FCAS (Future Combat Air System) and the MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) represent the latest chapter in a more than seven decades-long history of Franco-German defense co-operation.

Johanna MÖHRING
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Reflecting on a Decade of the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM). Achievements and Future Pathways

Date de publication
23 November 2023
Accroche

The South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM) is taking place in Nouméa (New Caledonia) from December 4th to 6th of this year.

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Naval Nuclear Propulsion: The Technical and Strategic Challenges of a Restricted Technology

Date de publication
08 November 2023
Accroche

The technical and operational capabilities of naval nuclear propulsion - discretion, power, autonomy and manoeuvrability - make this technology a strategic asset for nuclear deterrence.

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France in the Indo-Pacific: The Need for a Pragmatic Strategic Posture

Date de publication
10 October 2023
Accroche

As US-China rivalry reaches its peak and the likelihood of a high-intensity conflict in the region seems greater than ever, this report advocates for a pragmatic recalibration of France’s strategic posture in the Indo-Pacific. This adjustment should be grounded in a realistic reframing of ambitions and an analysis of France’s core interests and the threats it faces.

Zeitenwende: The Bundeswehr’s Paradigm Shift

Date de publication
29 September 2023
Accroche

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marked a turning point in German defense policy. After thirty years of military downsizing, the Bundeswehr found itself at an extremely low capability level just as a high-intensity war involving a great power was breaking out on Europe’s doorstep for the first time since 1945. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s response was to embrace this “turning point” (Zeitenwende) by launching a major program to reequip Germany’s armed forces.

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What Does the Russian Army Think About its War in Ukraine? Criticisms, Recommendations, Adaptations

Date de publication
21 September 2023
Accroche

The Russian army is very critical of its war in Ukraine. Not just of the first phase of the failed special military operation (SVO), which was inspired by the theorization of bypassing, but also of the strategic deterrence phase that preceded it.

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High-Intensity Warfare: What Challenges for the French Armed Forces?

Date de publication
12 July 2023
Accroche

The new French Military Programming Law for 2024-2030 resolutely commits the French armed forces to the path of high intensity. However, this term continues to be the subject of debate and confusion within the defense community. 

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France’s Place Within NATO: Toward a Strategic Aggiornamento?

Date de publication
27 June 2023
Accroche

With a rapidly deteriorating security environment, a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, internal disputes exploding into public view, and questions being raised about the scope of its security responsibilities, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) seemed to be in dire straits at the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

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Return to the East: the Russian Threat and the French Pivot to Europe's Eastern Flank

Date de publication
13 June 2024
Accroche

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has flung Europe’s Eastern flank into a new phase of strategic confrontation. It has had a major effect on France’s position, which was previously somewhat timid, leading it to significantly reinforce its deterrence and defense posture in support of the collective defense of Europe, in the name of strategic solidarity and the protection of its security interests.

Image principale

“At the Other Side of the Hill”: The Benefits and False Promises of Battlefield Transparency

Date de publication
27 May 2024
Accroche

Recent conflicts have highlighted a key characteristic of contemporary warfare, unprecedented in its scale and impact on the conduct of operations: “battlefield transparency”. 

Zeitenwende: The Bundeswehr’s Paradigm Shift

Date de publication
29 September 2023
Accroche

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marked a turning point in German defense policy. After thirty years of military downsizing, the Bundeswehr found itself at an extremely low capability level just as a high-intensity war involving a great power was breaking out on Europe’s doorstep for the first time since 1945. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s response was to embrace this “turning point” (Zeitenwende) by launching a major program to reequip Germany’s armed forces.

Image principale

France’s Place Within NATO: Toward a Strategic Aggiornamento?

Date de publication
27 June 2023
Accroche

With a rapidly deteriorating security environment, a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, internal disputes exploding into public view, and questions being raised about the scope of its security responsibilities, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) seemed to be in dire straits at the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

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Imagining Beyond the Imaginary. The Use of Red Teaming and Serious Games in Anticipation and Foresight

Date de publication
30 March 2023
Accroche

The Red Team Defence demonstrates the Ministry of the Armed Forces' desire to appropriate new foresight tools. Thus, brain games or serious games aim to bypass the weight of the military hierarchy, the standardisation of thoughts and cognitive biases in order to avoid strategic unthinking.

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Rwanda’s Military Diplomacy. Kigali’s Political Use of the Military Means to Increase Prestige and Influence in Africa and Beyond

Date de publication
07 April 2022
Accroche

Although it is one of the smallest states on the African continent, Rwanda has adopted a proactive foreign policy. Kigali has deployed troops within the framework of multilateral peacekeeping missions to increase its prestige and influence. Since last year, changes have arisen: Rwanda has extended its activities outside of multilateral operations, intervening unilaterally in the Central African Republic (CAR) and then in Mozambique. Rwanda desires to foster its reputation as a regional and continental “security provider”. 

Federico DONELLI
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The regional economic order: Four scenarios

Date de publication
28 May 2021
Accroche

What will the economic order in the Indo-Pacific region look like twenty years from now? What are the major trends shaping it, and how are they likely to evolve in the near future?

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La fourmilière du général : le commandement opérationnel face aux enjeux de haute intensité

Date de publication
27 June 2019
Accroche

Operational command structures have always been able to adapt to the strategic context. However, they now face a new challenge: high intensity threats. 

Image de couverture de la publication
composition1.jpg

The European Union in Crisis: What Challenges Lie ahead and Why It Matters for Korea

Date de publication
20 May 2019
Accroche

The EU is currently undergoing serious challenges from inside such as Brexit and strengthening Euroscepticism, rising populism and changing political geography, anti-immigration moods as well as retarded economic recovery.

Heungchong KIM Françoise NICOLAS

Envisioning Opportunities for U.S.-Russia Cooperation in and with Central Asia

Date de publication
26 April 2019
Accroche

Central Asia is conventionally seen as a conflicting space for great powers.

Marlène LARUELLE Andrey KORTUNOV

Cooperation Despite Frictions in Northeast Asia

26 February 2016
Accroche
Despite the political tensions that oppose Japan, China and South Korea, recent months have seen a certain rapprochement between Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing. The first trilateral summit in three years was held in November 2015.

How Asia is transforming geopolitical situation and it is most affecting Taiwan today? Interview with Francis Yi-hua Kan

21 May 2015
Accroche

Francis Yi-hua Kan is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University.

 

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