War and Armed conflict
The geography and modalities of wars and armed conflicts are evolving in step with the international system. While irregular wars and asymmetrical conflicts persist, high-intensity wars are multiplying, while crises are taking on new forms as a result of hybrid threats.
Related Subjects
RAMSES 2024. A World to Be Remade
For its 42nd edition, RAMSES 2024 identifies three major challenges for 2024.
Fiscal Policy in France and Germany: Insurmountable Differences?
The state of public finances in France and Germany is often compared. Germany is considered a model of rigor, through its ability to contain its deficits and generate surpluses, particularly between 2012 and 2019, thanks to the introduction into its constitution of a debt brake mechanism.
Dimitri Minic: 'The Kremlin's credibility has been shaken'
For this Russian army specialist, at least part of the armed forces rallying behind the founder of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, cannot be ruled out.
Dimitri Minic: 'The Russian army is influenced by beliefs that detaches it from objective reality'
According to the researcher, the failure of the Russian army in Ukraine is the result of the implementation of a theory that emerged in the 2000s, which places a central focus on 'psychological-informational' warfare rather than armed combat.
TB2 Bayraktar: Big Strategy for a Little Drone
Since 2016, the tactical drone TB2 Bayraktar—“standard bearer” in Turkish—has received considerable media attention, particularly during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Thanks to Azerbaijan’s victory over its neighbor Armenia, the drone, manufactured by Baykar, is now a proven combat system with increasing numbers of export clients.
The Cumbersome Legacy of the SPD’s Policy Towards Vladimir Putin’s Russia
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) looks back with pride on the history of its Ostpolitik, which it sees as having paved the way for German reunification. With the firm will to continue this Ostpolitik after the end of the Cold War, SPD politicians of the last 20 years have, within the framework of their government responsibility, focused on a partnership with Russia, which had the goal of contributing to the democratization of Russia through bilateral trade and mutual interdependence.
Imagining Beyond the Imaginary. The Use of Red Teaming and Serious Games in Anticipation and Foresight
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.
Xi's Moscow Visit Risks Further Emboldening Putin: Analysts
There is no sign the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow will rein in President Vladimir Putin in his war in Ukraine, even if it again highlights a lopsided relationship where Russia is clearly the junior partner, analysts say.
One Year of War in Ukraine: Where Do the Russian People Stand?
The overwhelming majority of the Russian population, having been fed Kremlin propaganda for years, approves of the war in Ukraine.
US Navy, French Navy And Royal Navy See Eye To Eye On Interoperability
The heads of the three leading NATO navies, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Mike Gilday, First Sea Lord, Admiral Ben Key, and the Chief of Staff of the French Navy, Admiral Pierre Vandier, met last week in France for the first ever "Paris Naval Conference".
CNO Delivers Remarks at Paris Naval Conference
CNO Delivers Remarks at Paris Naval Conference
Below is a transcript of the remarks as delivered:
THOMAS GOMART: Just a quick announcement before starting. If you don't want to practice your French you can use receptors which are with this gentleman over there or at the table, because I will speak French and switch to English for the session.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Nothing New in the East
While a state of siege was declared a year ago in two Congolese provinces and Kenyan authorities organized a meeting in Nairobi between the Congolese government and armed groups, the pacification of the Congolese East remains unresolved. This study looks back at the Tshisekedi government's policy and handling of this issue since 2019.
Military Stockpiles: A Life-Insurance Policy in a High-Intensity Conflict?
The war in Ukraine is a reminder of the place of attrition from high-intensity conflict in European armies that have been cut to the bone after three decades of budget cuts. All European forces have had to reduce their stocks to the bare minimum. As a result, support to Ukraine has meant a significant drain on their operational capabilities. A significant amount of decommissioned systems were also donated, due to the lack of depth in operational fleets.
French Navy bets on electronic warfare to counter anti-ship threats
With 2,000 miles of direct coastline and more than a dozen overseas territories, France’s naval vessels maintain a continuous presence in multiple maritime zones — from the North Sea to the Caribbean, and from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.
The War in Ukraine: Echoes of Korea?
The war in Ukraine has revived discussion about the Washington-Beijing-Moscow triangle as well as Europe’s place in the geopolitical power struggles.
War in Ukraine: A New World?
Beyond the tactical sphere, the conflict in Ukraine has already had numerous repercussions, and its conclusion will provoke many more in the global system. In this special issue, Politique étrangère explores some potential outcomes.
RAMSES 2023. Europe at War
For its 41st edition, RAMSES 2023. Europe at War, written by Ifri's research team and external experts, offers an in-depth and up-to-date analysis of geopolitics in today’s world.
The Return of High-Intensity Conflict in Ukraine: Lessons for Land Forces
After twenty years of counter-terrorism, the Ukrainian battlefield marks the renewal of so-called “high-intensity” warfare. It constitutes a major strategic turning point, reversing the contemporary model of wars involving the West.
Cercles dirigeants russes : infaillible loyauté au système Poutine ?
Despite the unprecedented sanctions against Russia following Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022, no important member of Russia's ruling circles has defected.
RAMSES 2025. Between Powers and Powerlessness
Never before have there been so many powers able to upset the international balance of power, and never before have the dominant powers seemed so powerless to counter the fragmentation of the world.
The Future of Europe’s Strategic Deterrence is (also) at Sea
A cursory look at both France and the UK suggests that the future of European nuclear deterrence is at sea.
India-Russia Relations in Troubled Times: Steady but Stagnating
This paper examines the trajectory of India-Russia relations post-February 2022. The war in Ukraine emerged as a significant challenge for bilateral ties, presenting new obstacles to political and diplomatic relations and intensifying the previous difficulties in developing economic cooperation.
The Next Surge of Conflict in the South Caucasus Is Still Preventable
The tragic exodus of the Armenian population from the Nagorno Karabakh region has closed a chapter in the long saga of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
RAMSES 2024. A World to Be Remade
For its 42nd edition, RAMSES 2024 identifies three major challenges for 2024.
TB2 Bayraktar: Big Strategy for a Little Drone
Since 2016, the tactical drone TB2 Bayraktar—“standard bearer” in Turkish—has received considerable media attention, particularly during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Thanks to Azerbaijan’s victory over its neighbor Armenia, the drone, manufactured by Baykar, is now a proven combat system with increasing numbers of export clients.
Imagining Beyond the Imaginary. The Use of Red Teaming and Serious Games in Anticipation and Foresight
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.
Military Stockpiles: A Life-Insurance Policy in a High-Intensity Conflict?
The war in Ukraine is a reminder of the place of attrition from high-intensity conflict in European armies that have been cut to the bone after three decades of budget cuts. All European forces have had to reduce their stocks to the bare minimum. As a result, support to Ukraine has meant a significant drain on their operational capabilities. A significant amount of decommissioned systems were also donated, due to the lack of depth in operational fleets.
Back to “the Tradition”: Turkey’s Changing Position from a Federal to a Two-State Solution to the Cyprus Conflict
When it came to power in 2002, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) defended a bicommunal, federal solution for Cyprus, and supported the Annan Plan to reunite the island.
Is Russia Fascist? Unraveling Propaganda East and West
The charge of "fascism" has become a strategic narrative of the current world order.
France pushes risky bet on detente with Moscow
Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron senses an opportunity to bring Russia's Vladimir Putin back in from the cold and potentially help usher in peace in Ukraine, an ambitious -- and risky -- undertaking that Western allies might not welcome.
Russia, France look for way out of geopolitical deadlock
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron are due to hold a meeting in St. Petersburg.
Macron Heads to Russia in European Effort to Salvage Iran Deal
French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Russia this week once threatened to split France from its European allies. Now it’s part of a wider European effort to tie President Vladimir Putin to the Iran nuclear accord.
As fighting rages, can Russia forge a peace in Syria?
Nearly two and a half years after the Russian military began an intensive bombing campaign in Syria in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia is struggling to engineer a political solution in the war-ravaged country, analysts say.
Missiles of March: A political means of last resort for Putin
President Vladimir Putin’s extra-heavy emphasis on new strategic missile systems in his March 1 address to parliament was quite unexpected and rather out of character.
'Turkey Is Using Syria to Show its Strength - it's All About Image'
Turkey is looking to revive a fragile ceasefire in Aleppo, and the planned evacuation of civilians, which brokered with Russia. But why is Ankara, a staunch opponent of Damascus, interested in helping to create an outcome that would benefit President Assad? Amanda Morrow put the question to Dorothée Schmid, head of the Turkish studies programme at the French Institute of International Relations.
Ifri, a foundation recognized as being of public utility, relies largely on private donors – companies and individuals – to guarantee its sustainability and intellectual independence. Through their funding, donors help maintain the Institute's position among the world's leading think tanks. By benefiting from an internationally recognized network and expertise, donors refine their understanding of geopolitical risk and its consequences on global politics and the economy. In 2026, Ifri partners with over 90 French and international companies and organizations.
