Security - Defense
As a result of global strategic competition, security and defense issues are marked by the return of major wars and nuclear deterrence, the transformation of terrorism and the race for military technologies.
Related Subjects
The Nagging Problem of State Insolvency
Historically, states have indebted themselves to finance military campaigns. They do so nowadays for other reasons such as financing productive investment.
On the Strategic Value of Ballistic Missile Defense
The strategic value of missile defense remains in considerable debate in Europe but less so in the United States.
Les chausse-trapes de la remontée en puissance : Défis et écueils du redressement militaire
A process of military resurgence shows a government’s will to strengthen its defense apparatus, either to face new strategic challenges or, more frequently, to reverse decline of its capabilities.
Ukraine : the crisis begins
Il y aura un avant et un après. En Ukraine, en Russie, dans toute l’Europe, ailleurs.
La disparition de l’Ukraine comme entité souveraine – on en est plus près que jamais – serait un coup de tonnerre en Europe. Parce que l’espace qui lui survivrait serait très difficilement gérable, ouvrant le risque d’une longue guerre civile dans le style Balkans- années 1990. Et parce que la Russie est incapable de gérer seule cet espace où les Occidentaux n’ont guère l’envie de s’investir profondément.
Une Europe aux abonnés quasi-absents. La crise prend à contre-pied une Politique européenne de voisinage (PEV) brouil- lonne, éclaire l’impuissance militaire de l’Union de Lisbonne et son incapacité à s’entendre sur une stratégie commune face à un pro- blème fondamental dans son voisinage, tant demeurent prégnants les intérêts nationaux, et non politiques les mécanismes bruxellois.
Et loin, très loin, l’Amérique... Une Amérique finalement assez peu présente dans la crise, mais qui se voit, en un temps d’incertitude sur son propre positionnement stratégique, renvoyer la question fondamentale de ces 20 dernières années – qu’elle n’a pas plus que les autres les moyens de trancher : le système international retourne- t-il à grande vitesse vers une structure d’affrontement classique dont Moscou pourrait, avec Pékin, constituer l’épicentre ? Ou, bon an mal an, reste-t-il stable, avec de bons moyens d’amortir les cahots ici ou là inévitables ?
Sur l’ensemble de ces thèmes et bien d’autres encore, l’Ifri présente ici quelques brèves introductions à l’ensemble des débats ouverts par les événements ukrainiens. La crise ukrainienne ne fait que commencer.
La réforme du secteur de sécurité, entre bureaucraties et stratégie
The concept of Security Sector Reform (SSR) was developed during the 1990s as a response to several problems chiefly faced by countries in post-conflict transitions: weak new governments; conflicting civil-military relations; ill-defined division of tasks between the armed forces, the police, and the judiciary system; and tension between the requirements to stabilize the country and to establish the rule of law.
Europe's Continuing Demilitarization
Beginning in the 1970s, becoming solidified with the “peace dividends” in the 1990s and finally accelerated by the financial crisis of 2008, Europe’s demilitarization is undeniable.
The Legacy of the Great War: Sovereign States, Globalization and Regionalism
The Great War has shaped many 20th century practices and norms.
The Impact of the First World War on Strategy
The First World War helped redefine the notion of strategy, giving it a political dimension that it previously lacked.
World War I, in Theory
The First World War gave rise to the emergence of the discipline of international relations, but it was the Second World War and the Cold War that fostered its development.
Between Allies and Rivals: Turkey, Nuclear Weapons, and BMD
This paper discusses Turkey’s attitudes vis-à-vis nuclear weapons and Ballistic Missile Defense in the light of recent developments in the Iranian nuclear program and NATO’s evolving concept of extended deterrence.
The Amphibious Endeavour: Tactical Risk, Strategic Influence
Despite a centuries-long history, amphibious operations were rarely in the spotlight before the Second World War. Meteorological constraints and joint planning challenges both emphasize their risky and complex character. Lessons learned highlight indispensable operational requirements such as superior naval power, favourable strength ratio for disembarked forces and the advantage of surprise.
Unmanned Air Systems: The Future of Air & Sea Power?
Since their early use for primitive ISR and combined operations, UAS have developed into increasingly multipurpose instruments performing a wide array of missions (from limited strike operations, search and monitoring to time-sensitive targeting) and offering new maneuver options to the armed forces.
The Return of Robert Gates
The memoirs of public men are exercises in self-promotion and self-justification. They are designed to etch a portrait of the (wo)man that will live across time. It's the legacy thing. These days, that legacy pertains also to the "here and now" since memoirs are not necessarily the conclusion of a career but rather the curtain-raising on its next act.
Political and Economic Effects of Qaddafi's Death on Chad
On 24 August 2011, President Idriss Déby Itno of Chad recognised the National Transitional Council (NTC) as the only legitimate authority in Libya. Until then, the Chadian president had been a firm ally of the Guide of the Great Jahamiriya, President Qaddafi of Libya. Déby had sustained his long-time friend and helper with military equipment and soldiers from Chad from the beginning of the uprisings.
China's Nuclear Idiosyncrasies and Their Challenges
In many respects, the People’s Republic of China’s nuclear arsenal and posture appear unusual to Western eyes. From its “No First Use” policy to its nuclear warhead storage system, Beijing appears to think about nuclear weapons and their strategic effects in a way that differs with the West in general, and with the United States in particular.
La fin du régiment ? Trente ans de déstructuration de l'organisation tactique régimentaire
The new organization of land forces breaks with a centuries-old tactical order: the regiment. Born out of political constraints that have shaped its history, the regimental order has accompanied the rise of the nation state; the Third Republic, for instance, entrusted it with political, social, and cultural functions.
La fin du régiment ? Trente ans de déstructuration de l'organisation tactique régimentaire
Drones-tueurs et éliminations ciblées : Les Etats-Unis contre Al-Qaïda et ses affiliés
Armed drones - as they enable targeted killings - are henceforward playing a central role in American counterterrorism.
The Baltic Forum 2013
Significant changes in global and regional energy supply and demand, as well as their influence on the political decision-making determine the need to restore proper expert analysis of problems and development perspectives.
Traffic streams, especially energy resource transit, are directly subordinate to the changes in the relations between the countries of the world. Logistics cannot be considered in isolation from the international security and energy policy.
The ensuring of Euro-Atlantic security to the countries and country groups in the surrounding turbulent world is one of the most important and topical issues for joint consideration.
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.
European & Transatlantic Security
The European & Transatlantic Security Program aims to contribute to the strategic debate by developing analyses around three main axes: European defense and the security architecture of the European continent, institutional and strategic links between the Treaty Organization of North Atlantic (NATO) and the European Union (EU), as well as the evolution of the transatlantic relationship.
Internal Security
The distinction between internal and external threats is often exaggerated, as the borders are so porous. Conflicts taking place thousands of kilometers from France can have tragic resonances on national territory. Radicalization, terrorism and even organized crime have an international dimension that cannot be ignored.
Deterrence and Proliferation
The conflicts in Europe, Asia and the Middle East demonstrate a return of nuclear power to the balance of power. Arsenals are being modernized and expanded, while arms control is collapsing. This research program aims to analyze these phenomena.
Observatory on Future Conflicts
The Observatory of Future Conflicts is a research program carried out by the French Institute of International Relations and the Foundation for Strategic Research on behalf of the three army headquarters aimed at studying developments in tensions and armaments at the horizon 2040 in a transversal perspective, taking into account the issues of each army.
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.
Defense Research Unit
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.