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Security - Defense

Description

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.

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 A soldier looking at a map on a laptop.
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Publications
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The Major Challenges of Ahmed Bola Tinubu's Nigerian Administration

Date de publication
03 April 2024
Accroche

Voter turnout for Nigeria's presidential elections in February-March 2023 has never been so low since the country's return to democracy in 1999. Nigeria's new president, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, must now reassure voters that Africa's leading economy is capable of putting the lie to a persistent image of a country in decline.

The World Through the Lens of Ukraine

Date de publication
08 March 2024
Accroche

This issue of Politique étrangère looks at three conflicts currently unfolding around the world.

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"Information Fusion": A Lever of Maritime Power for France?

Date de publication
07 December 2023
Accroche

France is a seafaring nation. The stability of its national economy, trade, and security are inextricably linked to the maritime character of international trade.

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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.

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Sudan in Turkey’s African Geopolitics: A Sotto Voce Experience in a Coveted Region

Date de publication
15 November 2023
Accroche

Since the launch of the Opening Plan to Africa in 2003, Turkey's African policy has spread to the whole of the African continent, where its involvement is distinguished by its scope and diversity.

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Russia’s New Challenges in the Baltic/Northern European Theater

Date de publication
14 November 2023
Accroche

The long war in Ukraine has brought a drastic geopolitical reconfiguration of the Baltic theater and a deep shift in the military balance between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

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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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The national DDR policy for Boko Haram ex-combatants in the Extreme North of Cameroon. Issues, challenges and limits

Date de publication
27 October 2023
Accroche

Surprised and harassed by Boko Haram’s atrocities from mid-2013, the Cameroonian authorities initially responded with strong military and judicial responses that helped to contain the threat and regain control of the situation.

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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.

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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.

Establishing the Rule of Law: the U.N. Challenge in Kosovo

Date de publication
29 June 2012
Accroche

Created on the 10th July 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244, UNMIK was responsible for restructuring the institutions of a country devastated by war and establishing democratic governance. The security of people and goods and the existence of a legal system trusted by the population were two crucial prerequisites to the state-building process.

Proliferation and Nonproliferation in the Early Twenty-First Century: The Permanent Five Hold the Key to Success

Date de publication
11 May 2012
Accroche

Since the early twenty-first century, the international nonproliferation landscape has experienced a shift from relatively steady proliferation schemes to more complex and diverse challenges. New entities are gaining access to nuclear material and among them is a growing number of non-state actors. Some states continue to abuse international norms and rules overtly, while others opt for covert proliferation strategies. 

Defence and Foreign Policy Under President-elect François Hollande

Date de publication
08 May 2012
Accroche

We know little about François Hollande's stance on wider foreign and defence policy issues. Though we are unlikely to see major changes from his predecessor, some clues from his successful campaign suggest that President-elect Hollande will adopt a more European and Gaullist approach.

Cruise Missiles and NATO Missile Defense: Under the Radar?

Date de publication
11 April 2012
Accroche

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the threat of cruise missile proliferation is as equally challenging to NATO as the threat of ballistic missiles. Over the last two decades, the emergence of cruise missiles and UAVs as a threat has been slow, and governments, particularly the United States, have invested much less in cruise missile defenses than in ballistic missile defenses.

Dancing with the Bear: Managing Escalation in a Conflict with Russia

Date de publication
08 March 2012
Accroche

"Escalation", the tendency of belligerents to increase the force or breadth of their attacks to gain advantage or avoid defeat, is not a new phenomenon. Systematic thought about how to manage it, however, did not crystallize until the Cold War and the invention of nuclear weapons. 

Helicopter Warfare: The Future of Airmobility and Rotary Wing Combat.

Date de publication
06 February 2012
Accroche

Military helicopters have evolved into technologically sophisticated weapon systems. Originally designed to counter Soviet armor, attack helicopters now have to cope with a wide spectrum of threats, some of them bringing them back to their counterinsurgency roots.

Libya: Old or New Picture? Risks of political uncertainty for the gas and oil business

Date de publication
16 January 2012
Accroche

Libya has an opportunity to get back on track. The end of embargoes and sanctions after the conclusion of the “February Revolution” is favoring a fast production growth. 

Digital Hoplites: Infantry Combat in the Information Age

Date de publication
29 December 2011
Accroche

FELIN, the world's first "integrated soldier system", will enter service in the French Army this year. Throughout history, infantrymen have sought to capitalize on technology while seeking the best compromise between three basic requirements: mobility, firepower and protection of combatants.

In Defense of Deterrence: the Relevance, Morality and Cost-Effectiveness of Nuclear Weapons

Date de publication
05 October 2011
Accroche

Since 1945, nuclear deterrence has frequently been the target of continuous criticism on strategic, legal and moral grounds. In the past five years, however, the renewed debate on nuclear disarmament has been accompanied by an increase in such criticism.

Toward the End of Force Projection? II. Operational Responses and Political Perspectives

Date de publication
29 September 2011
Accroche

For more than a decade, US defense circles have been concerned about the emergence of capabilities and strategies, which, as they spread, risk imperiling the United States" position in the world by their ability to disrupt or prevent force projection operations. Though most of the literature on such “anti-access” strategies focuses on the military aspects of the threat, this Focus stratégique - the second and last part of a two-part study - adopts a different perspective.

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Related centers and programs
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T-72B3 battle tank, NATO
European & Transatlantic Security
Accroche centre

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.

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Legionnaires patrolling during the sentinel operation in Paris
Internal Security
Accroche centre

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.

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Nuclear ballistic missile submarine, in transit on the surface
Deterrence and Proliferation
Accroche centre

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.

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Group of kamkazza combat drones against the background of sky and clouds, top view, 3d rendering. Concept: war in Ukraine, drone attack.
Observatory on Future Conflicts
Accroche centre

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.

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 A soldier watching a sunset on an armored infantry fighting vehicle
Security Studies Center
Accroche centre

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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French soldiers during an exercise in the forest
Defense Research Unit
Accroche centre

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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A soldier looking at a map on a laptop
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