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.
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Turkey and France - Allies or Rivals: Opportunities to be Seized
As international relations have become increasingly unpredictable, the quest is to find a semblance of normality. Alliances are shifting as interests are changing. The so-called order established after the Second World War is being shattered by those who have given so much to create it. Global relations are being transformed by countries that wish to follow the rules and others that want to circumvent or ignore them. In this uncertain environment, it is therefore all the more crucial to find stable allies.
France in the Indo-Pacific: The Need for a Pragmatic Strategic Posture
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
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.
European Union: A Geopolitical Illusion?
The European Union (EU) is holding firm in the face of the war in Ukraine—perhaps better than expected. But what long-term effects will the war have on European institutions and policies? The institutions will need to be changed to cope with the forthcoming expansions. The EU has certainly made progress toward common industrial and technological policies. But will this dynamic do away with a conception of strategic autonomy, encompassing both diplomacy and strategy? The European Union, which will undoubtedly be a key mover of future changes for the continent, remains largely uncertain in terms of its future configurations.
The Wind Rose’s Directions: Russia’s Strategic Deterrence during the First Year of the War in Ukraine
High-Intensity Warfare: What Challenges for the French Armed Forces?
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.
After the success of its army in Mozambique, Rwanda expects economic rewards
Companies affiliated with the powerful Crystal Ventures holding company, the financial arm of Kigali's ruling party, are already present in Mozambique.
Strategic Signaling: A Lever for France in the Competition Between Powers?
From the joint and combined Orion 2023 exercice to the deployment of Leclerc tanks in Romania, through the qualification fire of new missiles, the French armed forces conduct many manoeuvres and activities that are now described as falling under the "strategic signaling".
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.
France is already sending an armored ‘oddity’ to Ukraine. Now this can send a little odd.
France may send Ukraine its AMX-10Ps, an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle that was phased out of service by the French army nearly a decade ago.
Activists Without Borders
Various associations organise trips to Israel and/or to the Palestinian Territories. Someone who has no previous knowledge of the Near East and who takes part in a journey organised by a pro-Israeli group, would return to France with a very different vision of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to that of someone who had travelled with a pro-Palestinian group.
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Deploying the Bundeswehr: more transparency, more flexibility, but Parliament’s consent remains key - The Rühe Commission’s final report
Besides the often invoked historical dimension behind Germany’s strategic culture of restraint, there are today very tangible legal reasons that prevent assertive German military interventionism (which are, of course, directly linked to the historical dimension): any intervention of the German armed forces requires the Bundestag’s consent.
European Defence: Minilateralism is not the enemy
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Conventionalizing Deterrence? U.S. Prompt Strike Programs and Their Limits
About a decade ago, the U.S. started to examine options to develop and acquire Conventional Prompt Global Strike capabilities. This move fits in an effort to conventionalize deterrence, an effort initiated decades before and undertaken for profound and diverse motives. Although it has been renewed under the Obama administration, which aims to reduce the U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons, this ambition has resulted in very little concrete progress.
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.
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.
The IDF on All Fronts: Dealing with Israeli Strategic Uncertainty
Facing threats on all its borders as well as social, economic and religious tensions, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are now under significant pressure in accomplishing their core mission: the survival of the State of Israel.
The Primacy of Alliance: Deterrence and European Security
Since the end of the Cold War, the international security environment has been transformed and nuclear weapons have been marginalized in the West. However, the NATO security policies remain almost unchanged: deterrence is still considered as a principle guiding the Atlantic Alliance, even though the actual policy statements lack target, direction and urgency.
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Related centers and programs
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.