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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French "State Action at Sea" as a Model for SE Asian Coast Guards
South-East Asian countries like Philippines and Indonesia have to cope with an increasing number of maritime issues in order to exert their sovereign rights over their territorial waters, archipelagic waters and exclusive economic zones (EEZ). In the midst of a tense geostrategic environment, the security of maritime areas and, more broadly, security in the high seas, are subject to major threats and illegal activities as recently summarized in the last Information Fusion Centre (IFC) annual report: piracy and sea robbery, maritime terrorism, cyber-attacks and AIS spoofing, trafficking of all kinds, illegal fishing activities and maritime pollution.
The French-Greek Partnership: Beyond The Eastern Mediterranean.
This week, Ifri, in partnership with CATS Network, is launching a series of five videos on the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, seen through the prism of the geopolitical rivalry between France and Turkey.
French Special Operations What Is Their Role in the Context of Great-Power Competition?
The year 2022 marks thirty years since the creation of the Commandement des operations spéciales (COS, Special Operations Command). Those three decades have been dominated by missions carried out in volatile environments, most often against irregular adversaries, primarily terrorist groups.

Technology at the Center of Geopolitical Relations
Technologies from big data to quantum computing, artificial intelligence and next-generation drones are fueling power struggles between nations and large industrial companies. Alice Pannier, head of the Geopolitics of Technology program at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), talks us through the impact of these new technologies, which have added a further level of complexity to the major energy issues seen in the 20th century.
European Defense: Acting in Time
This seems like a fitting moment to strengthen European cooperation on defense.
Le cloud défense : défi opérationnel, impératif stratégique et enjeu de souveraineté
Cloud computing – or data management – is considered as one of the pillars of the digital transformation of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces.
The French Military's Perception of the Turkish Military and Turkey's Expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean
In the summer of 2020, the Central and Eastern Mediterranean became the center of unusual tensions between France and Turkey. Given that these tensions were also military, which is uncommon for the two countries, the perception that the French military has of Turkey’s army and its doctrine is particularly relevant to address.

AUKUS, a Hot Topic at Beijing Xiangshan Forum Webinar 2021
BEIJING, Oct. 28 -- The 5th session of Beijing Xiangshan Forum Webinar 2021 was held on the evening of October 26 around the topic of “Strategic Stability: Impasse and Way Out”, in which the establishment of the so-called trilateral security partnership, AUKUS, by the US, Britain and Australia and their nuclear submarine cooperation were heatedly discussed.
Developments in Japan’s Defense Strategies and Readiness: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
On December 18, 2018, the Japanese government issued its latest National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), marking another step in Japan’s defense planning and the readiness of the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF).
Human Machine Teaming and the Future of Air Operations
The increasing autonomy and digitization of battlefields implies a re-examination of Man Machine Teaming (MMT). While Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significant benefits, the human cognitive system remains unique until this day. Nonetheless, as demonstrated by the “centaur” approach, man-machine teaming offers even greater potentials than the two working separately.
Caveats to Civilian Aid Programs in Counterinsurgency: The French Experience in Afghanistan
Amaury de Féligonde has just spent one year in Kapisa and Surobi as a project manager within the Afghan-Pakistan Interministerial Unit. Back in France, he expresses his personal views and draws conclusions from his experience.
France's Return into NATO: French Military Culture and Strategic Identity in Question
More than 40 years after the unilateral decision by General de Gaulle to withdraw French forces from NATO's integrated military command, President Sarkozy decided that France would reintegrate the Atlantic Alliance’s military structure, based on "full and complete participation". The decision was endorsed by Parliament and has generated little debate in France, while a majority of French people appear to approve of it.
Evolution of the Australia-Japan Security Partnership: Toward a Softer Triangle Alliance with the United States?
This paper examines how and why the Australia-Japan defense and security partnership has evolved, what policy implications this new partnership has for the U.S.-Japan alliance system, and what constraints the further advancement of trilateral security cooperation faces.
Potential Strategic Consequences of the Nuclear Energy Revival
Renewed interest throughout the globe in harnessing nuclear energy has raised concern about security threats from states and non-state actors while holding out the promise of more electricity for more people.
Chinese Perceptions of the Utility of Nuclear Weapons: Prospects and Potential Problems in Disarmament
This paper takes a careful look at China's perceptions of the role of nuclear weapons in its national security policy and defense posture.
North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Development: Implications for Future Policy
Despite the resumption of high-level diplomatic contact between Washington and Pyongyang in late 2009, realization of a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula remains a very remote prospect, with the DPRK insisting that a peace agreement between the U.S. and North Korea and hence the cessation of "hostile DPRK-U.S. relations" are necessary before any consideration of denuclearization.
In Search of the Nuclear Taboo: Past, Present, and Future
One of the most puzzling - if positive - phenomena of the past half century is the non-use of nuclear weapons.
Dangerous Weapons in Dangerous Hands: Responding to the Challenges of Chemical and Biological Terrorism
The World After: Proliferation, Deterrence and Disarmament if the Nuclear Taboo is Broken
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