General staffs, the prime condition of military power, are sill, and more than ever, the brain of modern armies. In the aftermath of the first Gulf War, which has allowed a certain awareness to develop, the general staffs of the great countries of the Atlantic Alliance and of the European Union have undergone considerable transformations. The aim of these was to create previously inexistent interarmed structures, as well as being able to move from a geographic perception of security to a (...)  lire suite

General staffs, the prime condition of military power, are sill, and more than ever, the brain of modern armies. In the aftermath of the first Gulf War, which has allowed a certain awareness to develop, the general staffs of the great countries of the Atlantic Alliance and of the European Union have undergone considerable transformations. The aim of these was to create previously inexistent interarmed structures, as well as being able to move from a geographic perception of security to a (...)  lire suite

Due to its tradition of multiform cooperation, Northern Europe (Denmark, Finland, Island, Norway and Sweden) is generally seen as a united and homogenous space. This image must not hide the weakness of Nordic cooperation in the strategic field. Indeed, beyond their attempts to overshoot, after the Cold War, the « Northern balance », by furthering their strategic and defence cooperation, Nordic countries remain quite divided on a strategic point of view, as their disagreements towards the (...)  lire suite

The Atlantic Alliance is faced with a major evolution since 9-11. The widening of NATO’s missions has represented a fundamental cause of evolution. The announced withdrawal of a substantial part of US troops from Europe reveals a solidarity decline implied by the Atlantic Alliance, and a re-orientation toward war coalition. Thus, the European perception on the Transatlantic link, its own defence and its future involvements, are becoming increasingly different from the US vision about NATO, (...)  lire suite

Since Vladimir Putin was reelected to Russian presidency in 2004, the reform of armed forces, which has undergone several attempts since 1991, has become one of his priorities, with the aim of adapting them to the new international threats and to rationalize their resources. This policy is confronted to several obstacles, the main one being a military elite refractory to any questioning of their autonomy. At the same time, an increasingly extended international military cooperation is (...)  lire suite

In May 1998, the European Commission adopted a program entitled “Global Monitoring for Environment and Security” (GMES), with the objective of establishing a comprehensive capacity for observing and reviewing the environment, in order to assess the risks related to human activities. Initially intended for the sole environmental security questions, GMES is widening its range to include more general security matters, thus acquiring a military dimension, which by the way is made (...)  lire suite

9/11 has illustrated the vulnerability of the American territory to exterior attacks. The National Security Strategy of September 2002 deals with a number of topics, and especially with the interconnection of radicalism and technology. WMD, non governmental actors, Rogue States are especially targeted. As a means of threat prevention, preemptive actions may be deemed necessary. This new strategy breaks with deterrence, extending the already-used concept of limited preemptive strikes towards (...)  lire suite

The history of India’s nuclear weapons development shows that it is a reluctant to possess them. Despite serious security concerns ranging from the Chinese threat in the 1960s to the current threats from Pakistan and China, India’s nuclear programme has evolved slowly and is restricted today to unassembled and un-deployed weapons. Its reluctant acquiring of nuclear weapons reflects the relatively low salience of nuclear weapons in India’s overall security concerns as well as a strategic (...)  lire suite

In Nordic countries, the large number of research institutes in the field of strategic studies reflects the strategic and political agenda of the state. Although most of these institutes have been under the influence of « peace research », a school which was created in the 1960’s in Norway by Johan Galtung, some of them, under the shape of associations or NGOs, are quite unusual. The myriad of institutes existing in such small countries may come across as a paradox. Nevertheless, the (...)  lire suite

These last years, the critical and constructivist approach to strategic and security studies has begun to question, directly and indirectly, the classical realist-rationalist approach to theoretical and methodological matters in social and political Sciences. The main elements of this criticism are presented through examples covering three specific research fields in security studies : the elaboration of security policies in the proliferation and arms control field, the impact of cultural (...)  lire suite