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Prénom de l'expert

Élie

Nom de l'expert

TENENBAUM

Director of Ifri’s Security Studies Center

Research Areas:

Military strategy
European defense and security
Irregular warfare and hybrid threats
Terrorism and insurgencies

A soldier watching a sunset on an armored infantry fighting vehicle

Security Studies Center

French soldiers during an exercise in the forest

Defense Research Unit

Nuclear ballistic missile submarine, in transit on the surface

Deterrence and Proliferation

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

Élie Tenenbaum is the director of Ifri's Security Studies Center. After years of focusing on irregular warfare, counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism, his research now leads him to cover more general strategic issues, in particular European security and defense policy.

He holds PhD (2015) in History and graduated from Sciences Po (2010), he has been a visiting fellow at Columbia University (2013-2014) and spent a year at the War Studies Department, at King's College London (2006) ; he has taught international security at Sciences Po and international contemporary history at the Université de Lorraine. He is the author of numerous articles and books on history and strategy, including The Twenty Year War: Jihadism & Counter-Terrorism in the 21^st Century, with Marc Hecker (Robert Laffont, Prix du Livre Géopolitique 2021).

Flagship Publications

Studies

June 2024

Return to the East: the Russian Threat and the French Pivot to Europe's Eastern Flank

January 29, 2023, in RUTJA (ESTONIA). French, British and Estonian soldiers from BattleGroup eFP participated in the BALTIC HAWK mission

Élie TENENBAUM Amélie ZIMA

Return to the East: the Russian Threat and the French Pivot to Europe's Eastern Flank

Papers

July 2023

High-Intensity Warfare: What Challenges for the French Armed Forces?

Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

September 2023

Zeitenwende: The Bundeswehr’s Paradigm Shift

A Canadian Armed Forces Leopard tank, Exercise Common Ground, Camp Petersville, Gagetown - November 21, 2018

Léo PÉRIA-PEIGNÉ Élie TENENBAUM

Zeitenwende: The Bundeswehr’s Paradigm Shift

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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 2024, Ifri will support more than 70 French and foreign companies and organizations.

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Analysis from Élie TENENBAUM

Publications

Press

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Studies

Return to the East: the Russian Threat and the French Pivot to Europe's Eastern Flank

13 June 2024

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has flung Europe’s Eastern flank into a new phase of strategic confrontation. It has had a major effect on France’s position, which was previously somewhat timid, leading it to significantly reinforce its deterrence and defense posture in support of the collective defense of Europe, in the name of strategic solidarity and the protection of its security interests.

Élie TENENBAUM Amélie ZIMA

The Military Stakes in the War in Ukraine: An Illusory Stalemate?

08 March 2024

The Ukrainian counter-offensive, which was supposed to result in a major breakthrough in 2023, came up against solid Russian defenses and ended in failure.

Yohann MICHEL Olivier SCHMITT Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

Zeitenwende: The Bundeswehr’s Paradigm Shift

29 September 2023

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.

Léo PÉRIA-PEIGNÉ Élie TENENBAUM

Papers

High-Intensity Warfare: What Challenges for the French Armed Forces?

12 July 2023

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.

Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

© Action Press/Alfonso Jimenez/helloRuby on Shutterstock

China/United States: Europe off Balance

01 April 2023

As French President Emmanuel Macron (accompanied by Ursula von der Leyen) is on a state visit to China, some twenty Ifri researchers decipher the stakes of the U.S./China/Europe strategic triangle.

Thomas GOMART Marc HECKER Alain ANTIL Jérémy BACHELIER Marc-Antoine EYL-MAZZEGA Diana-Paula GHERASIM Marc JULIENNE Tatiana KASTOUÉVA-JEAN Éric-André MARTIN Laurence NARDON Françoise NICOLAS Céline PAJON Alice PANNIER Isabelle SAINT-MEZARD Jean-Loup SAMAAN John SEAMAN Élie TENENBAUM Mathilde VELLIET

Memos

Rebooting the Entente: An Agenda for Renewed UK-France Defense Cooperation

22 February 2023

The Franco-British Summit on March 10th, 2023, will mark a much-needed reset in bilateral cooperation, following years of strained relations. With a recently re-elected French president and a new British Prime minister, both sides are committed to making this summit a success and re-launching a positive agenda for bilateral cooperation. The summit, the first since Sandhurst in 2018, will focus on three key topics: migration, energy, and foreign policy. Defense cooperation will also be addressed, as it remains the cornerstone of the bilateral relationship, though it may take a less prominent part than on previous occasions.

Alice BILLON-GALLAND Élie TENENBAUM

Editorials

Aeronautical activity of the French Navy

Naval Combat Redux: A Renewed Challenge for Western Navies

09 January 2023

Our world is becoming increasingly contested and unpredictable and we are trending towards a return of great power strategic competition, characterized by more frequent challenges to the established rules-based international order. As a consequence, the risk of interstate conflict continues to rise. This regressive evolution is most readily apparent in the maritime domain, where the concomitant impacts on the free flow of international trade and the control of illegal and unregulated fishing are interlaced with the prescient, yet growing challenge of environmental security.

Jérémy BACHELIER Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

Après Barkhane : repenser la posture stratégique française en Afrique de l’Ouest

10 May 2022

Nearly a decade after its successful war against terrorism in Mali, France is now in the process of turning a page in its military history in Africa. The upcoming end of Operation Barkhane, scheduled since the spring of 2021, comes, however, in a particularly deteriorated strategic context.

Laurent BANSEPT Élie TENENBAUM