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Prénom de l'expert

Élie

Nom de l'expert

TENENBAUM

Director of the Security Studies Center

Research Areas:

Guerrillas, terrorism, and insurgencies
Military operations
Security-defense continuum
Military history

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

Support independent French research

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

Studies

Fort Saint-Louis de la Marine nationale, Martinique.

Confettis d’empire ou points d’appui ? L’avenir de la stratégie française de présence et de souveraineté

27 February 2020

France is one of the few nations in the world to benefit from a permanent global military presence. With more than 10,000 military personnel from all three services, deployed across the five continents and the three main oceanic basins, it benefits from the second largest network of prepositioned forces in the world.

Élie TENENBAUM Morgan PAGLIA

Studies

The Strategic Role of Land Forces: A French Perspective

11 July 2019

Although the first and foremost domain in the history of warfare, Land power has been dissociated from the concept of “strategic forces” for some time now, as these generally referred to long-range and/or high-yield strike capabilities, above all nuclear weapons.

Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

Quel avenir pour le djihadisme ? Al-Qaïda et Daech après le califat

15 January 2019

Despite a relative weakening since 2017, the international jihadist movement should continue to pose a genuine threat over the next decade.

Marc HECKER Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

Les armées françaises face aux menaces anti-aériennes de nouvelle génération

20 December 2018

Although it had never entirely disappeared, the surface-to-air threat was mitigated for three decades by Western air superiority. It now benefits from a modernization and dissemination momentum that will increasingly hinder expeditionary forces’ freedom of action.

Jean-Christophe NOËL Morgan PAGLIA Élie TENENBAUM

Beyond national styles. Towards a connected history of Cold War counterinsurgency

05 January 2017

This book is a major new study of the extent to which national mentalities, or 'ways of war', are responsible for 'national styles' of insurgency and counterinsurgency

Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

La Sentinelle égarée ? L’armée de Terre face au terrorisme

09 June 2016

The 2015 terror attacks in France and the ensuing activation by the Ministry of Defense of its homeland protection plan opened a new phase in the long history of the French Army’s involvement in internal security.

Élie TENENBAUM

Hybrid Warfare in the Strategic Spectrum: an Historical Assessment

30 December 2015

"Hybrid Warfare" is a fashionable concept, but in order fo it to be really relevant, it has to be visualized within the whole strategic spectrum.

Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

Two destroyed tanks in front of a mosque in Azaz, Syria, 2012.

Le piège de la guerre hybride

12 October 2015

Since its inception in the mid-2000s, hybrid warfare has become a fashionable concept among Western strategic community. However, it lacks a clear definition and, if loosely used, could lead to possibly dangerous misunderstandings.

Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

The Battle over Fire Support: The CAS Challenge and the Future of Artillery

04 November 2012

Traditionally, maneuver units are designed for mobility and control of the ground, while supporting forces (artillery, aviation) deliver fires to protect the former and ensure their freedom of action.

Élie TENENBAUM

Studies

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

06 February 2012

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.

Etienne de DURAND Élie TENENBAUM