From the conduct of war to the building of resilience

by vice-admiral Richard Laborde,
director of the IHEDN

The past

The Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN) is heir to a long tradition rooted in a Decree of 14 August 1936 creating the College of Higher National Defence Studies (CHEDN). In the College, an elite group of officers from the three forces as well a certain number of civil servants from the Ministries concerned studied issues related to military strategy and those with repercussions on the conduct of war. Given that the shadow of fighting surrounded its creation, the College was of military inspiration first and foremost¹. The CHEDN was placed under the authority of the Minister of Defence.
After the Second World War, it seemed clearly worthwhile to reconstitute the College. The war, however, had shown that "war today is no longer the exclusive domain of armies"². Training in preparation to hold the highest positions in the preparation and conduct of war was opened to particularly qualified people in the economic and social fields, as stipulated in the Decree of 30 January 1949 creating an Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN). The proportion of one-third military personnel, one-third civilians from the civil service and one-third civilians from the private sector still applies today.
With the Ordinance of 7 January 1959, Defence became comprehensive and permanent. Missions changed. As confirmed by the Decree of 6 March 1979 on the Statutes of the IHEDN, the Institute became the centre of influence and dissemination of Defence spirit within the Nation. It was transferred to the authority of the Prime Minister. Its mission was to "bring together top-level decision-makers from the civil service, the armed forces and the different business sectors of the Nation, with a view to broadening their defence-related knowledge by examining the major issues in this field together". The focus was no longer on preparing war, and the audience had changed. Between their creation and 1986, the College and Institute welcomed some eight thousand students to national and regional sessions, two-thirds of whom were civilians.
In order to provide the IHEDN with all the resources needed to continue its missions and in light of a difficult financial situation, the Decree of 5 December 1997 raised the IHEDN to the level of a public administrative institution. While the missions remained unchanged, the pathways and means implemented to achieve them increased. Diversification of the audience continued to increase, along with the number of students. During the year 2010, the various courses offered by the Institute concerned some four thousand people.
For some seventy years now, the IHEDN has constantly adapted to the requirements of defence which has become comprehensive over the years, meaning that it is the business not only of the armed forces, but of all the components of the Nation. Its innovative teaching methods have allowed a great number of students to understand defence challenges beyond military aspects only and to create a space for strategic debate and exchange among all the stakeholders of the Nation.

The Present

In our age of globalization, the world has not necessarily become more dangerous, but certainly more unstable and more unpredictable, and even more contradictory than in the past. To avoid suffering the effects of such uncertainty and to make sure its remains the key player in its own freedom, France is modifying its policy to guarantee its security and defend its interests. The White Paper on National Defence and Security published in 2008 describes a national security strategy based on new principles and supported by a European and international ambition. This objective of this strategy is to ward off the risks and threats that could jeopardize the life of the Nation. Without blending them, it combines comprehensive defence policy, homeland security and civil security policy in part, as well as other public policies, with pride of place given to foreign policy and economic policy. Defence keeps a key position alongside the other institutions entrusted with security of the Nation, and adapts to take into account new conflict areas that combine with the power relationships between States, without replacing them. The necessity for the Institute for Higher National Defence Studies is in fact increased by this new deal, and the Institute is, of course, affected.
The IHEDN is therefore adapting to the changes in the focal point of higher national defence studies and is undertaking a far-reaching renovation process concerning all the aspects of its role, objectives and operation. Failure to adapt would make it a sort of academy of time-honoured traditions.
On the 1^st of January 2010, the remit of the Institute was broadened to include armament and defence economics, through a merger with the Centre for Higher Armament Studies (CHEAr), as well as foreign policy. As a specialised institute, it contributes to the training organised for diplomats by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. At the same time, in order to provide comprehensive responses to the uncertainties of the modern world, it started working more closely with the National Institute of High Studies of Security and Justice (INHESJ), while respecting the separate identity of each of the two institutes.
Today, the IHEDN is a place of training, reflection and top-level debates on issues related to defence and international affairs, open to the world and firmly rooted in the European area. Through the awareness-raising efforts regularly undertaken throughout France, the Institute is at the heart of a system that disseminates essential knowledge to build resilience. Supported by a genuine intellectual ambition and a Republican vision of challenges, this revitalized tool is intended to contribute to the revival and influence of strategic defence thinking, to serve the national community as a whole.
Finally, the strength of the Institute also lies in the quality of its network of students. The work done with student associations (UNION-IHEDN) has made it possible to enhance the structure of our common action, supported by these new skills.

Training

Since its creation, the IHEDN has been an Institute for Higher Studies. As an "executive" cycle to serve the different sectors of the Nation, the Institute offers academic and interactive curricula allowing students to work together to develop their capacity for analysis and their strategic vision of issues related to defence and international affairs. It also offers pragmatic training in external crisis management processes and economic intelligence.
Its teaching methods are based on confronting the experiences and ideas of students, once the topics discussed have been defined by top-level civilian and military speakers. This shared experience among leading officers goes beyond socio-professional and national segments and offers a space for collective thinking and debates at political and strategic level. This is the mark of the Institute since its creation.
Europe is at a turning point in its history, which has given rise to many debates. These changes require the Institute to give pride of place to a reinforced European posture. The objectives are threefold. First of all, to participate in the debate and develop national ideas with respect to a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Secondly, to give our training a more European dimension, through national sessions, regional sessions or external crisis management seminars. Finally, to make the most of the efforts made within the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) and within the European sessions for armament officials (SERA), organisations with undeniable European influence and recognition.

Raising awareness

Through the training offered throughout metropolitan France and the French overseas territories, the IHEDN is at the heart of a knowledge dissemination system which is essential to raising collective awareness of national defence challenges. This regular awareness work concerns very diverse approaches, so as to optimise information to the greatest possible audience. Its organisation is intended to associate defence and security without combining them. In border regions, the participation of foreign students places our national security culture in a European and international context.
In that respect, the Institute is a stakeholder in resilience, the ability that society must have to take potential hard knocks and reconstitute its capabilities. Resilience relies on the structures and organisations of the State, but also on a shared commitment to confront crises of all types, to accept the Universalist message of France through diplomacy, but also through the armed forces when this becomes necessary. This commitment, which is the starting point for all the rest, is also the spirit of defence.
In this way, the IDEHN contributes to maintaining a core group of citizens informed of strategic issues, in all walks of life. Within this framework, the Institute focuses on young people, whether students or active workers, who are often kept out of knowledge of our defence tool and its operation.

Ensuring high exposure

The IHEDN is not a research institute, but a place of higher studies, although its Statutes set forth a research mission to be undertaken alone or in cooperation with other French or foreign bodies. Moreover, curriculum changes brought about by evolution of the strategic deal require that the training mission be supported by research.
The Institute offers a space for debate and meetings (seminars, round tables…). It makes the most of its image, its central position and its logistic possibilities to offer partnerships to a certain number of research centres: conference cycles, guest seminars, common position papers…
At a time when strategic research calls for imagination and boldness, the IHEDN intends to be at the forefront, as the natural place for synthesis and debate related to defence and international affairs. The very nature of the themes falling within its mission leads the Institute to design its future in terms of openness, sharing and cooperation with bodies that share its vision, both in France and abroad.
Three key reasons underpin the international dimension of an Institute whose educational fields are now issues related to defence, foreign policy, armament and defence economics.
Responses to the threats against our society mostly fall within an international framework, in particular in Europe. Owing to budgetary constraints and to the cost of arms systems, no European nation has the capacity, alone, to cover the cost of a defence industrial tool meeting all its needs. The focus on coherence is therefore increasingly crucial within the European area. Finally, the role of the IHEDN is to contribute to the high exposure of French strategic thinking and to develop a genuine strategy of influence.

Vice-admiral Richard Laborde
Director of the IHEDN

¹"Despite persevering efforts, each ot the three forces remained too exlusively within its own field"
Decree of 14/08/1936 on the creation of College for Higher National Defence Studies.
²Adress of Mr Ramadier to the IHEDN, 30 Novembre 1948.

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