CIAO DATE: 03/02

French Military Doctrine in the 1990s

Sten Rynning

Copenhagen Peace Research Institute
August 2001

Abstract

This working paper is a chapter taken from my book, published by Praeger in October 2001 and with an introduction by French air force General and strategist Pierre M. Gallois:

Changing Military Doctrine: Presidents and Military Power in Fifth Republic France, 1958-2000

The book examines French military doctrine for the past forty years, identifying major and minor shifts and analyzing their causes. The book argues that change is provoked by national security crises, defined by relative power dynamics, but also that change actually is made in a complex political process involving centrally located political actors, major institutions, allied relations, and national prejudices. The book explores linkages between security crises and processes of change and, in accounting for French change and continuity, suggests an agenda for further research.

This working paper is chapter 5 of the book and deals with the significant changes French doctrine has experienced since the end of the Cold War.

Full text in PDF Format (59 pages, 120Kb)