Contenu du sommaire : La communauté française du renseignement

It is imperative for France to keep state authorities informed of intelligence matters, at the very least to guarantee the country's sovereignty and independence. Coordinating the French intelligence community is the primary task of the CNRLT (Coordination nationale du renseignement et de la lutte contre le terrorisme – National coordination of intelligence and the fight against terrorism) on behalf of the President of the Republic. Its organisation ensures the necessary coherence.

The DGSE (Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure – General directorate for external security) is a strategic player, contributing to our overall independence in understanding, decision-making and action, and therefore to our national sovereignty. Faced with a chaotic and unpredictable world, the DGSE has to adapt its organisation, methods and human resources in order to be ever more efficient.

The DGSI (Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure – General directorate for internal security) is nominated as operational leader for prevention and fight against terrorism insofar as it affects national territory. The arrangements coordinated by the CNRLT aim at active leadership in cooperation with the whole range of services.

The DRM (Direction du renseignement militaire – Directorate of military intelligence) is fully involved in the national project to increase the effort expended on intelligence and cyber defence by taking part in the innovation initiative. Intelligence of military interest means France can maintain its independent capability for analysis of events, one that is more strategic than ever in an uncertain world.

The mission of the DRSD (Direction du renseignement et de la sécurité de la Défense – Directorate of intelligence and defence security) is principally counter-intelligence in order to protect our forces—in particular on overseas operations, but also through keeping watch on the security of arms exhibitions to protect our high-level technological expertise and to alert our industrial concerns to this real threat.

Cyber delinquency continues to grow, benefiting from resources available on the dark web and the unlimited imaginations of cyber criminals. This means maintaining a permanent, complex struggle involving all services in order to detect, track down and neutralise such crime, whilst drawing upon a solidly-founded legal and legislative corpus. DNRED is the Direction nationale du renseignement et des enquêtes douanières - National directorate for customs intelligence and inquiries).

Fighting terrorism also means tracking down financial pathways that feed these adversaries. Such is the mission of Tracfin (Traitement du renseignement et action contre les circuits financiers clandestins ≈ Analysis of intelligence and action against illegal financial networks), whose role has grown through the expertise acquired in intelligence, as well as the tangible results thereof, which lead to identification of the money networks that contribute to this permanent threat.

Over the centuries, the strategic importance of the Baltic has changed. Following a period that has favoured regional integration, new tensions are now arising: Russian ambitions threaten current balances and could lead to destabilisation unless a new consensus can be found between the coastal states.

Erdogan's Turkey has clearly-stated pan-Ottoman strategic ambition. For Ankara, this also means increasing its independence, developing a national defence industrial and technological base and playing on the equivocal nature of its political alliances.

The Indian Ocean is undergoing major strategic change involving players from within the region but also from outside, such as China, whose ambitions are overturning established frameworks. It is important to analyse fully what is happening, particularly in view of Chinese projects which bring both unification and polarisation and therefore the risk of destabilisation if matters run out of control.

Operation Prométhée, which ran from July 1987 to September 1988, was an intensive period for the French Marine nationale. The long-term deployment of a naval-air group based around the aircraft carrier Clemenceau allowed wide-ranging political action from which the lessons learned remain pertinent thirty years later.

The American paradox stems from growing mistrust of a federal state that poses a risk to the fundamental principle of individual liberty. Given that, the all-powerful military machine might seem in contradiction to the recurrent theme of reducing Washington's areas of responsibility.

Feedback from coalition operations against Daesh in the Levant is full of lessons, particularly on the regular use of drones of all sizes by all the protagonists. Significant changes from past conflicts are clearly visible and need now to be taken into account when facing future conflicts.

The conquest of Daesh in Iraq does not mean a return to peace: there is continuing political and social instability that stems from rivalry between local and international players, including the United States and Iran. There is now an urgent requirement to respond to the needs of populations exhausted by years of brutal and barbaric conflict.

The nuclear question remains unanswered: on one hand we have the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which aims at limiting proliferation, and on the other, players who ignore it and whose declarations directly contradict their acts. It is for diplomats to continue their effort to maintain dialogue and to put pressure on the elected representatives of their respective nations.

Our industrial share continues to fall, spurred on by liberalisation on all fronts and the appearance of aggressive competition. France and Europe have to recognise that maintaining strategic independence requires a less naïve industrial policy and that a coordinated response is needed in this competitive context.

Europe needs to change its approach and to revisit and improve its defence arrangements, including those with NATO. Promising new initiatives are being put in place in order to encourage common commitment, facilitate projects and find finance to respond more effectively to security challenges.

Military cooperation between Belgium and France, though real, is complex since it is frequently affected by internal Belgian politics. Compromise is permanently on the agenda when seeking a balance in the relationship and yet such compromise does not always favour defence matters. The choice of a successor to the F-16 looks set to be an example of this.