Interdisciplinary program

Security is the fundamental pillar of the social contract. This domain has broadened vastly in scope since the end of the Cold War, as attested by the proliferation of qualifiers attached to the word "security" – international, human, economic, environmental, societal, health, food and nutrition. Security is no longer a matter for states alone, but involves us all, i.e., individuals and population groups, who must develop resilience. Within the field of defense, which has grown and expanded to become the field of security, military bodies must now manage internal risks as well as outside threats, and anticipate crises. Their job is not just to prepare for war. Today's antiterrorist action is one dimension of this emerging "society of risk". Other regalian state functions and missions are also affected, including diplomacy, police forces, the judiciary, and the prefectoral corps in France. Theoreticians and practicians in the field are in agreement about the expansion of the notion of security. Beyond this consensus, however, it is difficult to assess the effects on the place and role of public authorities, including the military.

The creation of the Sorbonne War Studies program is founded on the observation that the military "is back" and has once again a place in the daily lives of people in France. We postulate that the roles and resources of the various actors of security will be reshuffled and redistributed as the field expands. Rather than a list of security professionals, we propose a rigorous analysis of the effects of this new scope on the political and social uses of military organizations, as the interaction between armed forces and their environment shifts and evolves.

The SWS research program has three main areas of focus:

• The operational environment: relationships with people and territories.
• The decision-making environment: steering and division of work in crisis "management".
• The socioprofessional environment: skills and jobs in the security field.