As part of its 4ᵉ national session, the IHEDN conducted a study mission to Morocco this week. The trip was part of a drive to gain a deeper understanding of Franco-Moroccan relations, which are marked by long-standing historical ties, shared strategic interests and multifaceted cooperation. Bilateral exchanges remain intense in the fields of education, research, culture, the economy, security and the environment.
This trip enabled the audience to get a real feel for these cooperative ventures through a rich programme spread over several of the Kingdom's strategic cities.
The mission began in Rabat, with a visit to Rabat International University, where the delegation was received by Vice-President Abdelaziz Benjouad and Professor Michel Boyer. This was followed by a tour and presentation of the Rabat Business School (RBS), before departing for Kénitra, to visit the Royal College of Higher Military Education (CREMS).
After a presentation of the structure and the training courses, the auditors visited the tactical and operational simulation centres, using the JCATS and JTLS systems, of American origin. In the evening, the auditors were received in Tangiers by the Consul General of France, Philippe Truquet. The mission then focused on Tangier's industrial and logistics ecosystem, with a visit to the Renault factory and the port of Tangier Med, Africa's leading port hub.
These visits highlighted Morocco's industrial dynamism and opportunities for economic cooperation, before focusing on Casablanca's technological and aeronautical sectors. The programme began with a tour of Thalès 3D Morocco, followed by a joint visit to the Groupement des industries marocaines aéronautiques et spatiales (GIMAS) and the Institut des métiers de l'aéronautique (IMA). In the afternoon, the auditors were welcomed at Safran Electronics & Defense, then at the Deloitte Cyber Centre, before closing the day at the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Morocco (CFCIM), in the presence of its Director General, Jean-Charles Damblin.
Finally, the delegation headed for Ben Guerir to visit the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), a centre of excellence focused on innovation and sustainable development in Africa. The mission ended in Marrakech, with a reception at the French Consulate General.
This study trip enabled IHEDN auditors to gauge the diversity and depth of relations between France and Morocco, by meeting key players in higher education, industry, diplomacy and security cooperation. It is fully in line with the Institute's missions: to understand the major international issues and strengthen the strategic culture of future public and private decision-makers.
The mission also provided an opportunity to deepen the partnership between the IHEDN and the Royal College for Higher Military Education (CREMS). This partnership is based on a shared ambition: to strengthen strategic thinking and the role of strategic studies within the Royal Armed Forces. The IHEDN contributes to this development and promotes dialogue between Moroccan and French executives.
This high-level training establishment embodies the ambition of the Cherifian kingdom to strengthen its regional military influence while consolidating cooperation with its allies, first and foremost France.
The CREMS trains senior officers of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) as well as officers from partner countries, preparing them to assume positions of responsibility within their national staffs, in a framework that can be both joint and combined. To date, three components make up this college:
- the Cours d'état-major (CEM), created in 1964, which each year trains around 205 officers from the three services and the gendarmerie, including almost 40 from outside France. The course focuses on tactical and logistical reasoning applied to the manoeuvring of joint brigades, and is the French equivalent of the land warfare school.
- the Cours Supérieur de Défense (CSD), which opened in 2000 and is a member of the network of seven French-speaking war colleges, has a class of around 90 officers, including 38 from partner countries. The one-year course, which leads to a diploma and a Master's degree, includes a number of operational-level planning exercises (humanitarian missions, intervention, territorial defence, etc.), in national and multilateral contexts (UN, NATO, African Lion). English is the second working language.
- the Royal Course for Defence Education and Research (CRERD), created in 2023. The aim of this new course, whose first class is expected to graduate in September 2025, is to make the CREMS a key player in prospective studies (AI, UAVs, COMOPS, DITB) and in the training of Africa's military elite, notably through a future distance learning platform and the organisation of African joint seminars.
The Moroccan authorities are interested in the latter course, which aims to be equivalent to the Centre des Hautes Etudes Militaires-IHEDN, because of the experience our institute brings to the table, both in the selection of students and in teaching practices.
Welcomed by Colonel-Major Oussama Aqachmar, Director of the CRERD, and Colonel Stéphane Chalmin, French development worker, the CREMS and the IHEDN discussed the foundations of an original partnership based on three areas of cooperation:
- Support for training, through concrete actions based on the pedagogical engineering implemented by the IHEDN. This would involve sharing the methodology for drawing up a strategic decision, which is already used in the IHEDN auditor curriculum.
- Shared training initiatives, with the introduction of joint distance learning conferences between IHEDN and CRERD, and the launch of a joint study on a strategic theme, which could be the subject of a study or a working committee;
- Support for the research component carried out by the CRERD. CRERD has a scientific journal, Horizons défense, which would welcome articles proposed by IHEDN as a means of exchanging best practice, doctrinal support and expertise.
This meeting laid the foundations for a regular dialogue between the two institutions, and testifies to the shared desire to build a lasting academic and strategic partnership, in the interests of collective security and increasing the skills of African and Euro-Mediterranean civil-military training.
