Opening of the 5e IHEDN national session

Published on :

30 September 2025
On 16 and 17 September 2025, IHEDN launched the 5e national session (SN5) with 290 students from all walks of life. For ten months, they will follow a course of strategic training and collective reflection, marked from the start of the academic year by high-level presentations and discussions on major defence and security issues.
Discours d'ouverture de la 5ème session nationale du Chef des Etat Major des Armée

The 5e he national session of the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale (IHEDN) has officially begun under the chairmanship of Lieutenant General Hervé de Courrèges, Director of the Institute. Bringing together 290 civilian and military auditors, public and private managers, this new session is part of a process of shared reflection on an ambitious theme: "Strategic opportunities".

In launching the year, General de Courrèges invited listeners to make the spirit of the IHEDN their own:

"I'd like to introduce you to the house that is IHEDN and where you will be living this year. The national session is a human and intellectual adventure that will challenge you all year long. You will explore national defence (...) and I hope that at the end of this course you will have the keys to take action, meet the challenges of the future and commit yourself to serving the nation.

The opening day also gave students the opportunity to discover two key partners in their studies: the Defence Academy of the École Militaire and the École Militaire Library (BEM), which will be supporting them throughout the year. The first day ended with a speech by Nicolas Roche, General Secretary for Defence and National Security (SGDSN), underlining the central role of strategic thinking in preparing the future of our defence and security.

The new academic year continued with a series of high-level conferences, illustrating the richness and diversity of the approaches that will inform this session:

  • Thomas Gomart, Director of Ifri (the French Institute of International Relations), opened the debates with an analysis of the major international dynamics, which are essential if we are to understand the tensions and recompositions in the world today.
  • Frédéric Fogacci, Director of Studies and Research at the Charles de Gaulle Foundation, shed light on Gaull's political and military heritage and its relevance to contemporary issues.
  • Air Force General Fabien Mandon, Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces, outlined the operational and strategic challenges facing the French armed forces.
  • Finally, Philippe Vial, professor of history at the Centre des Hautes Études Militaires (CHEM) and head of the history course at the École de Guerre, concluded the sequence with a historical perspective on national defence issues.

 

This outstanding start to the academic year fully illustrates the vocation of the IHEDN: to offer its students a unique framework for training and reflection, nurtured by exceptional speakers, to think collectively about the defence and security of today and tomorrow.