Defense and Security

Established in 1996 as the French armed forces underwent their transition to a professionalized military, the French-American Defense Symposia offer a strong testimony of the willingness of American and French military leaders to share lessons learned. The symposia provide a unique forum for senior military officers and defense experts from France and the United States to interact outside their official capacities.

General Patrick de Rousiers, His Excellency François Delattre and Vice Admiral Timothy Giardina 

2012 Symposium on Cyber Security

The 2012 Defense Symposium took place in Washington, D.C. on April 3 and 4 and focused on the topic of cyber security. The 11th such bilateral conference, the 2012 Symposium was organized in partnership with the French Joint Staff (Etat-major des armées). The symposium brought high-level military and government officials, as well as representatives of academic institutions, think tanks and relevant corporations, to share insight into best practices in military operations to secure cyberspace, how the two allied nations can best work together through international agreements and cooperation and how to optimize the partnership between these two nations and their private entities.

The 2012 symposium welcomed a diverse group of officials and experts who brought varied experiences and expertise to these exchanges. Representatives from key military and governmental institutions participated in the 2012 symposium, including the National Security Council,  U.S. and French Joint Staffs, U.S. Strategic Command, the French General Directorate for Armament, and NATO's Allied Command Transformation.

To learn more about the previous French-American Defense symposia, click here.

2013 Symposium 

A follow-up defense symposium on the topic of cyber security is being organized for fall 2013. To learn more, please contact Patrick Lattin at plattin@frenchamerican.org.