Gérard Chaliand

Gérard Chaliand (born 1934) is a French-Armenian expert in armed-conflict studies and in international and strategic relations, especially asymmetric conflicts (e.g., guerrillas, terrorism). He is one of the most prolific international theoricians on these subjects. Gérard Chaliand is also a writer and a poet (La marche têtue suivie de Feu nomade, 1996).

Experience

After graduating from the National Institute of Oriental Civilisations and Languages (INALCO, Paris) and earning his PhD in third-cycle (Paris V – Sorbonne), Gérard Chaliand committed himself with anti-colonialist guerrillas (like Portuguese Guinée-Bissau with Amilcar Cabral) sometimes as an observer, sometimes as a fighter. For approximatively 40 years, he has led research in more than 60 countries in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (Central Asia). From 1964 to 2000, he completed more than 12 terrain-researches as a war observer in countries like Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nagorno-Karabakh, Sri Lanka (with the Tamil Tigers, whom he called one of the most efficient and ruthless guerrilla organizations), Chechnia, Peru, Chiapas, and Kurdistan. He has developed theories and systems which explain the workings of asymmetric conflicts.

"No way, you can't crush the Tigers," Chaliand told Reuters in a 2007 interview on the sidelines of a counter-terrorism conference in Colombo at which he was a keynote speaker. "Technically speaking they are the most efficient movement at present in the world." "Before them I've seen two others which were outstanding. The Vietnamese, and the EPLF from Eritrea -- they won. (The Tigers) are the third one," he added. "You don't crush those guys with the Sri Lankan army, which by the way is not the best in the world."

He made those statements during a government-rebel cease-fire agreement, after two decades of civil war. Late that year, the Sri Lankan government resumed the war and changed tactics. Tamil Tigers were conclusively defeated by Sri Lankan Armed Forces on May 2009.

He was criticized by Sri Lankan Defense Secretary for making comments without true knowledge of ground situation in Sri Lanka.

Professional achievements

Gérard Chaliand is not a member of any academic or think tank institutions, and only works freelance. He has been a lecturer (maître de conférence) at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) (1980–1989), professor at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre, and director of the Centre Européen d’Etude des Conflits (1997–2000). Chaliand has been a consultant for the Centre d’Analyse et de Prévision of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs since 1984. Since 1970, he has been a visiting professor in several countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada, China, Singapore and Colombia.

Selected bibliography

• The Art of War in World History. Univ. of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-07964-9 ([1])
• Guerrilla Strategies: An Historical Anthology from the Long March to Afghanistan (California, 1982 [2])
• The Penguin Atlas of Diasporas. New York: Viking Books, 1995. xxi + 183 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliographical references. ISBN 0-670-85439-5
• Atlas du millénaire, avec J-P. Rageau, Paris, éd. Hachette, 1998
• 2000 ans de chrétienté, Paris, éd. Odile Jacob, 2000 (avec Sophie Mousset).
• Puissances et influences. Annuaire géopolitique et géostratégique 2000 - 2001, co-edited with A. Blin et F. Géré, Paris, ed. Mille et une nuits, 2000.
• Guerres et civilisations. De l'Assyrie à l'époque contemporaine, Odile Jacob, 2005.
• 'Histoire du terrorisme : de l'Antiquité à Al-Qaïda, Bayard, 2004.
• Atlas du nouvel ordre mondial, Robert Laffont, 2003.
• Mythes révolutionnaires du Tiers-monde, Seuil, 1979.
• Anthologie mondiale de la stratégie, Robert Laffont, 1996.
• Voyages dans 40 ans de guérillas, 2006. ISBN 2-915752-13-3 (extracts)
• Le Génocide des Arméniens (avec Yves Ternon), Complexe, 1981, 1991, 2002.
• Slovik le déserteur in L'Algérie pour théâtre, L'Aube, 2003. (Theater)
• La marche têtue and Feu nomade, L'Aube, 1996. (Poetry)
• Poésie populaire des turcs et des kurdes.
• Ernesto Che Guevara. La Guerre de guérilla et autres textes militaires (with Juliette Minces), La Découverte, 1961, 2002.

External links

• New York Review of Books Template:En icon
• Gérard Chaliand : « En Irak, l'insurrection armée montre sa terrible efficacité face à la meilleure armée du monde », April 2006 interview concerning the Iraqi insurgency Template:Fr icon
• Gérard Chaliand : Terrorismes et contre-terrorismes ; de la Palestine à l'Irak, June 25, 2003 conference of L'Université de tous les savoirs, published in Le Monde (audio files available)
• Groupes mafieux et globalisation du crime (video), conference of the Université de tous les savoirs
• Gérard Chaliand : «Les troupes américaines devront rester en Irak», June 9, 2006 interview in Le Figaro
• Le destin shakespearien de Saddam Hussein, dictateur sanguinaire et ambigu, par Gérard Chaliand, op-ed in Le Figaro, January 1, 2007
• Report before the French Senate, March 22, 2002
• Belgian parliamentary study day on terrorism
• Third World Definition Template:En icon