The Defence and Security Liaison Officer's role
The Defence and Security Liaison Officers have three main roles:
Advocate
- Raising awareness among students and staff about defence and national security issues
- Tackling foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI)
- Promoting a defence mindset and active engagement to strengthen French society’s resilience during major crises
Point of contact
- Informing students on university programmes related to defence and security
- Informing students on opportunities to join or engage with the defence and security forces
- Highlighting career opportunities in defence and national security
- Liaising with military authorities, regional branches of the French Ministry of the Interior, and defence-education partnerships such as the trinôme académique.
Coordinator
- Organising and supporting events in Strasbourg focused on defence and national security
- Encouraging the inclusion of security topics in academic programmes
- Participating in the University of Strasbourg Diploma for Student Engagement (diplôme universitaire d’engagement étudiant – DUEE), which recognises students’ involvement in the operational reserve
Contact the Defence and Security Liaison Officers
- Alexis Vahlas, Defence and Security Liaison Officer
- Jaya Morel and Léon Maulin, Student Defence and Security Liaison Officers
Useful resources
Key documents for understanding internal and external security issues:
- A Strategic Compass for a stronger EU security and defence in the next decade, adopted by the European Council (27 heads of state and government) on 25 March 2022
- The Internal Security Strategy for the European Union, adopted by the Council of the European Union (national ministers representing the 27 Member States) on 25 and 26 March 2010
- The French Government's White Paper on Defence and National Security, published in 2013
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO's) new Strategic Concept, adopted on 29 June 2022 by the leaders of the 30 member states
- A commendatory explanation of the central role of the United Nations Security Council, by Professor Serge Sur
- Setting the record straight. De-bunking Russian disinformation on NATO
- The radicalisation trajectory of a lone‑actor Islamist terrorist, by Dr Hugues Paris