Pierre Razoux is Academic & Research Director of the FMES Institute in Toulon (France). He was previously Research Director at the Institute for Strategic Research / Ecole Militaire (IRSEM) in Paris. An academic habilitated to teach and lead researchers as well as a high civil servant, he worked previously as Head of the Middle East research programme at the NATO Defense College in Rome, in the Delegation for Strategic Affairs of the French Ministry of Defence and in the Policy Division of the British Ministry of Defense. He has a long and practical experience in the field of international affairs, particularly on Northern African, Middle Eastern and Caucasian matters. A specialist on the Middle East, he is a well-known lecturer and researcher who published 10 books (3 of them rewarded by academic and litteracy prizes) and numerous academic articles. He lectures regularly in the field of international affairs, strategy, contemporary defence, wargaming and conflict issues, particularly regarding the Middle East and the Mediterranean area. He gives regular interviews in the media (leading newspapers, magazines, radios, TV). He follows the 67th national pol-mil session of IHEDN (Paris) and teaches at the Nato Defense College in Rome, the Institute of National Defense in Tunis, at Sciences Po Paris, Paris-Dauphine and Sorbonne Universities, as well as at the French War College.