In 2015, in an exceptional operational context, the armed forces command underwent a major transformation, with the ministry's separate commands and services being transferred to a single address, in Balard, in Paris's 15th arrondissement. Since then, the Chief of the General Staff has had his whole command team gathered around him in one place, and the Centre for Planning and Execution of Operations is at the heart of this new command headquarters.

In Iraq, Syria, Sahel, the Gulf of Guinea and Somalia, with a UN mandate and acting alongside its NATO or EU partners, France mobilises troops, material and equipment to carry out peacekeeping or humanitarian missions, fight terrorism or protect French nationals. Part of our history, French overseas operations continue to make the headlines today.

From 1963 to the present, dozens of overseas operations have been carried out, involving military personnel from across all the armed forces, directorates and services: army, navy, air force, joint armed forces directorates and services, and Gendarmerie Nationale. By telling the story of certain military operations of recent decades and the reasons that led to France’s involvement in these foreign theatres, a genuine history of French overseas operations, or ‘OPEX’, can be written.

A civil and military mission set up by the United Nations to restore peace and stability in Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, was established in 1978 and had its objectives redefined in 2006.

In November 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall brought an end to 40 years of Cold War. But the global situation had not stabilised and interstate conflicts persisted, leading to the mobilisation of the international community. The French armed forces then saw a multitude of operational engagements, beginning with the First Gulf War, in 1991.

In 1992, the French armed forces engaged in a theatre of operations just an hour and a half's flight away from France. The powder keg of the Balkans of 1914 reared its head and the international community decided to act. The successive operations would give rise to a ”Balkans generation”, particularly among the ranks of the French army.

Following the attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center, on 11 September 2001, the international community turned its attention to Afghanistan, a country marked by a succession of violent wars. The United States located the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, in that country, where he was offered protection by the Taliban regime.