Vincent Desportes (born 24 February 1953) is a retired

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

general and military theorist. Desportes graduated from the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...

, specialising in armour warfare. He also holds an engineer's degree, a ''

diplôme d'études approfondies A Master of Advanced Studies or Master of Advanced Study (MAS, M.A.S., or MASt) is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working pro ...

'' in sociology, a

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

, and graduated from the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

. He was

Military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

in the French embassy in the USA, aid to the General secretary for national defence, and director of the Centre de doctrine et d'emploi des forces. Along with Jean-Francois Phelizon, Desportes is co-director of the "Stratégies & Doctrines" collection of Economica editions. Desportes headed the

Collège interarmées de défense In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

in 2008-2010.

Honours

Officer of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* Officer of the National Order of Merit * Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature * Badge of Honour of the ''Bundeswehr'' (Germany) *

Officer of the Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

(USA) *

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

(USA)

Works

Books

* ''Cavalerie de décision'', ADDIM, 1998, *
Comprendre la guerre
', Economica, 2000, 2e édition en 2001,
Prix Fréville de l'Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques
Prix Vauban de l'Association des Auditeurs de l'IHEDN *
L'Amérique en Armes
', Economica, 2002, *

', Economica, 2004, 2e édition en 2007,
English Translation
Deciding in the Dark
', Economica, 2008, *
Introduction à la Stratégie
', Economica, 2007, *
La Guerre Probable
', Economica, 2007,
Prix de la Saint-Cyrienne 2008
English Translation
Tomorrow’s War
', Brookings Institution Press, 2009, * Le piège américain, Pourquoi les États-Unis peuvent perdre les guerres d'aujourd'hui, Economica, 2011, * La dernière bataille de France, Lettre aux Français qui croient encore être défendus, Gallimard, 2015,

Articles

Articles in ''Défense & Sécurité Internationale''

Articles in ''Défense et sécurité collective''
* Several articles in

'

in
Politique Etrangère
' (journal of the IFRI)
Interview
in '' Défense et Sécurité internationale'' (DSI)
Article
in '' Revue Militaire Suisse''
Interview
in
DefenseNews
'

in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

''
Article
in ''

La Tribune ''La Tribune'' () is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH. From 1993 to 2007, ''La Tribune'' was part of LVMH. In 2010 ...

''
Interview
in '' Small War Journal''
Entretien
in ''

'' 07/02/2010

External links

*
Centre de doctrine et d'emploi des forces
*
Collège interarmées de défense

Sources

*
Ens-Centre de géostratégie
*
Ministry of Defence
*
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desportes, Vincent 1953 births Living people Writers from Rennes French generals Military theorists French military writers École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Recipients of the Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr Officers of the Legion of Merit French male non-fiction writers Military personnel from Rennes