Launched on 9 December 2021 by the Network for Strategic Analysis (NSA) in Canada, the Strategic Research Institute of the École militaire (IRSEM) and the Centre Thucydide of the University of Paris Panthéon-Assas in France, Le Rubicon is a French-language platform for the analysis of international issues, mainly security and defence, but also foreign policy, with a particular interest in so-called hybrid warfare, cyberattacks, information warfare and the renewal of conflict in different physical spaces.
As a partner of War on the Rocks, Le Rubicon offers French-speaking authors an equivalent, responsive and high-quality outlet for publishing in their language.
Our project’s singularity
What sets us apart from other French-language online publications is that we apply the standards of scientific publishing – published articles are all anonymously peer-reviewed and authors must respond to critical reviews of their text to improve it – while valuing the diversity of experiences: the authors are academics as well as practitioners in the fields of defence, national security and foreign affairs. We are also committed to publishing quickly and with open access.
Since April 2022, Le Rubicon has also had a book collection with Équateurs Publishing, featuring certain articles updated and augmented with infographics. The publication rate is high (eight volumes between April 2022 and September 2024). To support its development, Le Rubicon has been incorporated as an association under French law (Official Journal of 26 July 2022, headquarters at the University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas).
Fundings
Through the RAS, Le Rubicon receives funding from the Canadian Ministry of National Defence through the MINDS programme and, through the Centre Thucydide, funding from the Panthéon-Assas Foundation and the French Ministry of the Armed Forces (Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy, DGRIS). This budget has enabled the website to be created, the editorial team to be paid (three doctoral researchers and a master’s student) – all the other members of the team are volunteers – and a number of scientific activities (round tables, symposiums) to be organised.
Our editorial line’s independence
Neither the Canadian Ministry of National Defence nor the French Ministry of the Armed Forces exercises any control over the content. Le Rubicon enjoys total editorial independence. The published texts are the sole responsibility of their authors – who retain the intellectual property rights – and in no way do they engage the institutions to which they belong, nor the founding institutions, which are the RAS, the IRSEM and the Centre Thucydide. As for the partnership with War on the Rocks (WOTR), it simply consists of assuming an inspiration and allowing us to carry out co-publications, in French on Le Rubicon, in English on WOTR, for more impact but always on the basis of mutual consent: WOTR has no influence on the original content of Le Rubicon.
Organisation
The team is divided into a chief committee, an editorial team, an editorial committee, a scientific council and a strategic council.
- The chief committee is made up of the three founders of Le Rubicon, elected to their positions by the association’s General Assembly, in accordance with the articles of association. They define the strategic orientations and proofread and authorise all publications at the end of the editorial process.
- the editorial team, made up of three doctoral researchers coordinated by a managing editor, receives the articles, does an initial proofreading, anonymises them and then sends them to external evaluators and follows up with the authors until publication and promotion on social networks;
- the editorial committee, made up of around thirty experienced researchers and practitioners, meets approximately every six weeks and is regularly consulted to submit texts, evaluate others, and define thematic priorities. It forms the General Assembly of the association;
- the scientific council, is composed of around fifty researchers and experienced practitioners. These ‘honorary members’ can also be called upon as evaluators and they meet once a year to formulate an opinion and recommendations;
- the strategic council, composed of representatives of the three founding institutions (CT, IRSEM, RAS), formulates an opinion and recommendations at least once a year.
In total, this team brings together more than eighty experts from the main French-speaking research institutions in the fields of international relations and defence and security issues. With twelve different nationalities (France, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Benin, Argentina, Lebanon), located in Europe, North America, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, this team is intrinsically pluralistic, in its profiles as well as in its disciplinary and methodological approaches.
Le Rubicon is always looking for new topics and new authors. Whether you are a researcher, a member of the military, an analyst, a diplomat or other, if you have something to say about the issues that interest us, please, submit a text!
