I am very proud to be honored with the Conflits Award 2024 for my last book: Lessons from the Syrian crisis, published by Odile Jacob, in March 2024. Conflits is in line with the French school of realistic geopolitics to which I belong.

The magazine’s mission is to explain the world as it is and not as we would like it to be. Founded in 2014, it has now established itself in the French media landscape as a benchmark.

Its growing success with a wide audience testifies to the need of our contemporaries to understand the world with eyes wide open to reality and not to fall in the good feelings which Hell is paved.

Started in 2011, the Syrian conflict continues to have its consequences in the Middle East and Europe. Returning to this conflict, to Western illusions, to the play of communities is necessary work that Fabrice Balanche has brilliantly accomplished. With his perfect knowledge of the field and his numerous travels in the region, he has carried out quite remarkable analytical work, which places geography and history at the heart of geopolitical analysis. Complete with numerous maps created by the author, these lessons from the Syrian crisis are essential not only for understanding the Orient, but also for learning the method of geopolitical analysis.

Conflits, March 29, 2024.