JLPDécryptage
Your novel, L’Honorable Correspondant, features a former member of the military confronted with the grey areas of intelligence and strategic decision-making. Beyond the plot, what did you seek to reveal about how French institutions function when political, military and diplomatic interests intersect?
Ivan Sand
One of the distinctive features of my first novel is that its main character does not come from the intelligence world. I think that is fairly uncommon in spy novels. The hero quickly finds himself at the centre of a rivalry between the French and Israeli services, with stakes that extend far beyond him.
The book also shows the interconnection between intelligence and the cyber start-up ecosystem, particularly in Israel. Here, the objective is not necessarily to steal technological capabilities, but to spy on a company’s clients on behalf of a state.
It is also a novel that examines the infiltration of agents or the handling of sources over a very long period. We see how a service can invest in an individual in order to obtain results many years later.
JLPDécryptage
The President of the Republic’s personal military staff remains largely unknown to the general public, even though it plays an essential role in the dialogue between political power and the armed forces. How would you define its true function in a democracy, and where does military advice end and political decision-making begin?
Ivan Sand
The chief of the President’s personal military staff is the President’s closest military adviser. On a daily basis, he provides expertise on defence matters with the support of a small team of military personnel.
From a fictional perspective, this position seemed interesting to me because it brought out the interconnection between a state’s political and military concerns, particularly in a time of crisis.
Decision-makers — political and military alike — often have only a few minutes to make crucial decisions based on fragmentary information. In the novel, I try to show the many parameters that come into play in the President’s decisions; some are purely logistical, others diplomatic, ideological, etc. Sometimes it is necessary to choose between very short-term concerns and others whose consequences will only become apparent several years later.
In the novel, placing the country in a period of cohabitation naturally adds to this complexity and allowed me to emphasise the links between French domestic politics and the conduct of international affairs.
JLPDécryptage
When a crisis requires operational urgency, diplomatic constraints and political responsibility to be reconciled, where does the real arbitration take place? At what point does strategic logic cease to be exclusively military and become a profoundly political decision?
Ivan Sand
I think all these issues are permanently intertwined. This is what I try to show in the book when the advisers file through the President’s office, each with their own priorities — security, diplomatic, communications, political and so on.
It is natural for each entity to defend its own area. Nevertheless, in a security crisis such as the one that provides the starting point of the book, the lives of French nationals necessarily come first.
At a later stage, when it is a matter of defending France’s standing or protecting industrial secrets, as in the second half of the story, there are many trade-offs between short- and long-term benefits. Then everything comes into play, of course, whether it is the next international summit, forthcoming electoral deadlines and so on.
JLPDécryptage
For the past three years, conflicts have shown that a drone costing a few thousand euros can sometimes neutralise systems worth several million. Are we witnessing a military revolution comparable to the advent of aviation or nuclear weapons, or are these demonstrations misleading at the strategic level? What does this development change in the very way air power is conceived?
Ivan Sand
Drones are reshaping today’s conflicts; the war in Ukraine is the clearest example. Nevertheless, I think this is a moment when the sword has gained the advantage over the shield, but that the balance will be restored in the near future.
Counter-drone systems are under development in many countries and will certainly soon prove effective at costs far lower than older anti-aircraft defence systems, which were designed to shoot down much more expensive equipment.
I would describe it as an evolution rather than a revolution.
JLPDécryptage
Artificial intelligence promises to accelerate analysis, planning and sometimes even decision-making. But when an operation engages a state’s political responsibility, is speed always a strategic advantage, or is there a risk that technology will reduce the time needed for doubt, which is nevertheless essential to any decision about war?
Ivan Sand
I am not sure that artificial intelligence will lead us to make strategic decisions much more quickly. The tempo is generally dictated by operational and logistical constraints. If AI can help with decision-making, so much the better, but political and military leaders will always use all the time available to them, which is often not very much!
No one imagines that AI will replace human responsibility and, therefore, the doubt that is necessary in this kind of decision-making. It provides additional information that can be decisive but is itself not always very reliable. This is something the military is well aware of.
JLPDécryptage
You are an officer, researcher, lecturer and now novelist. Do these four perspectives sometimes lead you to analyse the same crisis differently? Which takes precedence when events accelerate — and which, ultimately, do you miss most when acting in one of the other three roles?
Ivan Sand
I think I am able to adapt to the environment and, above all, to the people I am addressing. University students expect me to provide an in-depth analysis of recent conflicts, with a critical eye or, at the very least, the ability to put myself in the shoes of the different actors in order to analyse their actions and decisions as objectively as possible.
When I write a novel, I draw above all on my creativity, even though I like to construct realistic plots. The aim is then to make the reader think, but above all to evoke emotions and make them grow attached to certain characters.
My role as an officer is perhaps the simplest, since I am given a clear mission, with means and objectives. Some of these roles can overlap; the armed forces also call on our creativity, particularly when it comes to anticipating our adversaries’ reactions.
Likewise, teaching and research are naturally quite closely connected. I draw extensively on the conclusions of my doctoral thesis in my classes, and I appreciate it when some students bring me new knowledge or challenge my views.
