In 2026, European strategic questions are studied by all the auditors of the Institute, during the month of Europe like the rest of the year: sessions in the region, Youth cycles and in economic intelligence, national session… each auditor is led to understand the many aspects of the European security and defense system, in its political, economic and industrial dimensions. In parallel, the Institute also organizes international dedicated sessions.
After the Second World War, the rebirth of the IHEDN in 1948 fits into a context of progressive structuring of European security, illustrated in the same year by the signing of the Brussels Treaty. From the first post-war session, after the opening speech, the speech listened to by the auditors addresses “The Brussels Pact, its purpose, its current achievements, its future prospects.”
Subsequently, the Institute’s links with the future European Union but also with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), founded in 1949 and headquartered in Paris since 1950, continue to strengthen. In autumn 1951, the IHEDN is joined in its premises at the Pavillon de l’Artillerie of the Military School by the NATO Defense College, created by the director of the IHEDN, Vice-Admiral André Lemonnier, inspired in particular by the French institute.
Admiral Lemonnier responded to a request from the Supreme Commander of the Atlantic Alliance in Europe, General Dwight Eisenhower, of which he was also the naval deputy. When France left the integrated command of NATO in 1966, the College relocated to Rome and the organization’s headquarters to Brussels.
Later, in the 2000s, France and Germany support the creation of a European training capacity in security and defense. The idea stems from the European session of the IHEDN, the first of which was held at the end of 1988. Until its disappearance in 2004, it trained 469 auditors from 35 countries on the continent, including those from the former Soviet bloc since 1993.
