In his new book “Counter Geopolitics. How to respond to received ideas, fantasies and clichés about the world” (Eyrolles), the political scientist dismantles 110 clichés in less than 150 pages. Stripper.
How much longer will the war in Ukraine last? Does Trump have an Iran exit plan? Is he unpredictable or just crazy? Everyone asks themselves these questions, with family, colleagues, or at the local bistro. Bruno Tertrais answers it more often than not. Columnist at Pointdeputy director of the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), prolific author, he is one of the compasses of French geopolitics. One of those people ask when the world gets carried away.
Certainly, certain questions remain mysteries: only Putin, Trump and Xi know what they are really up to; As for their health – apart from a few hand-picked doctors – it is a well-kept secret. For everything else, or almost, there is his latest book: Counter geopolitics. How to respond to preconceived ideas, fantasies and clichés about the world (Eyrolles, in bookstores on May 21). A breviary as educational as it is fascinating: 110 clichés dismantled in less than 150 pages with – very useful – an index which allows you to go straight to the question that is bothering you. Enough to understand that reality is rarely the one we tell ourselves between two pints. It’s even, sometimes, the exact opposite.
To dismantle preconceived ideas, Tertrais does not bring out strong feelings, but facts, figures and history. World disorder, war in Ukraine, in the Middle East, nuclear threat, conflicts of the future… he avoids nothing. Not even the subjects that unleash passions. On the so-called Israeli “genocide” in Gaza, he decides: “Unreasonable statement. HAS” Sometimes, he takes the time to delve back into the last decades to clarify his point, particularly when he wonders if France is hit by terrorism as a result of its foreign policy.
But, most often, a paragraph is enough to dynamite a thesis – like the hackneyed one of the announced decline of the United States. Better: a simple sentence to explain that the extent of Russian territory is not an obstacle to the establishment of a democracy. Answer from the author: “Canada, the second largest country in the world, would like to say a word. HAS”
Bruno Tertrais, who in 2025 signed a new edition of “Que sais-je?” » on The Warwields conciseness like a weapon of precision. In the preamble, he confides that he wanted to make a “small work, both entertaining and serious, intended to arm the reader in the debates he may have in his personal or professional life, in dinners in town as well as at the university”. Mission accomplished. His book allows the novice to shine in society or – at least – to avoid spouting nonsense. It also and above all serves to snub the propagators of conspiracy theories. The next time a relative, a friend, a bar stalwart – or a presidential candidate – tells you that all these wars are not “only a story of gas pipelines”don’t get angry. Hand him the book. And open it on page 37.
