// Comparison

Cyber vs La cyberstratégie russe: Which Should You Read?

Two cybersecurity books on Strategy, compared honestly: who each is for, what each does best, and which to read first.

Intermediate
4/52018
Cyber

La guerre permanente

Jean-Louis Gergorin, Léo Isaac-Dognin

A strategic analysis of cyber conflict as permanent, sub-threshold warfare — and what France and Europe should do about it — by a former senior French strategist and a consultant.

Intermediate
3/52013
La cyberstratégie russe

Yannick Harrel

A focused study of Russia's approach to cyberspace — doctrine, actors and information warfare — one of the few French-language books dedicated to a single state's cyberstrategy.

Read this if

Strategy and policy readers who want a serious French argument about cyber as continuous low-intensity conflict, with concrete doctrine and recommendations. Gergorin brings real statecraft experience.
Analysts and strategy readers who want to understand Russian cyber doctrine and information operations specifically, with a French/European framing.

Skip this if

Technical readers wanting attacks or defence; it's a strategy/policy book aimed at decision-makers, not practitioners.
Readers wanting technical detail or current events; it's a 2013 strategic study, so it predates much of the last decade of Russian cyber activity.

Key takeaways

  • One of the most substantive French strategy books on cyber as permanent conflict.
  • Gergorin is a former head of policy planning at the Quai d'Orsay — the statecraft is first-hand.
  • Policy- and doctrine-focused, with concrete recommendations for France and Europe.
  • A rare French-language deep dive into a single nation's cyberstrategy — Russia's.
  • Useful for the doctrinal and information-warfare framing that later events (2016, Ukraine) made famous.
  • From 2013: foundational context, but pair with newer reporting (e.g. Sandworm) for events since.

How they compare

We rate Cyber higher (4/5 against 3/5 for La cyberstratégie russe). For most readers, that means Cyber is the primary pick and La cyberstratégie russe is a useful follow-up.

Both books target intermediate-level readers, so the choice is about topic, not difficulty.

Cyber and La cyberstratégie russe both cover Strategy, Geopolitics, Nation-State, so reading them in sequence reinforces the same material from different angles.

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