// Comparison

Cyberstratégie vs La cyberstratégie russe: Which Should You Read?

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

Intermediate
3/52012
Cyberstratégie

L'art de la guerre numérique

Bertrand Boyer

An early French military-strategic treatment of cyberspace as a theatre of operations — doctrine, deterrence and the determinants of a national cyber policy — by a French officer and strategist.

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

Readers interested in the strategic and military dimension of cyber: doctrine, statecraft, deterrence, and how cyberspace fits into conflict. Strong on the French/European strategic perspective often missing from US-centric accounts.
Analysts and strategy readers who want to understand Russian cyber doctrine and information operations specifically, with a French/European framing.

Skip this if

Technically-minded readers wanting attacks or defence; this is strategy and doctrine, not tooling. As a 2012 book, some examples predate the last decade of cyber-conflict.
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

  • A foundational French-language text on cyber as a domain of warfare and statecraft, not as a technical discipline.
  • Brings a French/European strategic lens to a conversation usually dominated by American voices.
  • From 2012, so read it for doctrine and framing rather than current events — pair with newer reporting for the post-2014 era.
  • 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

Cyberstratégie and La cyberstratégie russe are both rated 3/5 in our catalog. Pick by topic preference and reading style rather than by rating.

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

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

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