Dr. Sonia Le Gouriellec

Sonia Le Gouriellec has a PhD in Political Science (International Relations) and is associate
professor at the Catholic University of Lille (Faculty of Law). She was previously a researcher at
the Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l'École Militaire (IRSEM) of the French Ministry of
Defence, where she was in charge of the sub-Saharan African region. Besides being a lecturer at
Sciences Po Paris, she is also an associate researcher at the Fondation pour la Recherche
Stratégique (FRS) and the Chaire Raoul Dandurand. She is a member of the editorial board of
the Annuaire Français des Relations internationales (AFRI) and the Revue internationale de
politique comparée (RIPC). She co-manages the security section of the Observatoire du
multilatéralisme et des organisations internationales and the C3RD security theme.

Being a specialist in security studies, Sonia Le Gouriellec focuses her work mainly on peace and
security issues in Africa, particularly in the Horn of Africa, and the foreign policies and strategies
of small states. She has published Djibouti: la diplomatie de géant d'un petit Etat with the
publishing house Presses universitaires du Septentrion (2020), Géopolitique de l'Afrique in the
series "Que sais-je? " collection (Presses Universitaires de France, 2022), Pourquoi l'Afrique est
entrée dans l'histoire (sans nous) (in Hikari Editions, 2022), with Delphine Allès and Melissa
Levaillant, Regards croisés sur la paix et la sécurité: une anthologie décentrée(in CNRS Editions,
2023), and Afriques : idées reçues sur un continent composite (Cavalier bleu) in 2025. Her work
focuses mainly on peace and security issues in the Horn of Africa, hierarchy and decentring in
international relations. She has also published in International Affairs, Etudes Internationales,
Afrique contemporaine, etc.