Thierry FORTIN has been the Director of International Relations at Sciences Po Lyon (French political science institute of Lyon) since 2014 after a 10-year experience within the French Department of Defence as a language and intelligence instructor carrying out operational readiness buildup missions for high-ranking officers and specialists of the three Services, including special forces personnel, intelligence staff and strategic forces components. He also supervised numerous training periods in languages and intelligence for NATO partner nations and other worldwide defense partners of France (Taiwan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, etc…).

He currently teaches lectures and seminars related to defense, security and international relations to political science students of France and 50 other nationalities at Sciences Po Lyon and manages the international relations of his institution with 170 high-ranking academic partners all over the globe (US, EU, Russia, Brazil, Iran, Japan and China among many others). He has taught courses and seminars in various partner countries including Russia, Poland, Italy and Germany and regularly participates in research initiatives with Sciences Po Lyon and numerous think tanks and organisations. His research fields include defense & security policies, defense technology, nuclear doctrines and policies as well as crisis management and conflict resolution. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant at the French military academy "St-Cyr Coëtquidan" in April 1993 (from the French Reserve Officer Training Corps). He successively served in Infantry and then the Armoured Corps before becoming an intelligence officer/interpreter within the French Defense Staff. He left the armed forces as an intelligence-qualified and junior staff college-qualified captain in the French "Armée de terre" (land forces) in 2005.