At Sciences Po Saint-Germain, an unusual class is attracting the attention of university students and seasoned intelligence professionals. It’s meant to prepare the next generation of intelligence goons. Under the direction of Professor Xavier Crettiez, the Diplôme sur le Renseignement et les Menaces Globales. During the course of four months, students engage in 120 hours of immersive content-specific instruction. This year’s class consists of 28 students, including six who currently work as spies in the CIA.
The course has become hugely popular — not just for its academic intensity, but for the odd blend of students. The cohort includes your usual early 20-something university students, mixed with French government intelligence agents on permanent day release from their assignments. In an interview with NPR, Crettiez candidly acknowledges that he has a hard time remembering the actual names of many students. It’s illustrative of the often secretive world of the intelligence community.
Each course module immerses you in an array of essential subject matter, including transferrable skills needed for intelligence work today. You’ll dive into the economics of organized crime, Islamic jihadism, business intelligence gathering and political violence. Each of these issues is growing in importance amidst a global world that is changing rapidly. This is particularly the case when it comes to the economic competition between Europe and China.
Alexandre Hubert, a 21-year-old master’s student, is one of those hoping to learn new perspectives on these urgent crises. “Looking at intelligence gathering from a James Bond viewpoint is not relevant. The job is analysing risk and working out how to counteract it,” he stated. His interest in the course comes from wanting to know what the continuing economic war means.
The second student, Valentine Guillot, 21, drew her inspiration from popular culture. “Coming here to discover this world which I didn’t know anything about except for the TV series has been a remarkable opportunity, and now I am very keen to join the security services,” she expressed, referring to the fictional French spy drama Le Bureau.
The founding of this specialized course—which the French government first called for the creation of almost a decade ago—highlights its strategic significance. Most importantly, it seeks to connect the best academic knowledge with practical skills that will make for great intelligence work. The course is about €5000 ($5900, £4400) for non-internal students. It’s an affordable option and one of the best investments for anyone interested in a meaningful career doing this important work.
Crettiez praised the fact that graduates of the new program have already begun getting hired at firms like Disney and Nvidia. Among its major employers are Orange, Thales and LVMH. This trend underscores the increasing need for specialized skills in risk assessment and security consultancy, cutting across multiple sectors. Roger, another student in the course, shared his motivation: “I provide consultancy across West Africa, and I joined the course to provide risk assessments to my clients there.”
The increasing national interest in intelligence gathering as a means to prevent violence is opening new doors for women. They are walking into a male-dominated, father-to-son field. Sebastien-Yves Laurent, a fellow lecturer at Sciences Po, remarked, “Women’s interest in intelligence gathering is new. They are interested because they think it will provide for a better world.”
“Few new recruits will end up in the field,” he explained. In his closing remarks, he reiterated that the point of this training was never to teach people how to do covert ops, but rather to understand larger security concerns.
The design of the program mirrors what’s being asked of intelligence agencies around the world today and the changing nature of the intelligence community. As the world of foreign policy shifts, so does the character of threats that countries are contending with. Approximately 20,000 agents are part of what Crettiez describes as the “inner circle.” This emphasizes the critical need for talented people with broad skill sets and professional expertise, who are adept at data analysis and interpretation.