April 15, 2025

Supply Chain Today: Geopolitics, Strategy & Defense

Here's a summary of what 2 experts have to say about the geopolitical changes and new challenges facing global supply chains. An exchange of views as an introduction to SITL 2025, with crucial proposals to ensure the sustainability of supply chains.

Dominique Trinquand

General, Former Head of Military Mission to the UN

Yann de Feraudy

President France Supply Chain

Geopolitical developments and their impact on the supply chain

Since 1945, the global geopolitical landscape has undergone major transformations, profoundly influencing supply chain dynamics. The number of UN member countries has risen from 50 to 193, reflecting a diversification of international players. At the same time, the G7, which represented over 60% of global GDP before 1975, now accounts for less than 40%. These changes have redefined the balance of economic and political power, creating a more complex and interconnected environment.

The rise of empires in both East and West, particularly with pressure from the Trump administration in the US and reactions from China and Russia, has intensified geopolitical tensions. These dynamics have a direct impact on supply chains, requiring constant adaptation.

Europe finds itself in a delicate strategic position, wedged between East and West, while at the same time being the world's third-largest economic power in terms of military budget. To ensure its security and strategic autonomy, Europe needs to develop a robust and agile supply chain.

resilience, protect against legislative complications, simplify processes and foster cooperation.

The increase in France's defense budget over the past seven years or so bears witness to this growing awareness. The supply chain, by its very nature agile, must now face up to a changing geopolitics that is evolving all too rapidly. In response, it is crucial to innovate, build resilience, protect against legislative complications, simplify processes and foster cooperation.

The supply chain now encompasses the entire value chain, from sourcing to final distribution, and its return loops in a circular economy perspective. Military and civilian logistics are increasingly interconnected, underlining the importance of a robust supply chain to ensure economic and social security.

Supply chain resilience initiatives

Supply chain resilience has become a crucial issue in a context of geopolitical and economic crises. However, the term "resilience" is often criticized in favor of "robustness", which emphasizes the need to maintain a fluid supply chain to avoid disruptions, such as shortages of essential products.
To reinforce this robustness, concrete initiatives have been put in place. For example, France Supply Chain has launched the 1st Supply Chain Resilience Observatory, in collaboration with Sopra Steria Next, to survey supply chain managers. An indicator on a scale of 1 to 4 has been developed, the results of which indicate margins for improvement:

Overall maturity of 2.59 out of 4.
Only six companies reached level 3, the threshold at which resilience becomes a strategic lever.

Discover the study

A strategic approach to sustainable supply chains

Faced with global supply chain initiatives, Europe must respond strategically to ensure the sustainability of its supply chains. China, with its Silk Roads, and the United States, with the Supply Chain Council created by the Biden administration, have set up ambitious projects to secure their critical supplies. Europe needs to reflect on how to integrate more robust and coordinated supply chain expertise into its policies, in order to strengthen Europe's position on the international stage.

In collaboration with the European Logistics Association (ELA) and its member associations, we will be developing a new benchmark with indicators to measure the resilience and fluidity of supply chains.

Yann de Feraudy, President of France Supply Chain

The aim is to create a simple, relevant indicator to monitor performance beyond traditional port infrastructure criteria (by integrating ESG issues and digital data exchanges in particular) in order to ensure the fluidity of supply chains.

The convergence of economic, ecological and safety issues is essential for a sustainable strategic approach. Extreme climatic phenomena, such as rising average temperatures, have a significant economic impact on production and distribution chains. It is crucial to anticipate these impacts and propose adaptations.

Every company needs to assess risks across the entire value chain, and integrate sustainability criteria, environmental performance and safety requirements into non-financial reporting. Reconciling the worlds of materiality and economic impact is essential for a high-performance supply chain.

"The future is never just a present to be put in order," concludes General Trinquand, in the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In other words, it is crucial to anticipate, collaborate and constantly adapt to meet the challenges of the supply chain in a context of geopolitics and multiple risks. The supply chain must be seen as a weapons system in the service of military performance, capable of responding to complex and interconnected challenges. Resilience initiatives and strategic approaches to supply chain sustainability are essential to ensure economic and social security.