Understood as an intentional event, more or less unexpected, affecting the State’s defence and security, strategic surprise is never so close as when certain conditions all obtain: failure to identify weak signals; an analytical capability restrained by a predetermined way of thinking that virtually excludes other rationalities; lack of moral preparation among the decision-makers and the population; and rigidity of national organisation. France will only be able to anticipate surprise and regain the initiative if it restores a certain strategic depth. We need to do three things now: inform the authorities and forge national cohesion, reestablish some depth in our strategic analysis, and bolster our capability for decision and action.