Gérard Chaliand (born 1934) is a French-Armenian expert in armed-conflict studies and in international and strategic relations, especially asymmetric conflicts (e.g., guerrillas, terrorism). He is one of the most prolific international theoricians on these subjects. Gérard Chaliand is also a writer and a poet (La marche têtue suivie de Feu nomade, 1996).
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After graduating from the National Institute of Oriental Civilisations and Languages (INALCO, Paris) and earning his PhD in third-cycle (Paris V – Sorbonne), Gérard Chaliand committed himself with anti-colonialist guerrillas (like Portuguese Guinée-Bissau with Amilcar Cabral) sometimes as an observer, sometimes as a fighter. For approximatively 40 years, he has led research in more than 60 countries in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (Central Asia). From 1964 to 2000, he completed more than 12 terrain-researches as a war observer in countries like Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nagorno-Karabakh, Sri Lanka (with the Tamil Tigers, whom he called one of the most efficient and ruthless guerrilla organizations[1]), Chechnia, Peru, Chiapas, and Kurdistan. He has developed theories and systems which explain the workings of asymmetric conflicts.
"No way, you can't crush the Tigers," Chaliand told Reuters in a 2007 interview on the sidelines of a counter-terrorism conference in Colombo at which he was a keynote speaker. "Technically speaking they are the most efficient movement at present in the world." "Before them I've seen two others which were outstanding. The Vietnamese, and the EPLF from Eritrea -- they won. (The Tigers) are the third one," he added. "You don't crush those guys with the Sri Lankan army, which by the way is not the best in the world." [2]
He made those statements during a government-rebel cease-fire agreement, after two decades of civil war. Late that year, the Sri Lankan government resumed the war and changed tactics. Tamil Tigers were conclusively defeated by Sri Lankan Armed Forces on May 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War
He was criticized by Sri Lankan Defense Secretary for making comments without true knowledge of ground situation in Sri Lanka[3]
Gérard Chaliand is not a member of any academic or think tank institutions, and only works freelance. He has been a lecturer (maître de conférence) at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) (1980–1989), professor at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre, and director of the Centre Européen d’Etude des Conflits (1997–2000). Chaliand has been a consultant for the Centre d’Analyse et de Prévision of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs since 1984. Since 1970, he has been a visiting professor in several countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada, China, Singapore and Colombia.