To ensure the missions of IRSEM, researchers regularly travel abroad for fieldwork or conferences. IRSEM's international development also involves partnerships with institutes around the world and projects of international scope.
In 2022, IRSEM has established a formal partnership with the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), its Indian counterpart.
Since 2022, IRSEM has established a partnership with the International Academy for Combating Terrorism (AILCT) in Ivory Coast.
Since 2022, IRSEM has had a partnership with the College of International Security Affairs (CISA) de la National Defense University (NDU), at the Washington DC.
IRSEM has a partnership with the NATO Defense College in Rome, with which two international conferences are organized each year.
Since 2017, IRSEM has established a partnership with the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), which has set up a researcher exchange agreement, but also joint publications.
In 2022, IRSEM launched its influence program Paris Defence Young Leaders. The Young Leaders program aims to create a network of young personalities of the future, to make them aware of the French vision of defense issues, to encourage dialogue between representatives of various countries and institutions on these issues, and to establish a spirit of "promotion" to allow exchanges. In 2022, the class was composed of European personalities, between 28 and 40 years old, from very different backgrounds.
In 2021, IRSEM proposed to several European partners to create the Network of European Strategic Studies Institutions (NESSI), which currently gathers 17 European strategic research institutes closely linked or belonging to the defense institutions of their countries. Within the framework of NESSI, whose presidency rotates every year, these institutes are exchanging and cooperating on strategic issues on a regular basis.