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Yves Lacoste is a French geographer, known for his political commitment and contributions to geopolitics. Born in Rabat, Morocco, the son of a geologist, Jean Lacoste, and a librarian, he spent his childhood in the city before continuing his secondary education at the Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux (Seine) and his higher education at the Sorbonne.
After obtaining his post-graduate diploma on the geomorphology of the Rharb plain in Morocco, Lacoste passed the agrégation in geography in 1952. He began his teaching career at the Lycée Bugeaud in Algiers. A member of the French Communist Party and the Algerian Communist Party, he became actively involved in anti-colonial struggles.
In 1955, forced to return to France by the principal of Lycée Bugeaud, Lacoste left the PCF in disagreement with its policy in Algeria. He became a member of the executive board of the Committee for the Independence of Europe. Parallel to his political activities, he continued his research in geography, notably on underdevelopment and the history of the Maghreb. As an assistant at the Institut de Géographie de Paris, Lacoste published several authoritative textbooks.
In 1979, he obtained his doctorate with a thesis entitled "Unity and Diversity of the Third World".
In 1989, he founded the Centre de recherches et d'analyses de géopolitiques, now the Institut français de géopolitique.Lacoste stands out for his innovative approaches to geography, integrating natural and political constraints into his analyses.He also published the journal Hérodote
Internationally recognized, he was awarded the Vautrin-Ludd prize in 2000 for his contribution to geography.Throughout his career, Lacoste continued to teach and appear in the media on geopolitical issues.
Close to socialism, he expresses critical views on the Islamist movement and defends secularism.
