Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE)
- Agency: Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) - General Directorate for External Security
- Creation Date: April 2, 1982
- Legal Basis: French Code of Defense
- Location of Headquarters: Paris, France
- Director: (2024) Bernard Émié (Born: June 4, 1953)
- Number of Employees: (Classified) – estimated to be over 6,000
- Annual Budget: (Classified) – estimated to be over €800 million
- Website: www.defense.gouv.fr/dgse
- Mission Statement: To ensure the security and defense of France by collecting intelligence from abroad, conducting counterintelligence, and providing assessments to the government.
- Values: Secrecy; Loyalty; Discretion; and Objectivity.
- Collection Types: HUMINT, SIGINT, and others
- Organization Type: Civilian, under the Ministry of Defense
- Oversight Body: French Parliament Intelligence Committee
- Area of Operations: Global
- Brief History: The DGSE was officially created on April 2, 1982, consolidating various intelligence services. Its primary mission is to gather foreign intelligence and ensure the security of France in the international arena. Notably, the DGSE has a history of involvement in international affairs, including Operation Barracuda in 1979 and Operations Yellowbird during 1989–97.
- Powers: The DGSE is empowered to collect intelligence from abroad, focusing on activities that may impact France's security and interests. It operates under the legal framework defined by the French Code of Defense and collaborates with other intelligence and security agencies.
- Notable Operations:
- Rainbow Warrior Affair (1985): The DGSE was involved in the sinking of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland, New Zealand, as part of an operation to prevent protesting French nuclear tests in the Pacific.
- Operation Barracuda (September 1979): The DGSE staged a coup d'état against Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa in the Central African Republic and installed a pro-French government.
- Operations Yellowbird (1989–97): DGSE helped many Chinese dissidents who participated in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 escape to western countries.