Jean-Dominique Merchet (born 26 October 1959 in Besançon) is a French journalist working for the daily newspaper L'Opinion, of which he is the diplomatic and defense correspondent.

He specializes in strategy, defense and military issues and often appears on radio and TV shows, notably C'est dans L'air on TV5, as a commentator.

Merchet started his journalistic career as a columnist for the monthly Le Monde Diplomatique.

He left Libération after the summer of 2010 to join the weekly Marianne where he held the position of deputy editor responsible for international affairs.

Merchet notably authored a biography of Caroline Aigle, the first French female fighter pilote, and Mourir pour l'Afghanistan, a book on the Afghanistan War.