Before joining Sciences Po in 2006, Filiu was a career-diplomat who served as a junior officer representing France in Jordan and the US, before becoming the French Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) in Syria (1996–99) and in Tunisia (2002-2006).

He was one of the ten independent experts that President François Hollande designated to contribute to the 2013 White Book for National Defense and Security[citation needed].

Filiu authored or co-authored some twenty books, including "The Arab Revolution, ten lessons from the democratic uprising",.

And he highlighted how radical movements try to "modernize" traditional concepts, giving them a new meaning previously unknown in Islam, for instance in the case of the caliphate.

[2] His "Apocalypse in Islam"[3] was awarded the main prize (Augustin-Thierry) by the Rendez-vous de l'Histoire, held every October in the city of Blois.