How does the pilot control the Dassault Rafale?
The  Dassault Rafale is one of the new generation of combat aircraft which have a side stick rather than a center stick for controlling the aircraft.

The Rafale follows the HOTAS concept- one where the buttons are placed on the throttle lever and the flight control stick allowing pilots to access vital cockpit functions and fly the aircraft without having to remove their hands from the throttle and flight controls.

There are two sticks in the Rafale cockpit on either side of the pilot. The one on the right of the pilot is the flight control stick and the other one is the throttle.



Image from freerepublic.com © Alex Paringaux/Dassault 

The side stick controller on the right is connected to the aircraft computer and interprets the pilots input, which are then executed via various controls. The side-stick controller is force sensing with only a little travel, as can be seen in this video.

Rafale has a single throttle for both its engines- the left stick has more travel (compared to the other one) and controls thrust of both the engines through the computer. You can see both the sticks being operated in this video. 

This type of arrangement is quite common in modern combat aircraft- both the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor use a similar arrangement- only difference is that in Rafale, the throttle and side stick look quite similar.