Category: Invited guests

Senior Fellow and co-founder of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of CSIS Foundation, Jakarta. He is Vice Chair of the Indonesian National Committee for the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (INCPEC), Co-Chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) from 2009-2015, and Co-Chair of the Council of Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific (CSCAP), Indonesia. Publisher of The Jakarta Post Daily as well as Chairman of the Board of the Prasetiya Mulya University, Jakarta.

American professor, expert in international relations, Africa and Middle East. Professor at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, where he was before Director of Conflict Management and African Studies programs. He was consultant to the U.S. Department of State, President of the Middle East Studies Association and of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies.

Director of the Ifri Sub-Saharan Africa Center. He works on Mauritania and security issues in the Sahel. He teaches at the Institut d’études politiques (IEP) of Lille and Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University. He holds a PhD in political geography from the University of Rouen.

Senior Fellow for North Africa/Middle East at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) and consultant in international relations. He was formerly President of the Arab World Institute located in Paris (2002-2004). He was Ambassador of France to Canada (1998-2001) and to Jordan (1989-1993). He also served as Financial Counselor at the French Mission to the United Nations (1978-1981). He published or edited several books – La démocratie est-elle soluble dans l’Islam ? – and writes regularly in Le Monde, Politique Etrangère, Questions internationales, Ramsès. He graduated from Paris Institute of Political Studies. He also attended the École nationale d’administration (National School of Administration).

Director of the Centre for Migrations and Citizenship at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri). He was a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Warwick (UK) between 2001 and 2003, and a visiting fellow at the New York University (2009), the Institute for Advanced Studies-Collegium in Lyon (2010), and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Ethnic and Religious Diversity (2015).  He gained his PhD in Political Sciences in 2000 at the Institute of Political Studies in Aix-en-Provence (France) and his Habilitation (HDR) at Sciences Po Paris in 2013. He is one of the editors of the book European States and their Muslim Citizens (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and the author of La citoyenneté à la française (Editions du CNRS, 2016).

Director of Ifri’s Security Studies Center, and an analyst of strategic and military affairs. He is also Assistant Professor at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (IEP-Sciences Po). He has taught International Relations and Security Studies at the Université Jean Moulin – Lyon-III, at the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan and at the Collège Interarmées de Défense.

Program Manager of the “Energy” program at Ifri from 2006 to 2014. She was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre Français sur les Etats-Unis (CFE/IFRI) while working at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC, focusing on space policy issues within the Homeland Security program.

Head of the program “Health and Environment: from Security and Safety Issues to New Governance Options” and researcher at the Defense Research Unit (LRD) at Ifri. She contributes to Ifri’s foresight projects on future conflicts and investigates the issues of stabilization and post-conflict resolution in the African continent.

Fellow at Ifri, specialist in European Security issues. Her research on the European Union and its neighbours is funded by a Fellowship from the European Commission. She is also Senior Lecturer in European Security at the University of Birmingham, UK. She has written and contributed to numerous academic and practitioner publications.

Researcher at Ifri in charge of the “India and South Asia” program, and of the “French Presidency of the European Union” program. Before, at the ministry of Economy and Finances, Minister Advisor for Economic Affairs, head of the Economic Mission in various embassies, in Pakistan, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Moscow, London, Algiers, New Delhi and Warsaw.

Economist and Advisor at Ifri for the Franco-Austrian Center for European Convergence. She was Professor at IEP (Paris) and she has held various high positions in public administration (Administrator at INSEE, Financial Advisor for Central Europe at the head office of the Treasury, member of the Social and Economy Council) and in private sector (Administrator of Crédit du Nord bank and of the Ain Regional Bank).

Research Fellow, Head the “North Africa” program at Ifri, she represents Ifri in the European Commission’s Ramsés2 Network. She also follows up the questions related to the integration of muslim populations in Europe. She is lecturer at IEP Paris within the framework of the Compared Policy Master, at IISMM (EHESS) and at the Venice Ca’ Foscari University.

Head of the Ifri program on North America. She edits its online research papers, such as the U.S.-focused Potomac Papers.  She writes on northern American and transatlantic issues in the annual Ifri report Ramses. She also teaches a class on Civil Society in the United States at Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and is a columnnist for the weekly paper Réforme. Prior to joining Ifri, she was a research fellow at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), then a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC (2001-2003). She holds a Ph.D. in political science from Université Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Director of the Center for Asian Studies, Ifri. She has been an assistant Professor in international economics at the University of Paris-Est since 1993. She also teaches at Langues’ O, Sciences Po (Paris) and Sciences Po (Lyon). In the past she taught at the Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS, Geneva), at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, as well as at the HEC School of Management. She also worked as a consultant to the Directorate for Financial, Fiscal and Enterprise Affairs of the OECD (1997-1999 and 2010-2011).

Head of Ifri-Brussels, Senior Research Fellow with the Ifri “European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy” program. Teacher at the IEP of Paris. Previously, Head of the Eastern Europe department at the Böell foundation, Berlin, Teaching Assistant of the DAAD at the IEHEI of Nice. Researcher at the Berlin Free University, at the CERI and at the IRIS.

Head of the Turkey / Middle East program at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri). She joined Ifri in 2002 to work on the European policies in the Mediterranean region and in the Middle East, on the regional political and economic dynamics and on the Arab policy of France. She started the “Contemporary Turkey” research program in 2008, to follow the emergence of Turkey as a global power. Her present research focuses on Turkish diplomacy, new regional conflicts and their impact on Middle East economies. She directed the book entitled La Turquie au Moyen-Orient : une puissance régionale ? (Turkey in the Middle East: a regional power?), published by CNRS éditions in December 2011, and authored La Turquie en cent questions (A Hundred questions about Turkey, Tallandier, 2023). She graduated from Sciences Po Paris. She holds a postgraduate degree in applied economics and a PhD in political science. 

Senior Research Fellow, Director of the Asia Centre at Ifri where she built new research programs on China, India and Japan. Specialist of international relations and defence policies in Asia, and of the Chinese strategic thought. Professor at the Collège Interarmée de Défense (CID-Ecole militaire) where she teaches the geopolitics of China. She was lecturer at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes.

Secretary General of the Study Committee for Franco-German Relations (Cerfa), Ifri. He has been professor of contemporary German civilization at Paris-Sorbonne University since 2012 after teaching at New Sorbonne University from 2005 to 2012 as senior lecturer. He graduated from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (SciencesPo) in 1987, majoring in International Relations. Furthermore, he holds a Diplôme d’études approfondies (DEA) in Soviet and Eastern European Studies from SciencesPo (1990) and a PhD in political sciences from Panthéon-Sorbonne University (2001).

Chairman of the Russian Duma Foreign Affairs Committee

Professor of International Relations at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers in Paris and Research Fellow at the Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherches en sciences de l’action, Sabine Jansen is Vice President of the Committee for Parliamentary and Political History and Delegated President of the Society for the History of the 5th Republic. She founded and was the Editor of Histoire@Politique from 2007 to 2014 at Sciences Po Paris. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Questions internationales, Secretary General of Revue historique and member of the Editorial Board of Parlements, four peer-reviewed journals. She is currently working on think tanks, decision-making and expertise in the field of international relations, with special attention to the history and role of the think tanks in diplomatic affairs. She graduated and received her Ph.D. in Modern History from Sciences Po. She holds the Agrégation in History.

Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He served the Palestinian people with distinction for twenty five years and has been a superb representative at the Ministry of Higher Education and at the Association of Arab Universities, among other international academic organizations. Among his academic awards and honors, Professor Hassassian was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Docteur Honoris Causa) by the University of Reims, France, and nominated by the Center of International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland, for the Gleitzman Middle East Award. In 2015 he received the Grassroot Diplomat Award. He earned a BA in Political Science from the American University of Beirut, a MA in International Relations from Toledo University, Ohio, U.S.A. and a PhD in Comparative Politics from University of Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation. Nominated Head of the division in charge of the relations with the European Union at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation in 1986, he took part in the various negotiations concerning the relations between Morocco and the European Union. In 2000, as Secretary of State, he became the only official spokesman with the American authorities in charge of the negotiations for the Moroccan American free-trade agreement. First engineer involved in statistics at the Institut national de la statistique et d’économie appliquée (INSEA) of Rabat, he obtained his PhD in Analysis and Political Economics at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris.

Frankfurt correspondent of the Italian financial daily, Il Sole 24 Ore since 2012. Previously, he was a senior writer and columnist on global economics and finance, financial editor and London correspondent. He is also a frequent contributor to Radio 24, the all-news radio station of the 24 Ore Group. Before joining Il Sole 24 Ore, he worked as a business reporter at Il Giornale. He has been a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2002 he won the first Italian edition of the Citigroup Award for Journalistic Excellence. He graduated from the University of Modena and the University of Illinois.

Advisor to the Executive Chairman, Ifri, Editor of Politique étrangère and co-director of the annual report Ramses. He is also President of the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and of le Club des Vingt . Former Executive Vice-President of Ifri. Previously, he was in charge of the Security Studies department at Ifri. Before joining Ifri, he was Deputy Director of the Institut français de polémologie (French Institute of Polemology), and then Secretary General of the FEDN (Fondation pour les études de défense nationale). He also taught at the Military School of Saint-Cyr, at the Paris I University and at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (IEP). His studies and publications deal with strategic issues, particularly with French strategy and European issues.

Junior Research fellow, Ifri

Civil Engineer of Mines from the National Superior School of Mines of Nancy in 1987 and Doctor Engineer in mine sciences and techniques (ENSM Paris), Mrs. Benkhadra has been General Director of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines since 2003. She was Minister in charge of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment (2007 – 2012) and Secretary of State responsible for the mining sector development (1997 – 1998). She also had management trainings at the University of Columbia in the year 1990. 

Russian Sherpa in the G8, Aide to the President Dmitry Medvedev. Starting as Advisor and then Head of the Economic Expert Group of Russia Ministry of Finance, he served as Expert in Strategic Development Centre and Advisor to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade. Afterwards, he joined the Presidential Executive Officer to become Head of the Presidential Experts’ Directorate. Since May 2008, he has been assuming his present responsibilities. He is graduated from Moscow State University and Duke University, USA.

Executive Vice President, OCP Group. As Vice President of Citibank, he participated in merger-acquisition and financial engineering activities in several countries. Appointed board member and CEO of Charbonnages du Maroc, he restructured the Jerada mine, then as CEO of subsidiaries and member of ONA Group’s Management Committee, turned around several major subsidiaries, including Lesieur and Centrale Laitière. He subsequently became Executive Vice President of FINCON in Geneva and Strategic Communications Group in Dubai. He holds an MBA in Finance from Stern School of Business, New York University, a PhD in Management from the École polytechnique and a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Paris X. He co-edited the book Dubai, the New Arab Dream with Thierry de Montbrial, published in 2006 as part of Ifri’s Travaux et Recherches series.

Chief Foreign Policy Advisor, Sherpa to President Abdullah Gül. Among various positions, he was Minister-Counsellor towards the Turkish Embassy in Washington, DC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman, Ambassador of Turkey to Jordan and Director-General for Middle East and South Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He graduated from the Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences and the University of Virginia, MA.

General Manager, Coges. He attended the Army Officer Academy of Saint-Cyr and was commissioned into the Armour (Recce). He took part in many operations in Chad, Central Africa, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kosovo. He was assigned as the commander of the French Army Training Centre. In 2007, he decided to leave the Army and became the Chief Executive Officer of Coges, a company managing the Eurosatory Exhibition and organizing the French pavilions on other exhibitions in the world. He graduated from COSSAT, the Senior Armaments Engineers School, and from the École de guerre de Paris.