For a reasonably open world
Head of the Middle East/Maghreb Program at Ifri. Mansouria Mokhefi holds a Master’s degree from New York University and a Doctorate from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. She formerly taught at New York University and at the Institut des Langues et Civilisations Orientales. She co-authored a book on Le Maghreb et son Sud (Editions du CNRS, 2012).
Senior Advisor at Ifri, member of the Cercle des économistes and President of Société d’économie politique. He served as Head of Economic Studies at Ifri, member of the Conseil d’analyse économique, Minister-Financial Counselor to the Embassy of France in the United States (2001-2006). He held various positions in the AXA Group (1992-2000). He served as Economic Advisor to then-Prime Minister Michel Rocard (1988-1991). He graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and holds a PhD in economics from the University Paris I.
Chairman of the Federation of French Overseas companies (Fedom), President of the Franco-British Council. A member of parliament from 1993 to 2017, he was spokesman for the Republican group on the Finance Committee, special rapporteur for the budget for ecology and energy, transport, agriculture, Chairman of the friendship group with Russia, Vice-Chairman of the friendship group with the United Kingdom. He was Secretary for Overseas Territories in 2007. He is an associate member of the Conseil général de l’économie, a member of the editorial boards of « Commentaire » and « Annales des Mines » and is the author of several books in French. He is a general engineer in the Corps des Mines, and he graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris.
Chief rapporteur in the French Senate and Chairman of the Senate’s groups furthering relations with Syria, Arab Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. He is now member of several boards of directors. He worked for the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), where he served as Deputy Director and Director for Financial Services. He was in the management board of Banque Arjil and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of Kleinwort Benson Gimar & Cie. He graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris and from the National School of Administration (E.N.A.).
Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total. He joined Total in 1974 where he served in several positions in the Group’s Finance Department and Exploration & Production division. He became President of Total Middle East in 1995. In 2000, he was appointed Senior Executive Vice President of the Exploration & Production division of the newly created TotalFinaElf group which was renamed Total in 2003. In 2002, he became President of its Exploration & Production division. In May 2006, he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors of Total and in 2007, he became Chief Executive Officer of Total, chairing its Executive Committee. He graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, a French business school.
Egyptian Senator and former member of Parliament. She is an Advisor to the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and is a Distinguished Lecturer in the Political Science Department at the American University in Cairo. She has been a member of the National Council for Human Rights since 2012 and an Advisor to the Minister of Labour and Immigration responsible for Egyptians abroad since 2011. She was a member of the World Bank’s Council of Advisors for the Middle East & North Africa Region. She was an Advisor to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in 2012 and served on the Committee for Policy Development (UN, 2001-2004). She was awarded a fellowship at MIT in 2016. She is a graduate of Harvard University. She is a prolific writer in English, French and Arabic. She is an Officier de la Légion d’honneur.
Chairman, Rhine and Raavi Holdings Ltd. Former Secretary Government of India, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises after being Chairman, National Highways Authority and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers. He held an accomplished career of 35 years in Government. Infrastructure, renewable energy, industrial and economic development, environment, sustainability and public sector were his other areas of expertise. He was on the panel of Consultants of UNIDO and UNDP. He presented papers on Development Economics and Economic Growth at World Bank and various fora in EU, US and Latin America. He has a Doctorate from Punjab University and Masters in Economics from Manchester University.
Yacin is the PwC Financial Services Advisory Leader for France and member of the EMEA FS Leadership Team. He has significant experience advising FS companies on risk and performance management transformations. He worked for Global universal banks and insurance companies as well as for specialized players in the investment banking, retail banking and specialized finance. Before joining PricewaterhouseCoopers, he worked for an international investment bank in London and for a Global Audit & Consulting Firm in London, New York and Paris. Yacin is a MBA graduate from the University of Chicago and the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen.
Founding editor of Russia in Global Affairs, journal published with participation of Foreign Affairs. Under his leadership since 2002 the journal became one of the most authoritative sources of independent information on foreign policy and international relations in Russia. He is a research professor at National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow. He is also research director at Valdai discussion club. In December 2012, he was elected to chair Council on foreign and defense policy (SVOP). He is a member of the presidium of Russian international affairs council. His column appears regularly in FT Exchange blog, The Moscow Times, Russian edition of Forbes magazine, Rossiyskaya gazeta, Gazeta.ru. He graduated from Moscow State University.
Senior Vice President Public Affairs, Total since 2010. Previously, he was Senior Vice President International Relations, Total (2005-2010). He held various positions in the French Administration and abroad as Financial Attaché. He was Deputy Director, Hydrocarbon Division at the French Ministry of Industry (1990-1994). He joined Elf in 1994 as Manager, Middle East New Ventures Division. Then, he held the position of Vice President Middle East Gas & Power, TotalFinaElf and was appointed Managing Director Total E&P Angola in 2002. He is a former student of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration. He graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris and he holds a Master of Law.
Director of the International Centre for Defence Studies (ICDS, Estonia), she previously worked as the Editor-in-chief of the magazine Diplomaatia and hosted the current affairs talk show Välismääraja at radio Kuku. She was also the foreign news Editor of Estonia’s largest daily paper Postimees after having served as its correspondent in Moscow. She has a Master’s degree in Diplomacy from Lancaster University, UK and graduated in journalism from Tartu University in Estonia.
Founder and President of the Louis Bachelier Institute. Member of the Board of Ifri, affiliate Emeritus Professor in Finance at Paris-Dauphine University, Non-Executive Chairman of Les Échos, Chairman and Founder of the Fondation du Risque and Institut Louis Bachelier. He held various positions in the Schlumberger Group and he was CEO of Banque Paribas until the merger creating BNPParibas. He started as a Research Physicist at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). He graduated from the École Polytechnique and holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Member of the Institut de France and President of the Geneva Center for Security Policy Fondation Council (GCSP), Jean-David Levitte has had a distinguished and outstanding career in the French Foreign Service. Ambassador Levitte was the Senior Diplomatic Adviser and Sherpa of President Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012. Ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2007, he was previously Ambassador to the United Nations between 2000 and 2002. He served as Senior Diplomatic Adviser and Sherpa of President Chirac from 1995 to 2000. From 1990, he held senior positions in the French Foreign Ministry, first as Assistant Secretary for Asia and then as Undersecretary for Cultural and Scientific Cooperation. In 1988, he served as the French Ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva. When he joined the Foreign Service in 1970, he was first posted in Hong Kong and Beijing. A few months after his election in 1974, President Valery Giscard d’Estaing asked him to work on his staff at the Elysee Palace, where he stayed from 1975 to 1981. Ambassador Levitte earned a law degree and is a graduate of Sciences-Po and of the National School of Oriental Languages, where he studied Chinese and Indonesian.
French industrialist and economist. Founder member of the Académie des technologies (France). President of the Scientific Committee of the Energy Program at Ifri. He was Head of the Economic Department of Charbonnages de France (1954- 1957), CEO of the Sema group (1958-1975), Director of the OECD Interfutures Project (1976-1979), Head of the Department of Economics at Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), Paris (1976-1996), Director of Le Monde (1991-1994). He graduated from the Ecole polytechnique and the Ecole des mines de Paris.
Member of the supervisory board at Naftogaz of Ukraine. Former Senior Executive Vice-President of EDF and member of the newly set-up EDF’s Group Management Committee. He was Deputy Chief Financial Officer of EDF in charge of treasury, financing and M&A. He was Chairman & CEO of London Electricity plc, which he developed into what became EDF Energy plc. He was Director of EDF Generation and Engineering. In charge of the development of the EDF’s group gas businesses, he negotiated the cooperation agreement signed with Gazprom. He graduated in Engineering (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris), in Economics (Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique) and in Political Science (IEP, Paris).
Bernardino León Gross is the Director General of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. He is a veteran diplomat with a career spanning over 27 years. He has served as the UN Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya. Previously, he was the European Union SR to the Southern Mediterranean, Secretary General at Spanish prime minister Office and Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs. His career has focused on mediation and negotiations, covering also intercultural dialogue, security, energy and migration. He founded with Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim the Barenboim-Said Foundation. He has worked in different Human Rights initiatives, particularly in the Arab world. He played a key role in the EU “peace team” delegation that followed the Oslo process. Following the events of the Arab Spring, he mediated crucial talks in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. He holds a diploma in International Relations from the University of Barcelona and a degree in Law from the University of Malaga, Spain, and followed post graduate courses at London King’s College and Sorbonne University.
Member of the Board of Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue; of International Law Institute (Washington, Kampala); Chairman of the Board CARE Austria. He was Special Envoy for Africa of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria (2005-2010). He served as Permanent Representative of Austria to OECD, Paris (1982-1993). In 1978, he entered the Cabinet Office of Federal Chancellor Dr. Bruno Kreisky with responsibility for foreign relations; he was sherpa for the preparation of the first North-South summit in Cancun (1981). He entered the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1965. He studied Law and Political Science in Graz, Bologna (Johns Hopkins) and Chapel Hill (N.C., US).
Chairman of Lee International IP & Law Group and of Infinite Ldt. since 1985. He is also Director of the Digital Times since 2011 and Director of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation Korea since 2007. He serves as Honorary Advisory Counsel to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 2006. He is a non-executive Director, PoongSan Corporation and Director of the Security Management Institute. He graduated from Georgetown University, Columbia University and Seoul National University.
Advisor for Strategic Affairs and Asia to the French President. Former Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Staff for the French Foreign Office. He was France Ambassador to Turkmenistan (2006-2009), Deputy Director of the South-East Asia section for the Foreign Office (2002-2006), Diplomatic advisor on International Affairs for the Minister of Defence, Sir Alain Richard (1997-2002) and Chief Clerk of the Asia-Pacific section at the Delegation for Strategic Affairs for the Department of Defence (1992-1996). He holds a PhD in Sovietics Studies, a Master’s Degree in Econometry and a Master’s Degree in International Relations.
Investment Banker, LionTree. Former Executive Committee member and managing partner of Oddo Corporate Finance. After stints at Euris, an equity fund, and Editeuris, which holds Euris’s shares in various publishing and media groups, she became CEO of Compagnie européenne de presse professionnelle. She then created her own business, Intermezzo, an advisory M&A firm specialized in media. In 2003, she partnered with Jean-Marie Messier to found Messier Partners LLC. Three years later, she created Partanéa, a small investment bank with shareholders worldwide. In 2008, she sold the bank to Oddo & Cie, where she currently works. She graduated from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris and received financial analyst training at the Société française des analystes financiers.
Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation in the Kingdom of Morocco. Embarking very early on a political career, he became a member of Spain’s Basque Parliament in 1980, representing the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE). Turning his attention to the European Community, he was appointed as the European Commission’s Director-General for Regional Policy and Cohesion in 1986. From 2000 to 2003, he served as the Commission’s Director-General for Enlargement, being ship negotiator with candidate countries. He served as the Commission’s Director-General for External Relations (2003-2009). He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Notre Europe think tank, founded by Jacques Delors in 1996.
Honorary Chairman of Lafarge. From July 2015 to April 2017, he co-chaired the Board of Directors of LafargeHolcim. He was previously Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge (2007-2015). He began his career at Lafarge in 1983 and held numerous positions in finance and international operations. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). He is Lead Independent Director of ArcelorMittal and was a Board member of EDF from 2008 to 2019. He chaired the Sustainable Development Commission of the MEDEF (Mouvement des Entreprises de France, the French employers association) from 2014 to 2018. He graduated from the Hautes Etudes Commerciales business school (HEC, Paris) and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA, Paris).
Medical Doctor and Psychiatrist, member of the Supervisory Board of Edeis as well as member of Surveillance Board of Edeis.com and active member of Bealy.io. He is specialized in the management of conflict situations, and in particular in the management of post-traumatic syndromes. He participates in work on sleep, biological rhythms, and physiological and psychological adaptation factors. He has been practicing in Paris for 40 years, with an involvement in corporate work. He has carried out numerous consulting missions including with Progress, Danone, Rians, Laboratoires Debat, Spie Batignolles, L’Oréal, EDF, Normédic, La Poste, and with the government of Senegal. He also collaborated with IMS Health and the General Management of Manpower.
Former Under-Secretary of State, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Helsinki, former Director-General for Political Affairs and Ambassador of Finland to the United States (Washington, DC) and to the United Kingdom (London). Other diplomatic assignments include Paris, Geneva, Warsaw, Belgrade and Madrid. He has a B.A. from Stockholm University and M.A. from the University of Helsinki. Fellow at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University 1985-86.
President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Directors. He was Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and professor at the Graduate School of Economics at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo. He was also Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs. He was seconded to the International Monetary Fund. He has authored several books on monetary policy, exchange rate, international finance policy coordination, international taxation, and international negotiations. He holds a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Oxford.
Counsellor of Paris since 2014. Former Secretary of State in charge of Prospective and Development of digital economy, Mayor of Longjumeau (Essonne), member of Parliament for Essonne, Regional Councillor for Ile-de-France and Deputy Secretary General of UMP (Union for a Popular Movement, French political party of the mainstream right). She was technical adviser (ecology and sustainable development) to the Prime Minister (2002), Policy Officer to the Chief Strategy Officer of Alstom (2001-2002), Secretary of State in charge of Ecology (2007-2009). She graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole nationale du génie rural, des eaux et des forêts and she is part of the Corps des ingénieurs du génie rural et des eaux des forêts.
Chairman/CEO of National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, Korea. He was a professor at the Department of Economics of Seoul National University and Dean of the College of Social Sciences. He was also the founding President and Chairman of Korea Information Strategy Development Institute (KISDI), a Korea Monetary Board Member and Commissioner of Financial Supervisory Commission of Korea. He was President of the Korea Economic Association. He wrote many books and articles on international economics, and Korean economy. He graduated from the Law College of Seoul National University, and majored in European economic integration at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (MA and Ph. D).
Professor Emeritus of the Chair of Economics and Management of Health Services at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM) and Founder of the Pasteur/CNAM School of Public Health. He is a member of the National Academy of Technologies of France and a member of the steering committee of the Médecins du monde Foundation. Former Consultant to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, he served as Visiting Professor at Yale University, Under Secretary at the French Ministry of Health in charge of hospitals and Advisor to the Prime Minister. He is a Columnist for Le Point.fr. He holds a Master in Agronomy from the Institut national agronomique Paris-Grignon, a MBA and a Ph.D. in Socio Economics from Cornell University.
Uzbekistan’s permanent representative to UNESCO, she is playing a prominent role in promoting the centuries-long heritage of Central Asia in Europe, the goal primarily aimed at advancing a better understanding between civilizations and respect for their values. She is renowned in her home country, Uzbekistan, for her key role in promoting education and sports as well as championing the rights of children while running a major charity foundation. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in International Law from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent, and holds a doctorate degree in Psychology from Tashkent State University of Economy.
Director of the MGIMO Centre for Sustainable Development and ESG Transformation, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rating Agency Expert RA, a member of the Management Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a member of the Board of Trustees of Russian Council on International Affairs, a member of the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), and a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for European Reform (CER). Igor Yurgens graduated with a degree in economics from Moscow State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics.