The November 2020 election of Joe Biden ended Donald Trump's extraordinary tenure. However, it doesn't inevitably indicate a return to previous policies, as American society's expectations have changed. Indeed, there is a call for a strong federal state on economic and social issues on the one hand, and on the other hand an increased mistrust vis-à-vis American interventionism. The magnitude of these transformations shows how necessary is a monitoring and analysis of the ever-evolving American political landscape — especially since they resonate with comparable political developments in Europe and in the rest of the world.
Founded in 2000, Ifri's United States Program aims to understand American culture and politics from the inside. Furthermore, it studies the evolutions of the country’s foreign and defense policies. It lastly actively contributes to maintaining close trans-Atlantic ties, producing and broadcasting research on the United States in France and Europe while also regularly welcoming U.S. academics and officials to Paris.
Building on field missions and a large network of journalists, business executives, diplomats, academics and researchers from American think tanks, the program's analysis are offered in two main formats: the Potomac Papers, which are about 30 pages long notes that feature our latest research activities, and the Chroniques Américaines, which cover the country's social and political current events.The program also organizes research seminars and, since 2000, a major annual conference in December. As to inform the largest audience possible, our experts regularly intervene in the media, both in the written press and audiovisual sector. Our researchers also contribute to Ifri's main publications, RAMSES and Politique étrangère. Through this program, Ifri associated with the «Time to Sign Off» (TTSO) Newsletter and Slate.fr to air the "Trump 2020" Podcast (available in French) every Wednesday from June 2019 to January 2021, focusing on the U.S. presidential elections. The partnership is renewed with the "New Deal" Podcast (also available in French) to report on U.S. current political events every Thursday.
Research Fellow, Head of Ifri's Americas Program
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Advisor to the Americas Program
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Advisor to the Americas Programme
...The U.S. program publishes in-depth analyses on American domestic and foreign policy issues in the form of:
Navigating the mounting tensions between the United States and China is a geopolitical minefield. Is Europe up to the challenge?
From the 1920s to the 1980s, the American press followed strict discursive practices based on objectivity and fairness. Starting in the 1930s, the country's political center of gravity was on the liberal side and there were few overtly conservative media.
RAMSES 2020. A World without a Compass?, written by Ifri's research team and external experts, offers an in-depth and up-to-date analysis of geopolitics in today’s world.
International trade is one of the themes that used to constitute the very raison d’être of the G7, alongside international security and energy policy.
Global governance emerged to deal with the gap between the plurality and diversity of states and the collective and transnational nature of increasingly complex global affairs.
The Think Tank 7 (T7) is an engagement group that brings together the leading Think Tanks from the G7 countries in order to analyze and make recommendations on key issues of the G7 presidency.
How Can Europe Shift from Back Foot to Front Foot?
Although not akin to the protectionist policies practiced by the United States through the 1930s, the trade war launched by the Trump administration since early 2018 challenges the principles and institutions of free trade.
Since Donald Trump’s rise to power, American foreign policy has become more unpredictable. Nonetheless, several coherent strategies stand out, in particular those that advocate a nationalist approach. An examination of Trump’s entourage also reveals some more conventional figures, who may...
The opioid crisis in the U.S. has reached increasingly tragic proportions – accounting for two thirds of the 72,000 overdose deaths of 2017.
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Michael Lind will join Ifri for this seminar on the current state of the United States as it approaches midterm elections and the country's longterm outlook.
... Secretary Kerry's efforts have been relentless and admirable. They brought about a détente with Iran, the renewal of talks between Israelis and Palestinians, an implication of Russia in the Syrian crisis. These efforts have been opposed by many actors in the very Middle-East, however, and they...
Watch the speakers' talks here.
... In the face of endless turmoil in the Middle East, the U.S. leadership seems to waver. Are we witnessing the long-heralded decline of U.S. power and influence, or is the current situation due to the attitude of the President and therefore temporary? What other foreign policy choices could...
Immigration Reform in the US has emerged as the legislative centerpiece of the 2013 spring Congress, inspiring bipartisan support from key Democratic and Republican senators. Now, however, reform is threatened by new partisan discussions. When the dust settles, what solution can 11 million...
A luncheon debate with Laurence Nardon, Head of the United States research programme, Ifri
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One month after Obama's reelection, Ifri's 11th Annual Conference on the United States will review the new political and economical landscape and the main challenges of America's foreign policy. A unique opportunity for European and U.S. thinkers to engage in an in-depth discussion of...
The campaign for the November election, now well underway, witnesses a number of key debates: Is the fear of a U.S. decline, so often mentionned in the press these days, a transient mood or a deeper trend? How do the economic difficulties impact public opinion attitudes? How are campaign...
An interview with William D. Magwood, IV, Director-General of the OECD Agency for Nuclear Energy
On April 27, 2017, Ifri hosted David FRUM (former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, senior editor for The Atlantic magazine) to discuss Donald Trump's challenge to American democracy...
PARIS — When the State Department released its annual human rights report last week, it contained many of the usual tough American judgments of other countries. Iran was criticized for restricting freedom of...
Eager to better understand the reasons and consequences of the election of Donald Trump, more than 160 participants attended Ifri’s 15th Annual Conference on the United States of December 1st.
Europe needs better relations between Moscow and Washington. President-Elect Donald Trump spoke on the campaign trail of mending U.S. relations with Russia. ...
Donald Trump's xenophobic rethoric draws the support of white supremacists.
For Ifri's U.S. specialist, the Democratic presidential candidate's illness sheds a bright light not only on her health but also on her relationship to transparency.
The U.S. media and its links with politics.
Of the litany of mass shootings in the United States, the attack in Orlando has demanded attention because of its sheer scale.
Are the United States at risk of giving into a totalitarian drift embodied by Donald Trump?
