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Economic Development

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Economic development includes not only the idea of growth and enrichment, but also that of an improved quality of life.

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Official Development Assistance in the Age of Deglobalization

Date de publication
05 March 2026
Accroche

Official development assistance has collapsed since 2023, both in Europe and in the United States. This decline has affected both developing and industrialized countries. Under fire in the Global North and South, the goals and methods of development assistance must be redefined if it is to adapt to an international landscape in which the principal actors—the United States, the European Union, China, the Arab countries—are adopting new stances. 

Jean-Michel SEVERINO
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European Union-India: Lasting Rapprochement or Partnership of Convenience?

Date de publication
26 February 2026
Accroche

The partnership between the European Union (EU) and India has long been limited to economic exchanges. Its political dimension has gradually developed, culminating in its elevation to the status of a “strategic partnership” in 2004. However, the failure of negotiations for a free-trade agreement in 2013 slowed this momentum. Since the early 2020s, in an uncertain geopolitical context, bilateral rapprochement has gained new momentum.

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Japan’s Takaichi Landslide: A New Face of Power

Date de publication
11 February 2026
Accroche

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has turned her exceptional popularity into a historic political victory. The snap elections of February 8 delivered an overwhelming majority for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), driven by strong support from young voters, drawn to her iconoclastic and dynamic image, and from conservative voters reassured by her vision of national assertiveness. This popularity lays the foundation for an ambitious strategy on both the domestic and international fronts.

New Cold War? What New Cold War? Confronting the Geoeconomic Fragmentation Narrative with the Data

Date de publication
12 December 2025
Accroche

It has become widely accepted that the world economy should be seen as increasingly shaped by forces of fragmentation, resulting from geopolitical tensions. This article takes another look at this narrative, using international trade data. While an aggregate analysis is consistent with a new Cold War narrative, whereby international trade is increasingly seen as split into two blocs, this is only a mix of very different outcomes. Far from being a widespread trend, geoeconomic fragmentation of trade flows is only significant in “hotspots”: Russia's foreign trade and China-US bilateral exchanges, and the impact is massive in these cases. Outside these “hotspots”, there is no tangible sign that geopolitical tensions have been shaping international trade patterns in terms of blocs, nor is there any hint of a trend toward nearshoring – to the contrary, in fact.

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How to Jumpstart Economic Recovery in Syria? The role of syrian entrepreneurs in Turkey

Date de publication
21 November 2025
Accroche

This report examines the potential role of Syrian-partnered companies operating in Türkiye in supporting economic recovery and reconstruction efforts in Syria. Based on data collected through field research and surveys conducted by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Türkiye (TEPAV), the report provides an overview of the business characteristics, sectoral distribution, and cross-border economic activities of Syrian entrepreneurs. The report explores how this business activity could contribute to restoring supply chains, stimulating local production, and generating employment.

Güven SAK Ece Berfin ERGEZER
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Claiming "The People": Youth Booms, Ailing Authoritarians and "Populist" Politics in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania

Date de publication
31 October 2025
Accroche

This study analyses the emergence of so-called “populist” political tendencies in three East African countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It builds its analysis on a wider discussion of the term “populism”, its use and applicability in (eastern) African settings before going on to examine the drivers of three cases of populism: William Ruto’s 2022 election victory in Kenya and the “Hustler Nation”; Bobi Wine’s opposition to Yoweri Museveni in Uganda; and John Magufuli highly personal style of government in Tanzania.

Peter LOCKWOOD
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Kazakhstan After the Double Shock of 2022: Political, Economic and Military Consequences

Date de publication
28 October 2025
Accroche

The year 2022 represented a dual shock for Kazakhstan. In January, the country faced its most severe political crisis since independence, followed in February by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which cast uncertainty over the borders of post-Soviet states. These consecutive crises profoundly shaped Kazakhstan’s domestic and foreign policy.

Vera GRANTSEVA Rakhimbek ABDRAKHMANOV
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Brazil One Year Away from the October 2026 General Elections

Date de publication
23 October 2025
Accroche

Brazil’s general elections will be held on October 4, 2026, to elect the president, vice-president, members of the National Congress, governors, deputy governors and state legislative assemblies. For the presidential and gubernatorial elections, a second round will be held on October 25 if no candidate obtains a majority of the votes in the first round. 

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The Strategic Dimension of Skills in the Clean Industrial Deal

Date de publication
29 September 2025
Accroche

In the competitiveness and energy transition battles, the European Union (EU) must master a determinant factor: skills. 

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European Startups and Generative AI: Overcoming Big Tech Dominance

Date de publication
07 April 2025
Accroche

Europe is at a crossroads. Faced with the domination of American Big Tech across the entire generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) value chain, from foundation models to cloud infrastructure, distribution channels, and open source, it risks long-term technological and economic decline. Yet generative AI also represents a major opportunity for economic transformation, with a potential value estimated at 1.5 times France’s gross domestic product (GDP). To turn it into a driver of renewal, Europe must move beyond the illusion of total technological independence and instead build an ecosystem that leverages Big Tech resources while strengthening its own innovation capabilities.

Image principale

Official Development Assistance in the Age of Deglobalization

Date de publication
05 March 2026
Accroche

Official development assistance has collapsed since 2023, both in Europe and in the United States. This decline has affected both developing and industrialized countries. Under fire in the Global North and South, the goals and methods of development assistance must be redefined if it is to adapt to an international landscape in which the principal actors—the United States, the European Union, China, the Arab countries—are adopting new stances. 

Jean-Michel SEVERINO
Image principale

European Union-India: Lasting Rapprochement or Partnership of Convenience?

Date de publication
26 February 2026
Accroche

The partnership between the European Union (EU) and India has long been limited to economic exchanges. Its political dimension has gradually developed, culminating in its elevation to the status of a “strategic partnership” in 2004. However, the failure of negotiations for a free-trade agreement in 2013 slowed this momentum. Since the early 2020s, in an uncertain geopolitical context, bilateral rapprochement has gained new momentum.

Image principale

Japan’s Takaichi Landslide: A New Face of Power

Date de publication
11 February 2026
Accroche

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has turned her exceptional popularity into a historic political victory. The snap elections of February 8 delivered an overwhelming majority for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), driven by strong support from young voters, drawn to her iconoclastic and dynamic image, and from conservative voters reassured by her vision of national assertiveness. This popularity lays the foundation for an ambitious strategy on both the domestic and international fronts.

New Cold War? What New Cold War? Confronting the Geoeconomic Fragmentation Narrative with the Data

Date de publication
12 December 2025
Accroche

It has become widely accepted that the world economy should be seen as increasingly shaped by forces of fragmentation, resulting from geopolitical tensions. This article takes another look at this narrative, using international trade data. While an aggregate analysis is consistent with a new Cold War narrative, whereby international trade is increasingly seen as split into two blocs, this is only a mix of very different outcomes. Far from being a widespread trend, geoeconomic fragmentation of trade flows is only significant in “hotspots”: Russia's foreign trade and China-US bilateral exchanges, and the impact is massive in these cases. Outside these “hotspots”, there is no tangible sign that geopolitical tensions have been shaping international trade patterns in terms of blocs, nor is there any hint of a trend toward nearshoring – to the contrary, in fact.

Image principale

How to Jumpstart Economic Recovery in Syria? The role of syrian entrepreneurs in Turkey

Date de publication
21 November 2025
Accroche

This report examines the potential role of Syrian-partnered companies operating in Türkiye in supporting economic recovery and reconstruction efforts in Syria. Based on data collected through field research and surveys conducted by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Türkiye (TEPAV), the report provides an overview of the business characteristics, sectoral distribution, and cross-border economic activities of Syrian entrepreneurs. The report explores how this business activity could contribute to restoring supply chains, stimulating local production, and generating employment.

Güven SAK Ece Berfin ERGEZER
Image principale

Claiming "The People": Youth Booms, Ailing Authoritarians and "Populist" Politics in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania

Date de publication
31 October 2025
Accroche

This study analyses the emergence of so-called “populist” political tendencies in three East African countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It builds its analysis on a wider discussion of the term “populism”, its use and applicability in (eastern) African settings before going on to examine the drivers of three cases of populism: William Ruto’s 2022 election victory in Kenya and the “Hustler Nation”; Bobi Wine’s opposition to Yoweri Museveni in Uganda; and John Magufuli highly personal style of government in Tanzania.

Peter LOCKWOOD
Image principale

Kazakhstan After the Double Shock of 2022: Political, Economic and Military Consequences

Date de publication
28 October 2025
Accroche

The year 2022 represented a dual shock for Kazakhstan. In January, the country faced its most severe political crisis since independence, followed in February by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which cast uncertainty over the borders of post-Soviet states. These consecutive crises profoundly shaped Kazakhstan’s domestic and foreign policy.

Vera GRANTSEVA Rakhimbek ABDRAKHMANOV
Image principale

Brazil One Year Away from the October 2026 General Elections

Date de publication
23 October 2025
Accroche

Brazil’s general elections will be held on October 4, 2026, to elect the president, vice-president, members of the National Congress, governors, deputy governors and state legislative assemblies. For the presidential and gubernatorial elections, a second round will be held on October 25 if no candidate obtains a majority of the votes in the first round. 

Image principale

The Strategic Dimension of Skills in the Clean Industrial Deal

Date de publication
29 September 2025
Accroche

In the competitiveness and energy transition battles, the European Union (EU) must master a determinant factor: skills. 

Image principale

European Startups and Generative AI: Overcoming Big Tech Dominance

Date de publication
07 April 2025
Accroche

Europe is at a crossroads. Faced with the domination of American Big Tech across the entire generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) value chain, from foundation models to cloud infrastructure, distribution channels, and open source, it risks long-term technological and economic decline. Yet generative AI also represents a major opportunity for economic transformation, with a potential value estimated at 1.5 times France’s gross domestic product (GDP). To turn it into a driver of renewal, Europe must move beyond the illusion of total technological independence and instead build an ecosystem that leverages Big Tech resources while strengthening its own innovation capabilities.

Image principale médiatique

“Although mining is a long-term business, very few companies do prospective studies”

30 June 2025
Nom du journal, revue ou émission
ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business
Accroche

As global demand for critical minerals accelerates, Central Africa finds itself once again at the heart of an extractive race—this time driven by the energy transition. Thierry Vircoulon, Associate Research Fellow at Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center, and Coordinator of its Observatory of Central and Southern Africa, shares a sharp and sobering perspective. Speaking ahead of the ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business webinar “Securing Critical Minerals” (2 July), he explores the paradoxes of resource governance, the rise of China, and why “clean energy” still runs on dirty politics. A must-read for those navigating the fault lines of global supply chains.

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Nikkei Asia
Image principale médiatique

India's Modi heads to Paris as co-chair of AI summit

09 February 2025
Nom du journal, revue ou émission
Nikkei Asia
Accroche

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting France from Monday as co-chair of an international summit on artificial intelligence in Paris that is expected to be attended by industry leaders, including executives from OpenAI and DeepSeek.

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As China’s Pacific influence grows, Japan eyes deeper ties with island nations amid their domestic woes

26 February 2024
Accroche

Japan has supported the region by setting up hospitals, building roads and bridges, and assisting in climate change mitigation and disaster relief. Tokyo’s renewed focus on Pacific nations comes amid regional concern over Fukushima waste water discharge and as Chinese influence grows.

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World Policy Conference Logo

De-globalization or Re-globalization? (World Policy Conference 2024 - Plenary Session)

14 December 2024
Nom du journal, revue ou émission
World Policy Conference 2024
Accroche

Saturday, December 14, 2024 - 17th edition of the World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Plenary session 3: De-globalization or Re-globalization?

Sébastien JEAN Bertrand Badré Bark Tae-ho Vladislav INOZEMTSEV Pierre JACQUET Kazuto SUZUKI

Support independent French research

Ifri, a foundation recognized as being of public utility, relies largely on private donors – companies and individuals – to guarantee its sustainability and intellectual independence. Through their funding, donors help maintain the Institute's position among the world's leading think tanks. By benefiting from an internationally recognized network and expertise, donors refine their understanding of geopolitical risk and its consequences on global politics and the economy. In 2025, Ifri supports more than 80 French and foreign companies and organizations.

Ramses Conference, 2024
Related centers and programs
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digital globe
Geoeconomics and Geofinance Initiative
Accroche centre

To analyze the impact of power rivalries and tensions on globalization, this initiative combines economic and political expertise. In the face of growing geopolitical risk, the goal is to decipher the dynamics of reconfiguration: protectionist pressures, sanctions, restrictions, industrial policies, and economic security concerns are redefining the rules of international trade. These tensions are also transforming international financial relations by undermining the foundations of trust and reshaping the global monetary system. They raise questions about the role of several key players: sovereign wealth funds, central banks, digital platforms, multilateral institutions, and financial infrastructure operators. In a context of profound disruption, simply refining existing approaches is no longer sufficient. The initiative is designed as a flexible model, drawing on diverse expertise to offer both broad overviews and targeted analyses. It also provides a platform for stakeholders and experts from various backgrounds to debate these issues freely.

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Economic Growth Graph
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