Thierry de Montbrial, Founder and Executive Chairman

Executive Chairman’s Statement

The French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) is the leading French institution for research and debate on the topic. It is also a unique platform for the understanding of the contemporary world. Over the past 40 years, Ifri has become a reference on a worldwide scale, recognized by its peers.

Its governance, the diversity of its funding, its ethical framework as outlined in its charter, and the high quality of its work guarantee Ifri’s independence and continued respect of its fundamental values. Ifri’s research teams are made up of tenured professional researchers. The Institute’s work aims to inform public and private decision-makers on the international stage. Ifri is built on the principle of transversality and cooperation amongst its researchers, a practice which becomes increasingly necessary as the complexity of the international system increases.

Ifri’s mission has always been to work towards the service and benefit of the general interest. Thus, it contributes, through its influence in France and abroad, to the organization and structuring of public debates on the questions that face the world as a whole, with the intention of creating a reasonably open and peaceful world for the long term. “Reasonably” refers to the obligation to understand the culture and fundamental, long-term interests of each nation, in order to promote a structurally stable international governance.

With four decades’ experience, covering the end of the cold war, the accelerating digital revolution, the explosion of political Islamism and international terrorism, the unintended effects of globalization, the emergence of global problems such as climate change, the illusions of the Arab spring, and the spread of economic crises, Ifri can now inscribe its action in the long term, like those institutions in England and America which inspired its creation and which are themselves preparing to celebrate their centennial anniversaries.

Thierry de Montbrial
Founder and Executive Chairman of Ifri
Member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques

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