Francois Lafond
Mr. Lafond was a special adviser of the Italian Minister for Regional Affairs and Local Autonomies, responsible for international relations of the think tank Glocus in Rome, and associate professor at the Centre for European Studies of Sciences-Po Paris. Previously, he was special adviser of the Italian undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, deputy director of Policy Network in London, researcher and then deputy secretary general of the think tank Notre Europe in Paris, then chaired by Jacques Delors, and research associate at the European University Institute's Robert Schuman Centre in Florence.
Education:
Mr. Lafond holds a diploma from Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble and has master's degrees in political science, public law and European studies.
Languages:
French, English, Italian and a good working knowledge of Spanish
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News Articles
Refugee crisis: the end of Europe without borders?May 06, 2011François Lafond, Director of the German Marshall Fund (Paris Office), participates in a debate on the migration related consequences of the Arab Spring.
Lafond debates London Conference on LibyaApril 01, 2011GMF's François Lafond participates in a France24 debate on the recent London Conference on Libya.
Francois Lafond on Libya SituationMarch 24, 2011GMF's Francois Lafond recently conducted a series of Q&A sessions with France 24 on the unrest in Libya.Francois Lafond on Unrest in EgyptMarch 11, 2011
François Lafond participates in debate on the recent turmoil in Egypt and the Arab world, and on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2011 Munich Conference remarks.
Francois Lafond on Sarkozy’s meeting with MerkelJune 16, 2010Some American Priorities For 2010January 23, 2010U.S. President Barack Obama’s greatest achievement during his first year in office has been to dramatically improve the image of the United States around the world. His actions and ideas are viewed favorably by most Europeans. This “Obama effect” has also affected U.S. foreign policy. From a European perspective, Obama now has four main foreign policy goals to achieve. The most crucial test for the Obama administration in 2010 will be the so-called “clash of civilizations.” The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is stalled, and Iranian nuclear negotiations are in a deadlock. Nevertheless, Obama’s open-handed and global rhetoric will help the regional actors to better engage with one and other and lead to new paths of progress. Obama’s three other foreign policy challenges are: “afghanizing” the ongoing “war of necessity,” trying an open-handed approach to Russia, and putting back on track the fundamental issue of strategic alliances such as NATO. These are the four areas on which U.S. foreign policy will be assessed.Europeans and Americans: Why Europe prefers Obama to McCainSeptember 10, 2008
2007-08 has been a time of changes and mutation. Sen. Barack Obama's trip to Europe gave us an appetizer of a potential new era of cooperation between U.S. and European countries. One cycle will end, but we still do not know who will be in charge of writing the new one. Data from the last seven years of Transatlantic Trends can help us understand where we are and perhaps where we are going.
EU-US scholar: Obama may not be the easy partner Europe hopes forJuly 23, 2008Amid their 'Obamania', Europeans tend to overlook that on certain issues like trade, a President Obama pressured by a Democrat-led Congress could be a more difficult partner in pushing for a common agenda, Francois Lafond of the German Marshall Fund told EurActiv in an interview.
