Arancha Gonzalez on tariff turmoil
AAPA members met in person and on Zoom April 16 with Arancha Gonzalez, the former Spanish foreign minister who is now Dean of Sciences Po's Paris School of International Affairs. It was a timely session, and a sobering one, given the tariff turmoil that has upended transatlantic and global relations this month. Dean Gonzalez, who has also held senior positions at the United Nations and the…
Journalism Under Attack: Can We Survive?
April 4, 2025 “We are very concerned about the future of the trade… the mission of informing people, providing reliable information.” The director general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Thibaut Bruttin, sounded the alarm during a breakfast meeting with 14 members of the AAPA. The conversation covered a broad range of concerns to journalists. US President Donald Trump, of…
AAPA meets two diplomatic advisors
We were scheduled to meet with Emmanuel Bonne, President Macron’s diplomatic advisor, but he was called away at the last minute, as he often is. Instead, we got deep background briefings from two of his expert collaborators, Anne Claire Legendre, MENA advisor, and Bertrand Buchwalter, advisor on continental Europe, Ukraine and Russia. They spoke in turn, each giving a succinct presentation…
Restored Notre Dame: Traditional Function, Modern Decor
Some 40 members of the AAPA participated in an early morning guided tour of the restored Notre Dame cathedral on March 4, with Père Maxime Deurbergue and Père Guillaume Normand, vice-rector of the cathedral.
The…
Dominique de Villepin on Trump, Sanctions, Tariffs, Ukraine, Gaza and More...
The former MInister of France did not mince words. "We say 'no' to Donald Trump's views on Gaza and Ukraine, 'no' to his arrogant and destructive policies. The world doesn't need more shock than we have already." Dominique De Villepin spoke to a roomful of AAPA members gathered in the Bloomberg auditorium on February 14, 22 years to the day of his impassioned speech at the UN General Assembly…
Reclaiming Their Homes: Antisemitism in Post-War Paris
On February 7, Sarah Gensburger, coauthor of the new book Appartements témoins : La spoliation des locataires juifs à Paris, 1940-1946, talked us through its account of how ordinary Parisians and the French authorities collaborated in the dispossession of Jewish tenants – including after the war, when many Jews returned to Paris and tried to reclaim their homes, only to find they had been…
Immigration: Truth, Lies and Consequences
Immigration lawyer Charly Salkazanov spoke with a dozen of us via Zoom on January 21, 2025, about France's immigration and asylum processes-- a hot topic in today's global political landscape. France does not have sufficient staff to handle the volume of applications by those seeking to enter the country legally or who want to appeal an order to leave French territory. Lacking a mediation…
German Marshall Fund Re-cap of 2024
Dr Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, acting President of the German Marshall Fund, met with 12 members of the AAPA via Zoom from her headquarters in Brussels to share her observations on key events of 2024. The re-election of Donald Trump is a confirmation of a deep trend that has been shaping US domestic and foreign policy over the past 15-20 years, she said. Having recently visited 10 US states,…
US Embassy Background Briefing
Some two dozen members of the AAPA met in person on December 17 with Kimberley Krhounek, Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the US Embassy, Paris, for an off-the-record briefing. Focusing on the interregnum between President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, Ms Krhounek fielded questions regarding the war in Ukraine, tariffs and trade, the fall of Syria, Vladimir Putin's…
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and his Vetements for Notre Dame
The French designer invited us to his atelier in Paris 17eme to present the vestments he designed for the re-opening of Notre Dame cathedral in December. A total of 700 ornaments and robes for all who officiate in the Mass, from archbishop, to bishop, priests, acolytes, etc, will be created using the facilities of haute couture association 19M.
