Politics
Breakfast with H.E. JAWED ASHRAF, Ambassador of India
H.E. Jawed Ashraf, Ambassador of India to the Republic of France and Principality of Monaco, invited members of the AAPA to breakfast at his residence in Paris on April 9 for an on-the-record wide ranging discussion just ten days before India's national elections (April 19 - June 1). India has 968 million registered voters, he pointed out, and the country has installed 1.2 million polling…
US elections key to Ukraine’s future: security analyst François Heisbourg
The outcome of the war in Ukraine will likely turn not only on issues as Europe’s ability to ramp up its defense spending to produce artillery shells for Kyiv, but particularly on what happens in the November US elections, defense and security analyst Francois Heisbourg told AAPA members on March 12 via Zoom. The return of former President Donald Trump to power would be “catastrophic” for…
Ukrainian Ambassador Highlights Need for Western Support
On January 30, the AAPA met for more than an hour with Vadym Omelchenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to France and Monaco, at the embassy in Paris. During the mostly off-the-record meeting, Omelchenko briefed us on the latest on the battlefield in Ukraine, likening it to the "trench warfare" of World War I and noting that the bilateral deals Ukraine is now making with Germany, France, Britain and…
AAPA meeting with the Hungarian Ambassador in France, H. E. Georges de Habsburg-Lorraine
The ambassador commented off the record on a number of timely topics, including Hungary’s stance on the war in Ukraine; the Ukrainian refugees in Hungary; Hungary’s strong anti-immigration policies; energy issues; Sweden’s entry into NATO; and Hungary’s relationship to the European Union
General Jean-Paul Palomeros: Will Ukraine have the manpower to win the war?
Ukraine may have the will, but it may not have the men — or the munitions — to win the war, France’s former Air Force chief of staff, retired General Jean-Palomeros says. “I’m not sure that the Ukrainians have the human potential in the long term to sustain this war,” Palomeros told AAPA journalists Wednesday (March 14) at a press conference hosted by Bloomberg. It was not a prediction, added…
French health minister François Braun: many health care systems are faltering
French health minister François Braun: many health care systems are faltering Public health care systems are faltering in many parts of the world, especially since the outbreak of the Covid-19, Health and Prevention Minister François Braun told the AAPA on February 21. Meeting more than 20 members—some at the ministry and others on Zoom—he said the problems varied from country to country, but…
The rise of the far-right in France is no accident
Just 10 days before the first round of the presidential election, the AAPA met Dominique Reynié, founder of the think tank Fondapol, on April Fools’ Day. Summarizing recent political history in France, Reynié dismissed the widely vaunted idea that each improved election performance by the far-right was an “accident”. On the contrary, “something was happening.” In its disappointment with the…
Russia invades Ukraine: now what?
On Feb 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, we held an on-the-record discussion, Russia-Ukraine-Europe: What Now?, via Zoom with two experts: Prof Marie Mendras, Russian specialist from Sciences Po, Paris and Prof Emeritus Douglas Webber, Political scientist & Europe specialist from INSEAD. Prof Mendras opined that Russian President Vladimir Putin's shocking and unanticipated move into Ukraine…
US Congressmen discuss Ukraine and US-France relations
More than a dozen AAPA members got to sit down with the two leaders of a US Congressional delegation to France on April 19th at the US ambassador’s residence. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), who is on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI-01), who is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told us their eight-member delegation had a busy two days in…
Russian Sanctions: Economic Weapons
The unprecedented barrage of coordinated economic sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine is already having an impact on Russian quality of life and could ultimately undermine President Vladimir Putin politically, according to Sciences Po economics professor Sergei Guriev. He spoke to the AAPA via Zoom on March 24, 2022. A former financial "insider" in Moscow, Guriev was…