On November 2013, Thierry de Montbrial (Center of the picture), president of the French Institute of International Relations in Montreal, was keynote speaker at two conferences organised by the UQAM University and the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations. He completed his roadshow in Canada with an exclusive breakfast discussion on BNP Paribas’ premises.
Before 30 representatives of embassies, consulates and companies, Thierry de Montbrial answered various questions related to the recent free trade agreement between Europe and Canada, business intelligence or the rise of China in the international system .
This event was organized in cooperation with the “Leaders for the Next Economy”, which brings together young professional executives engaged in building the economic future of Quebec and Canada on the international scene to discuss on the latest trends in finance, natural resources, sustainable development and international trade.
About Thierry de Montbrial
Thierry de Montbrial is President of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), which he founded in 1979. He is Professor Emeritus at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. In 2008, he launched the World Policy Conference. He has been a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques of the Institut de France since 1992, and is a member of a number of foreign Academies including the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He serves on the board or advisory board of a number of international companies and institutions.
Thierry de Montbrial chaired the Department of Economics at the Ecole Polytechnique from 1974 to 1992. He was the first Chairman of the Foundation for Strategic Research (1993-2001). Entrusted with the creation of the Policy Planning Staff (Centre d’Analyse et de Prévision) at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was its first director (1973-1979).
He has authored seventeen books, several of them translated in various languages, including Action and Reaction in the World System – The Dynamics of Economic and Political Power (UBC Press, Vancouver, Toronto, 2013)
He is a Commandeur of the Légion d’honneur, Grand Officier of the ordre national du Mérite and has been awarded other state honors by the French and several foreign governments.
Thierry de Montbrial is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Mines, and received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.