Institut français des relations internationales

Institut français des relations internationales ; - Ifri -
founding	1979
place	Paris
country	France
Directeur	Thomas Gomart
Website	www.ifri.org

The Institut français des relations internationales ( Ifri ; German- French Institute for International Relations ) is the largest French independent discussion and research center for foreign policy and international issues.

In 2011, Ifri was named the only French research institute in the top fifty most influential think tanks in the world (excluding the US) for the fourth consecutive year , and the third in Europe according to the latest Global Go-To Think Tanks study University of Pennsylvania , which employs 6,480 institutes located in 169 countries.

Overview

Ifri, the first French think-tank, is based on the Anglo-Saxon think-tank model and has been a permanent feature since it was founded by Thierry de Montbrial in 1979. Ifri is an integral part of the network of the largest international think tanks and aims to bring together actors and analysts from the international scene and reflect thoroughly and openly on today's issues.

This is how Ifri strives:

to develop public policy research at the international level;
Promote communication and constructive collaboration between researchers, practitioners and opinion leaders.

Ifri is independent of state control and is not affiliated with any political party. Ifri attaches great importance to its political and intellectual independence, which is why it chooses to diversify its sources of public and private funding. With a budget of 6.5 million euros and approximately 70% from private sources, Ifri was able to remain true to its independence and mission despite the limits of the global economic crisis.

The institute has about sixty people, including thirty French and foreign researchers. Over half of these are made up of people under forty. The research centers are organized geographically (Europe, Russia, New Independent States , Asia, Middle East, Africa, USA) and thematically (security and strategic issues, energy, space, international economy, health and environmental issues).

In addition to his research projects, Ifri annually gathers world-renowned speakers who impart great and valuable keys to understanding international issues in an informal and impartial manner. The Institute organizes around forty conferences a year in Paris (forty-two in 2011). Ifri receives over 10,000 participants to its events every year.

Among the guests in recent years are Nicolas Sarkozy , Dmitri Medvedev , Hu Jintao , Jalal Talabani , Hamid Karzai , Vladimir Putin , Micheil Saakashvili , Abdoulaye Wade , Václav Klaus , Pervez Musharraf , Abdullah Gül , Boris Tadić , Viktor Yanukovych , Paul Kagame , Herman Van Rompuy , José Manuel Barroso , Anders Fogh Rasmussen etc.

history

In 1973, Thierry de Montbrial was commissioned by French Foreign Minister Michel Jobert to set up the Center d'analysis et de prévision (abbreviated “CAP”, forecast and analysis center) on the Quai d'Orsay to promote the analysis of international relations . This experience reinforced his desire to develop an independent research center for this purpose. Ifri was founded in 1979 by Thierry de Montbrial with the help of then Prime Minister Raymond Barre and Foreign Ministers Louis de Guiringaud and Jean François-Poncet . Marc Gilbert, ex-producer for the former French public broadcaster ORTF , has been appointed Secretary General. The Ifris structure is based on the model of the Center d'études de politique étrangère (abbreviated to “CEPE”, foreign policy study center), which was founded in 1935 by French universities and the Carnegie Foundation for World Peace.

Today Ifri has around 80 partner companies and around 400 members (private and institute customers). Ifri is now also based in Brussels through its “Ifri Brussels” office, which was established in March 2005 .

Partnerships and charisma abroad

Ifri works in partnership with its international homologues: the RAND Corporation , the Brookings Institution , the Council on foreign relations, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Carnegie Foundation for World Peace, the Japan Institute for international affairs (JIIA), the Institut d'Etat, the Moscow State Institute for International Relations ( MGIMO ), the French-Korean Foundation, the German Society for Foreign Policy ( DGAP ), etc.

Ifri aims to be the main French institute in Europe. The European dimension is at the center of every activity of the institute. Ifri is represented in Brussels by the “Ifri Brussels” office established in March 2005, which is an active interface between Paris and Brussels. Its mission is to enrich the European debate through a multi-themed approach to each dimension of international relations.

Ifri Brussels organizes around thirty events each year and in 2011 it dealt with the following topics: global economic policy; European neighborhood policy; the first steps of the European External Action Service; NATO, Russia and Afghanistan; non-literate persons in Europe; European energy and environmental policy; Space security in Europe; security in the Sahel.

tasks

The policy-oriented research of Ifri has the task of clarifying the main international events and keeping them in perspective. It targets first of all political and economic leaders, the academic environment, opinion leaders and also representatives of civil society .

To carry out this project, the tasks will be divided into three research centers, geographical (Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East and Maghreb, contemporary Turkey, USA, Russia and New Independent States, Franco-German relations, etc.) or thematic ( globalization and global economy, security and strategic issues, migration flows and identity issues, geopolitics of energy , climate , etc.). Each center publishes its electronic publications on the Ifri website.

Today Ifri brings together around thirty permanent French and foreign researchers, divided into 15 research units dedicated to geographical or thematic questions.

Publications

Ifri's two main publishing activities are the quarterly specialist publication Politique étrangère and the collective once-a-year work Ramsès. Since 1981 the Ramsès annual report (print run: around 10,000 copies) has been devoted to major global trends. Politique étrangère , which was founded in 1936 and offers a thematic presentation of international news, is the oldest magazine in this field in France . A special edition was published in 2006 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the magazine.

In addition to these two references, Ifri offers shorter or more specialized publications, including Les Notes de l'Ifri and Les Etudes de l'Ifri, the short-format publication Actuelles de l'Ifri, as well as the electronic publication Ifris (around 10) and the research works . Ifri disseminates his analyzes in several languages. In 2011, 12 works, 4 of which were translated, and 130 digital sticky notes, 50% of which are foreign languages (English, German and Russian), were published.

financing

In 2011 the Ifris budget amounts to around 6.5 million euros.

Ifri is a non-profit association whose funding comes from various sources: government grants or contracts, private subsidies, support from private customers or companies. The list of members is online (section “Partenaires de l'Ifri”).