The ''Cercle de l'Oratoire'' ( French for "Circle of the Oratory") is a French

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

created a short time after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Since 2006, it edits a journal, ''Le Meilleur des mondes''. The Circle is led by the journalist Michel Taubmann, who is also in charge of the news at

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

-Paris, and of his wife Florence, a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at the Temple de l'oratoire du Louvre and vice-president of the ''Amitié judéo-chrétienne'' group (Judeo-Christian Friendship). Many of its members (

André Glucksmann André Glucksmann (; 19 June 1937 – 10 November 2015) was a French philosopher, activist and writer. He was a leading figure of the new philosophers. Glucksmann began his career as a Marxist, but went on to reject communism in the popular bo ...

Pascal Bruckner Pascal Bruckner (; born 15 December 1948, in Paris) is a French writer, one of the "New Philosophers" who came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Much of his work has been devoted to critiques of French society and culture. Biography Bruckner ...

Romain Goupil Romain-Pierre Charpentier (born July 12, 1951, in Paris) known professionally as Romain Goupil, is a French filmmaker. He was a college leader during the May 1968 civil unrest in France and was for a long time a trotskyist militant. During the 20 ...

, etc.) and the ''Meilleur des mondes'' journal supported the

US invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, a minority viewpoint in France.

''Le Meilleur des mondes''

The journal ''Le Meilleur des mondes'' is published by the éditions Denoël and headed by Michel Taubmann. It launched a first

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...

in favor of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

's intervention in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Two years later, it published another petition in ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

'' supporting the

. This journal has been described by some in the French media as the "Voice of America" or as a gathering point of French

neoconservatives Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and cou ...

(''néo-conservateurs à la française''). The journal, however, rejects these labels, describing itself as "anti-

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

". It considers radical Islam as a "real danger", and claims that "there has never been so much anti-Jewish propaganda."Interview of Michel Taubmann by Anne-Juliette Brugière for the websit
Massorti.com
15 October 2006

Composition

*Several

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

s such as

and

*Film makers such as

, Jacques Tarnero and Raphaël Glucksmann *Historians such as

Stéphane Courtois Stéphane Courtois (born 25 November 1947) is a French historian and university professor, a director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), professor at the Catholic Institute of Higher Studies (ICES) in La Ro ...

, Max Lagarrigue and Ilios Yannakakis. * Mohammed Abdi, secretary general of the NGO '' Ni Putes Ni Soumises'' * Jacky Mamou, former President of Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World), *

Pierre-André Taguieff Pierre-André Taguieff (born 4 August 1946) is a French philosopher who has specialised in the study of racism and antisemitism. He is the director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in an Institut d'Etudes Politique ...

, research director at the CNRS * Thérèse Delpech, director of strategic affairs at the ''

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission or CEA (French: Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives), is a French public government-funded research organisation in the areas of energy, defense and securit ...

'' (CEA) and researcher at the CERI Institute * Bruno Tertrais, former director of the civil affairs commission at the NATO Assembly and also a CERI researcher * Frédéric Encel, a geopolitist specialist of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

* Antonio Elorza, a political sciences professor at the University of Madrid *Writers Olivier Rolin and Marc Weitzmann *Journalists Cécilia Gabizon, specialist of Islam issues at the '' Figaro'' newspaper, Elisabeth Schemla, founder of the website proche-orient.info, Antoine Vitkine, journalist at

Arte TV Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

, Jean-Luc Mouton, director of the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

weekly ''Réforme'', Violaine de Marsangy, a freelance journalist and former responsible of logistics for the NGO '' Action contre la faim'' in North Korea and Indonesia, Claire Brière-Blanchet *Lawyer Michel Laval.

References

External links

''Le Meilleur des Mondes''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cercle De L'oratoire 2001 establishments in France Think tanks established in 2001 Conservatism in France Neoconservatism Political and economic think tanks based in France Think tanks based in France