Gérard Araud (born 20 February 1953) is a retired French diplomat who served as Ambassador of France to the United States from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Director General for Political and Security Affairs of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

(2006–2009) and France's

permanent representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation. Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...

to the

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

(2009–2014).

Early life and education

Gérard Araud was born in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

.Stephanie Green
Don’t Call Him the Gay Ambassador: Gérard Araud, France’s Head Envoy to the U.S., Wants to Bring Diplomacy into the 21st Century
, ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', November 6, 2014 He holds engineering degrees from the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

and

École nationale de la statistique et de l'administration économique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. Araud, who also graduated from the

Institut d'études politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

, is an alumnus of the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President of France, President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the Constitu ...

(class of 1982).

Career

Araud's first posting was at the embassy of France in Tel Aviv as First Secretary, from 1982 to 1984. He was then assigned to Paris, at the Analysis and Policy Planning Staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was responsible for Middle East issues. From 1987 to 1991 he was Counselor at the Embassy of France in Washington, where he was also responsible for Middle East issues. He was Assistant Director of European Community Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1993 and became Diplomatic Advisor to the French Minister of Defense

François Léotard François Gerard Marie Léotard (; born 26 March 1942, in Cannes) is a retired French politician. Singer and actor Philippe Léotard (1940–2001) was his brother. Member of the Republican Party, the liberal-conservative component of the ...

in 1993. Araud joined the French delegation to the

North Atlantic Council The North Atlantic Council (NAC) is the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), consisting of permanent representatives of its member countries. It was established by Article 9 of the North A ...

(NATO) in Brussels in 1995 as Deputy Permanent Representative. He became Director for Strategic Affairs, Security and Disarmament at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2000. He was Ambassador of France to Israel from 2003 to 2006. In September 2006, Araud was appointed Director General for Political Affairs and Security, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On July 15, 2009, he was appointed Permanent Representative of France to the Security Council and Head of the

Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations The Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations is the diplomatic mission of the French Republic to the United Nations in New York. As such, it reports to the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Location Since 1991, the offices of the ...

. He presented his credentials to

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

, on 10 September 10, 2009. He served as the

President of the Security Council The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is responsible for leading the United Nations Security Council. It rotates among the 15 member-states of the council monthly. The head of the country's delegation is known as the President of t ...

in February 2010, May 2011, August 2012, and December 2013. On July 23, 2014 Araud was appointed Ambassador of France to the United States by presidential decree. On the night of the election of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

as president, Araud tweeted: "It is the end of an era, the era of

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

. We don't yet know what will succeed it," followed by: "After

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

and this election anything is possible. A world is collapsing before our eyes. Vertigo." Reading this as an undiplomatic expression of dismay at the result, right-wing French political activists called for Araud's dismissal, which did not occur. On

Pearl Harbor Day National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, also referred to as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day, is observed annually in the United States on December 7, to remember and honor the 2,403 Americans who were killed in the Japanese surpri ...

in 2017, Araud lodged a

political insult Political insult refers to a statement from a politician about another one which contains disdainful purpose or notorious offense. They are not defined in any political protocol. Notable political insults * 1858, Abraham Lincoln, on Stephen Dougl ...

against the United States by issuing a tweet that said, "In this Pearl Harbor day, we should remember that the US refused to side with France and the UK to confront the fascist powers in the 30s." After the tweet was met with criticism, Araud deleted it and attempted to clarify his remarks. In July 2018, Araud sent a letter to

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

host,

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African-born comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and former television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news progra ...

. Noah made comments on his show regarding the multiethnicity of the

France national football team The France national football team (french: Équipe de France de football) represents France in men's international football matches. It is governed by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a ...

following their win in the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. Araud criticized Noah’s remarks and sent him a formal letter. Noah responded to the letter in between scenes of his show. His comments were also added to

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, where Araud declared an end to the argument. In 2019 when retiring from being the French ambassador to the United States, Araud gave an assessment of Trump and drew a comparison to French history. He described the Trump administration as having the polar opposite of the meticulous decision-making process of the Obama administration, resembling that of Louis XIV, an old ruler who was a "whimsical, unpredictable, uninformed" leader who nonetheless wanted to be making the decisions, and he noted that Trump's "unpredictability and his single-minded transactional interpretation of US interests was leaving the administration isolated on the world stage." He also provided some advice in an interview with Politico, "keep cool". Before leaving his post in Washington, Araud described the city as being full of provincial early-bird dinners, "sad" baggy suits, and awful jeans.

Other activities

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on global ...

(ICG), Board of Trustees (since 2019) * Araud currently serves as Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group.

Personal life

Araud is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

and supports

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. His long-time partner is photographer Pascal Blondeau.

References

External links