Hubert Védrine (; born 31 July 1947) is a French
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
politician. He is an advisor at
Moelis & Company.
Early life and career
Following a history degree and graduating from both
Sciences Po
, motto_lang = fr
, mottoeng = Roots of the Future
, type = Public research university'' Grande école''
, established =
, founder = Émile Boutmy
, accreditation ...
and
ENA, Védrine had toyed with the idea of entering journalism but, on the advice of the historian and family friend
Jean Lacouture, instead took a post at the culture ministry.
Védrine was one of the longest-serving aides to a French President and worked closely with President
François Mitterrand
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
from 1981 to 1995. Védrine served first as Mitterrand's diplomatic advisor (the French equivalent of the
National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils.
National sec ...
) from 1981 to 1988, then as Mitterrand's spokesperson from 1988 to 1991, and finally as Secretary-General of the French presidency (the equivalent of the
White House Chief of Staff) from 1991 to 1995.
Védrine then served as
Foreign Minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
of France from 1997 to 2002 in the government of
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.
Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...
.
After the re-election of
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a Politics of France, French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to ...
in May 2002, Védrine was replaced by
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac.
In his career working at the Ministry ...
. All three men were characterised by their strong opposition to unilateral action by the United States in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
.
Védrine popularized the neologism
hyperpower to describe what he saw as the historically-unparalleled influence and might that were held by the United States at the turn of the century.
Later career
In 2003, Védrine founded Hubert Vedrine Conseil, a consulting firm.
In 2005, he was appointed by
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a member of the High Council for the
Alliance of Civilizations, an initiative that seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through intercultural and interreligious dialogue and cooperation.
He took part in 2007 on the committee preparing the Paris Conference on the Environment to lay the foundations for a future United Nations Environment Organization.
Védrine is the author of more than 19 books, two of them having been translated in English by
Philipp Gordon: ''France in an age of globalization'', co-authored with
Dominique Moisi (publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 2001) and ''History strikes back : how states, nations, and conflicts are shaping the twenty-first century'' (publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 2008), co-authored with Adrien Abecassis and Mohamed Bouabdallah.
Around the
2017 elections, news media reported that later
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
sought regularly the advice of Védrine on foreign policy issues. In 2020, he was appointed by
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...
to join a group of experts to support his work in a reflection process to further strengthen NATO's political dimension.
Other activities
Corporate boards
*
Amundi, Chairman of the Global Advisory Board (since 2016)
*
Moelis & Company, Member of the Global Advisory Board (since 2011)
*
Richard Attias
Richard Attias (born 19 November 1959) is a Moroccan events producer, founder and former chairman of PublicisLive and currently the executive chairman of Richard Attias and Associates. He is also the founder of The New York Forum and the co-foun ...
and Associates, Member of the International Advisory Board
*
LVMH
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...
, Independent Member of the Board of Directors (since 2009)
*
Ipsos, Independent Member of the Board of Directors (2009–2015)
Non-profit organizations
*
Rencontres d'Arles, Chairman of the Board of Directors
*
Alliance of Civilizations, Member
* France China Foundation, Member of the Strategic Committee
*
Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Member of the Strategic Committee
* Senior Network Member at the
European Leadership Network
European Leadership Network (ELN) is a pan-European think-tank focusing on European foreign, defence and security issues based in London, United Kingdom. The ELN's Director is Sir Adam Thomson, former UK Permanent Representative to NATO.
Histo ...
(ELN)
Political positions
In February 2020, Védrine joined around fifty former European prime ministers and foreign ministers in signing an open letter published by British newspaper ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' to condemn
U.S. President 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 P ...
's
Middle East peace plan, saying it would create an
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
-like situation in occupied Palestinian territory.
Grave concern about US plan to resolve Israel-Palestine conflict
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', 27 February 2020.
Recognition
References
External links
Hubert Védrine official website
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vedrine, Hubert
1947 births
Living people
People from Creuse
Socialist Party (France) politicians
French Foreign Ministers
Directors of LVMH
Sciences Po alumni
École nationale d'administration alumni
Sciences Po faculty