Gerald Knaus and his approach to migration
Gerald Knaus, founder and director of the European Security Initiative, was the AAPA's guest on a June 17 Zoom call. Knaus, who's taught at Harvard and is the author of several books, is an authoritative source on intervention in international conflicts, ethnic cleansing and, especially, immigration, which was the focus of our conversation. He advocates an approach that would reduce migration…
The Shape of European Security, Minus the U.S.
Jean-Pierre Maulny, the deputy director of the Institut des Relations Internationales et Stratégiques, a think tank, pointed up June 11 to the AAPA the need for European allies to replace key U.S. military capabilities - known as “enablers" - as Washington withdraws from the European theatre. Europe has a problem with "enablers,” he said, referring to the lack of European-built space…
Arancha Gonzalez on tariff turmoil
AAPA members met in person and on Zoom April 16 with Arancha Gonzalez, the former Spanish foreign minister who is now Dean of Sciences Po's Paris School of International Affairs. It was a timely session, and a sobering one, given the tariff turmoil that has upended transatlantic and global relations this month. Dean Gonzalez, who has also held senior positions at the United Nations and the…
Journalism Under Attack: Can We Survive?
April 4, 2025 “We are very concerned about the future of the trade… the mission of informing people, providing reliable information.” The director general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Thibaut Bruttin, sounded the alarm during a breakfast meeting with 14 members of the AAPA. The conversation covered a broad range of concerns to journalists. US President Donald Trump, of…
AAPA meets two diplomatic advisors
We were scheduled to meet with Emmanuel Bonne, President Macron’s diplomatic advisor, but he was called away at the last minute, as he often is. Instead, we got deep background briefings from two of his expert collaborators, Anne Claire Legendre, MENA advisor, and Bertrand Buchwalter, advisor on continental Europe, Ukraine and Russia. They spoke in turn, each giving a succinct presentation…
Restored Notre Dame: Traditional Function, Modern Decor
Some 40 members of the AAPA participated in an early morning guided tour of the restored Notre Dame cathedral on March 4, with Père Maxime Deurbergue and Père Guillaume Normand, vice-rector of the cathedral.
The…
Dominique de Villepin on Trump, Sanctions, Tariffs, Ukraine, Gaza and More...
The former MInister of France did not mince words. "We say 'no' to Donald Trump's views on Gaza and Ukraine, 'no' to his arrogant and destructive policies. The world doesn't need more shock than we have already." Dominique De Villepin spoke to a roomful of AAPA members gathered in the Bloomberg auditorium on February 14, 22 years to the day of his impassioned speech at the UN General Assembly…
Reclaiming Their Homes: Antisemitism in Post-War Paris
On February 7, Sarah Gensburger, coauthor of the new book Appartements témoins : La spoliation des locataires juifs à Paris, 1940-1946, talked us through its account of how ordinary Parisians and the French authorities collaborated in the dispossession of Jewish tenants – including after the war, when many Jews returned to Paris and tried to reclaim their homes, only to find they had been…
Immigration: Truth, Lies and Consequences
Immigration lawyer Charly Salkazanov spoke with a dozen of us via Zoom on January 21, 2025, about France's immigration and asylum processes-- a hot topic in today's global political landscape. France does not have sufficient staff to handle the volume of applications by those seeking to enter the country legally or who want to appeal an order to leave French territory. Lacking a mediation…
German Marshall Fund Re-cap of 2024
Dr Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, acting President of the German Marshall Fund, met with 12 members of the AAPA via Zoom from her headquarters in Brussels to share her observations on key events of 2024. The re-election of Donald Trump is a confirmation of a deep trend that has been shaping US domestic and foreign policy over the past 15-20 years, she said. Having recently visited 10 US states,…