Experts & Staff

Agathe Demarais

Senior Policy Fellow

Areas of expertise

Geoeconomics; De-risking; Sanctions; Global economy; Russian economy

Languages

French, English, Russian, Arabic (Levantine dialect/classical), Spanish

Biography

Agathe Demarais is a senior policy fellow for geoeconomics at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her areas of interest include the global economy, geopolitics, and sanctions. She is based in London, with frequent trips to Paris.

Before joining ECFR, Demarais was the global forecasting director of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research arm of The Economist. She led the EIU’s global economic and geopolitical analysis, with a particular focus on trade developments, emerging markets, and economic statecraft.

Demarais is the author of “Backfire”, a book on the global ripple effects of sanctions and export controls. The book draws on her experience as an economic policy advisor for the diplomatic corps of the French Treasury in Russia and Lebanon. She also previously worked in investment banking in Russia and the United States.

She is a regular columnist for Foreign Policy and a frequent commentator for the media. Her essays have appeared in The Economist, The Times, Foreign Affairs, Politico, Le Grand Continent, the Journal of Democracy, and World Politics Review.

Demarais holds master’s degrees from Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University, where she was a Fulbright scholar. She is a younger generation leader of the European Leadership Network, a participant in the Franco-British Young Leaders programme, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network.

The bigger picture: The case for an EU-Mercosur free trade deal

Deepening ties with Mercosur countries makes perfect sense as part of the EU’s de-risking efforts to diversify economic ties away from China. Further delays in signing a free trade deal would push Latin America closer to China’s orbit – for good

What the EU list of critical technologies tells us about its de-risking plans

The recently unveiled EU list of critical technologies highlights the difficulties of de-risking for the bloc. To avoid seeing the process stall, the EU must get the private sector on board, admit that European tech supply chains are still distant, and acknowledge that de-risking is all about China

Articles

The bigger picture: The case for an EU-Mercosur free trade deal

Deepening ties with Mercosur countries makes perfect sense as part of the EU’s de-risking efforts to diversify economic ties away from China. Further delays in signing a free trade deal would push Latin America closer to China’s orbit – for good

What the EU list of critical technologies tells us about its de-risking plans

The recently unveiled EU list of critical technologies highlights the difficulties of de-risking for the bloc. To avoid seeing the process stall, the EU must get the private sector on board, admit that European tech supply chains are still distant, and acknowledge that de-risking is all about China

Podcasts

In the media