View from Paris: Clarity, but little boldness
France tows the German line on refugees, but with elections looming seeks to balance openness and firmness
Experts & Staff
Manuel Lafont Rapnouil
ECFR Alumni · Head, ECFR Paris
Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Security crisis management; multilateralism and the United Nations; European foreign policy; transatlantic relations; human rights; international law and justice; Middle East and North Africa; French foreign policy
Languages
French, English, Spanish
Biography
Manuel Lafont Rapnouil was a senior policy fellow and head of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations until June 2019. His topics of focus include defence and security affairs, French foreign policy, the UN, and the Middle East and North Africa.
From 2011 to 2015 Lafont Rapnouil headed the Political Affairs Division of the Department for UN affairs at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development; in this capacity, he was responsible for French foreign policy at the United Nations Security Council, including peacekeeping and sanctions. Prior to that, he held various postings within the French diplomatic service, including in Washington and at the Policy Planning Staff (Centre d’Analyse, de Prévision et de Stratégie). Lafont Rapnouil was also a rapporteur for both French White papers on Defence and National Security and on Foreign and European Policy (2008). From 2008 to 2010, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Europe Programme of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank.
In the media
The Washington Post refers to Meeting the challenge of secondary sanctions study by ECFR
Manuel Lafont Rapnouil is quoted by L'Obs about the election of chinese candidate at the head of the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) of the United Nations.
Manuel Lafont Rapnouil quoted by Capital about the candidates for the leadership of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of th UN
Manuel Lafont Rapnouil quoted by Capital about the chinese candidate for the leadership of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of th UN
Manuel Lafont Rapnouil is quoted in “La Tribune” about the 3 candidates who run for the Food and Agiculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations