France in Flux
The rise of Macron has transformed the French political landscape – but its final shape is still emerging
ECFR Alumni · Head, ECFR Paris
Senior Policy Fellow
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
French, English, Spanish
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.
The rise of Macron has transformed the French political landscape – but its final shape is still emerging
Nouveau podcast de notre série sur l'élection présidentielle de 2017 ayant pour objectif de traiter les thèmes d'actualité et de contribuer au débat…
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard talks with the director of ECFR's Paris office, Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, and ECFR's Research Director, Jeremy Shapiro, about the consequences of…
Can the EU-Turkey relationship be salvaged? Key EU capitals give their views
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard talks with the director of ECFR's offices in Paris, Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, and Berlin, Almut Möller, about President Macron’s newly appointed…
This week, rather than putting out our ordinary podcast, we're leaving the floor to Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, head of ECFR Paris, who's hosting a discussion…
Nouveau podcast de notre série sur l'élection présidentielle de 2017 ayant pour objectif de traiter les thèmes d'actualité et de contribuer au débat…
Macron’s inexperience means he needs to reassure the electorate that he can manage the national security state
All major candidates see the international situation through the lens of Europe
Nouveau podcast de notre série sur les présidentielles de 2017 ayant pour objectif de traiter les thèmes d'actualité et de contribuer au débat…
The EU and its member states should strengthen their sanctions policy and begin to build up their deterrence and resilience against secondary sanctions
France sees the MENA region as a state for foreign policy and great power politics and an opportunity to shape global politics and punch above its weight
The context Now is not the moment for either the European Union or the United Kingdom to risk allowing the political tensions around Brexit to…
China is taking on a new military role in Africa, seeking to boost its image as a great power that promotes peace and security worldwide
“Information manipulation” or just plain “fake news”? How France is grappling with a very modern threat
Only if Europeans resume a serious debate about their responsibilities for their own security
We asked our national offices to outline how the E3, in cooperation with other EU partners, should respond to the JCPOA pull-out by the US
We asked our national offices to outline their governments’ greatest hope and greatest fear for foreign and European policy in 2018.
Sanctions are not a strategy by themselves, but a tool to be adapted to circumstances
The rise of Macron has transformed the French political landscape – but its final shape is still emerging
Can the EU-Turkey relationship be salvaged? Key EU capitals give their views
Macron’s inexperience means he needs to reassure the electorate that he can manage the national security state
All major candidates see the international situation through the lens of Europe
So far, this French electoral cycle is something in between a roller coaster and a demolition game. The French political system is accustomed to crushing incumbents, but this time the destruction has been more inclusive
Europeans remain unwilling to renew their thinking on nuclear deterrence, despite growing strategic instability. Their stated goal of “strategic autonomy” will remain an empty phrase until they engage seriously on this matter
Edited by Ulrike Esther Franke, Manuel Lafont Rapnouil & Susi Dennison
Podcast de notre BCM du 14 juin « Accès humanitaire et risques sécuritaires au Sahel » en présence de Lucile Grosjean, chargée de…
Podcast de notre discussion du 28 mars « Le retour des combattants terroristes étrangers dans l’Union Européenne » en présence de Marc Hecker,…
Mark Leonard speaks with Simon Kuper, Tara Varma and Manuel Lafont Rapnouil about the Yellow Vest Movement, and whetherit’s only a French phenomenon. The podcast…
Podcast de notre discussion du 5 mars « Défense européenne : le couple franco-allemand au pied du mur » en présence d'Ulrike Esther…
Podcast de notre BCM du 29 janvier « Les élections européennes vues d'Allemagne » en présence d'Almut Möller, directrice du bureau de l'ECFR…
Anthony Dworkin steps in for Mark Leonard and speaks with Almut Möller, Manuel Lafont Rapnouil and Tom Nuttall about how significant the new treaty of friendship…
Podcast de notre BCM du 19 octobre : « Les Européens peuvent-ils rester solidaires face à Donald Trump ? » avec Célia Belin, chercheuse invitée…
Syrie : Quel rôle pour l'Europe ? Discussion avec Julien Barnes-Dacey, directeur du programme MENA de l'ECFR et Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, directeur du bureau de…
Mark Leonard speaks with Erica Moret and Manuel Lafont Rapnouil about European sanctions policies, secondary sanctions and counter measures. The podcast was recorded on the…
Jeremy Shapiro covers for Mark Leonard and speaks with Ulrike Franke, Manuel Lafont Rapnouil and Piotr Buras, about what this means and what the Trump-Putin…