This year's seminars on Arab political culture feature encounters with diplomats as players on the Middle East political scene.
This cycle on diplomatic action begins with Leïla Shahid, Delegate General of the Palestinian Authority in France from 1994 to November 2005, then Ambassador of Palestine to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg from 2005 to 2015. The second guest in this cycle is Nassif Hitti, Arab League Ambassador to France and Permanent Observer to Unesco between 2000 and 2013. On the French side, I welcome Yves Aubin de la Messuzière, diplomat and former French ambassador who has held several posts in the region: Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. He was Director of the North Africa and Middle East Department (ANMO) at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2002. Continuing the exploration of French diplomatic action in the region, Jean-Marc de la Sablière, French Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt from 1996 to 2000, is the fourth guest of the cycle. Jean-Marc de La Sablière was diplomatic adviser to French President Jacques Chirac from 2000 to 2002, when he was appointed Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations until 2007.
The final guest in this cycle is Hicham Alaoui, member of the Moroccan royal family and grandson of Muhammad V. This final session is devoted to democratization and secularization in the Middle East.
Each of these varied presentations gives rise to exchanges with the speakers, focusing on the diplomatic experiences presented or on the most immediate current events. The seminar - and the fact that it has been held in the Marguerite de Navarre amphitheatre since 2016 bears witness to this - thus confirms its roots as a meeting place and place of excellence on the Arab world.