Hubert Vedrine – Keynote Speaker

Hubert Védrine served as the Diplomatic adviser of President Mitterrand, and as secretary-general of the presidency from 1991-1995, then as Foreign Minister in the government of Lionel Jospin from 1997-2002.

After the reelection of Jacques Chirac in May 2002, Védrine was replaced by Dominique de Villepin. All three men were characterised by their strong opposition to unilateral action by the United States in Iraq. Védrine popularised the neologism hyper-power to describe what he saw as the historically unparalleled influence and might held by the United States at the turn of the century.

Hubert Védrine is a member of UN’ Alliance of Civilizations initiative. He was awarded Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland