My biography, my books and my papers

Nicolas was born in Paris, February 25th 1961, where he lives. He got married on 1999 and is the father of one boy.

Studies:

            — 1980-1982: École normale supérieure de la rue d’Ulm (literary section, History).

            — 1982: Graduated magna cum laude from Institut d’études politiques of Paris.

            — 1982: Master in history (University of Paris X).

            — 1984-1986: École nationale d’administration (E.N.A.).

Nicolas has a twofold carrier: the first one as a senior civil servant, the second one as an academic, and public intellectual.

Public/Civil service:

—   1986-1987: Head of division, Caisse des dépôts et consignations (public bank), Department of Social Affairs

—   1987-1988: Adviser, Cabinet office of the Minister of Economy and Finance.

—   1988-1990: Caisse des dépôts et Consignations, Deputy Head, Department of Economic Analysis

—   1991-1994: Investigator in the Cour des comptes (Court of the Auditors).

—  February 1994 - March 2002: Head of Department of Evaluation and State Modernisation, Strategic Planning General Commission (Prime Minister’s Office).

—   April 2002 - March 2003: Senior Adviser to Strategic Planning Commissioner.

—   April 2003 – October 2006: Caisse des dépôts et Consignations, Administrator. At the same time, senior advisor to the French Government for Public Reform.

—   November 2006 – September 2008: Head of a special mission on the development and improvement of French international technical expertise on the programs funded by international organizations and  bilateral programs, and on French priorities in cooperation and development policies (reporting to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, the Minister of Economy and Industry, and the Minister of the Budget and Civil Service).

—   October 2006 – September 2013: Several missions (nation’s building and State reform) for the European Union in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria and for the Interamerican Development Bank in Haiti.

— March 2009 – January 2015: Founder, Chairman and CEO, Initiative for the Development of French Expertise in Europe and Worldwide (IDEFIE).

— March 2014. Mission in Jordan.

— From January 10th 2015 to December 4th 2023 (dissolution of the NGO): Honorary Chairman, IDEFIE.

— February 2018, February 2019 and February 2020: Training missions in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

— February 2018: Mission for the French government in Indonesia.

— May and July 2018: Missions for the EU in Egypt.

— June 2018: Mission for the French government in North-Macedonia.

Official reports:

-   Fonctions publiques: enjeux et stratégie pour le renouvellement (The New Challenges for the Public Service: How to Address Them? (with Bernard Cieutat), La Documentation française, March 2000. 

-    Organiser la politique européenne et internationale de la France (A New Organization for European and International Policies in France) (with Admiral Jacques Lanxade), La Documentation française, December 2002.

-   L’expertise internationale au cœur de la diplomatie et de la coopération au XXIe siècle. Instruments pour une stratégie française de puissance et d’influence (International Expertise: The New Heart of Diplomacy and Development Policy in the 21st Century : Tools for a French Strategy of Influence), May 2008.

Academic offices:

— From 1986 to 2000 and 2003-2004: Senior Lecturer at the Institut d’Études politiques of Paris (political philosophy and public affairs).

— From 2014 to now: Guest Professor at Sciences-Po (Paris School of International Affairs) (Science of Government).

— From October to December 2023 and from November to Decembre 2024: Guest Professor at Institut catholique de Paris (Institut des Savoirs partagés).

— Past academic offices (since 1995): Senior Lecturer at the Ecole nationale d’Administration, now Institut National du Service public (Science of government and constitutional law) , Institut Catholique de Paris (International Affairs) and other French universities and institutes. Visiting or guest professor at foreign universities (Belgrade, St-Petersburg, Canadian universities, College of Europe (Natolin, Poland), KDI School of Political Sciences in Seoul, Philippines, US Universites -Johns Hopkins University, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Boston University, Columbia University, University of South Carolina and guest speaker at think tanks (German Marshall Fund, Brookings Institution, Hudson Institute, McCain Institute, International Republican Institute).

—   Member of the editorial board of the journal Pouvoirs locaux.

— From 2008 to 2018, Research Associate at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Raoul-Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies.

Thinks tanks:

—  Since 1986, Chairman of Centre d'étude et de réflexion pour l'Action politique (CERAP), an independent and no-partisan think tank dedicated to the promotion of human rights, liberal values, freedom and rule of law. The think tank is not currently active.

—  From 1992 to 2015, Publisher and Chairman of the Editorial Board of the journal Le Banquet, owned by CERAP.

— Member of the Board (December 2010 - October 2015) of the Institute Aspen France, CFO (Décember 2013 - June 2015), Executive President (March 4th 2015 - October 13th 2015).

— Keynote speaker or panellist in many national and international seminars on reform of public administration, management skills and international and European issues, such as Krynica Forum, Bucharest Forum, Europe-Ukraine Forum, Kyiv Security Forum, Georgia Defence and Security Conference, Strategikon (Romania), Warsaw Security Forum, Halifax Security Forum, Herzliya Conference, Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, Forum 2000 (Czech Republic), Tbilisi International Conference, Snow Meeting (Lithuania), Globsec (Slovakia), Lennart Meri Conference (Estonia), Rondeli Security Conference (Georgia), and 2016 Global Public HRD Conference (National Human Resources Development Institute, South Korea).

— From January 2021 to March 8, 2023, Chairman of A l'Est de Brest-Litovsk (AEBL), an NGO dedicated to offer insights and analyses on Russia and its neighborhoods, and to fight against manipulations of information by the regime.

— From May 2021 to March 8, 2023, Director of Desk Russie, a newsletter and website dedicated to the information on Russia and related issues, held and managed by AEBL.

— June 13, 2021, he launched his strategy blog "Tenzer Strategics" dealing with international and security issues and political risk analysis. It provides its subscribers with first-hand insights one time a week on an average.

— Since January 20, 2022, he is non-resident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).