Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, born in 1953 in Paris, has been the Secretary General of the French Ministry of Foreign affairs between 2017 and 2019. He joined the diplomatic service in 1978. After being the French Ambassador to Tokyo (1990-2002), he was from 2002 to 2007, senior diplomatic councellor to the French President Jacques Chirac and Sherpa for the G7/G8 as well in charge of the strategic dialogues with India and China. Then he went on to be the French Ambassador in London (2007-11), Berlin (2011-14) and Beijing (2014-17).

He is a graduate of Institut d’Etudes politiques de Paris and Institute of Oriental languages and civilizations (INALCO) as well as Paris-Assas where he completed his MA in Law. His recent book published in 2022 “Les autres ne pensent pas comme nous” (Others Don’t Think As We Do) is a masterly analysis of 40 years of international relations and their ongoing relevance to the world of today.

KEY TAKE-AWAY

  • The ‘old’ world order doesn’t function anymore. The incumbent big players no longer abide by the same rules, while a cast of new actors is emerging and demanding a voice.

  • The current so call ‘rule-based order’ lacks fairness and legitimacy. A diplomatic pathway to a new global order will require the West to be less vocal and humbler. The era of dictating conditions and a western monopoly on values is over.

  • The pandemic sounded the death knell of ‘happy globalization’.  With it came the realization that interdependence equated to dependence.

  • The Western view of the global landscape is fast losing ground.  As an example, only the West regard Hamas as a terrorist organization. For the rest, it is seen as a liberation movement.

  • China is the major beneficiary of these shifts and resulting fragmentation.  With a view to challenging the global power of the US and US$, the Chinese are bent on forging new economic and political alliances.

  • The war in Ukraine: with support from both the US and EU under ever greater domestic scrutiny, China’s stance vis-à-vis Russia is increasingly key in the outcome of the conflict.

  • Despite being prosecuted by the International penal court, Russia is not internationally isolated, and has succeeded in by-passing Western sanctions.