Carnets diplomatiques

14 Tunisian members of parliament, preparing the future

Karim Ben Cheikh - French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris, France - 19 February 2016

Karim Ben Cheikh is an expert at the Analysis, Planning and Strategy Centre (CAPS). From 13 to 19 September 2015, he accompanied a delegation of 14 Tunisian members of parliament visiting French institutions. He tells us of this marathon of a week, during which he also had a paper on “migrations” to finish! A look back on a visit that was also an opportunity for him to remember his childhood in Tunisia.

Helping Guineans save other Guineans

Florent Hivert - Conakry, République de Guinée - 19 February 2016

When I Arrived in the Republic of Guinea in August 2012 as a military cooperator, I thought I would be working in the framework of conventional missions organized by the Ministry’s Security and Defence Cooperation Directorate (DCSD). The shock of the Ebola crisis made me change my approach.

International corporate volunteering: export adventures

Catherine Chavrier - French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris, France - 19 February 2016

In my eyes, international corporate volunteering is a crucial step in a career in exports. This experience will be valued by future employers and will reassure the candidate of their ability to adapt to environments very different from French society.

Sufi music in Kabul as a tribute to the Paris victims

Jean-Michel Marlaud - Kabul, Afghanistan - 4 February 2016

The terrorist attacks of 13 November in Paris have triggered much emotion in Kabul. As early as the Saturday morning, numerous personalities contacted the Embassy to express their solidarity and a lengthy procession of visitors started, which would last around two weeks.

A story without words

Christophe Le Rigoleur - Thessaloniki, Greece - 18 September 2015

I cannot take my eyes off of something that so ironically sums up the human tragedy playing out in these places. It’s lying on the ground, motionless, abandoned, covered in mud. It’s a stuffed bear, like all those that are held tightly at night and played with by our children, and provide them comfort when they are upset. It was torn from the arms of its young protector and is lying amid debris in the mud of these last metres of Greek territory before reaching the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The Channel Tunnel: a model of tailor-made management

Pascale Andreani - Thessaloniki, Greece - 26 May 2015

Today, the Channel Tunnel has made London almost as close as Brussels. For this feat to be possible, a structure with a unique management model had to be created, in which the French Ministry played a key role.