Business Strategy in a Fragmenting World: Firms, States, and Civil Society
Participer
Place and date: 2 June 2025, École Militaire, Paris 7th arrondissement
Access (Pre-registration is mandatory until May 27, 2025):
8:00-9:30: 17, place Joffre
After 9:30: 1, place Joffre
Room: Amphitheater de Bourcet
Organizers:
IRSEM: Paul Charon
HEC Paris: Olivier Chatain (chatain@hec.fr) and Jeremy Ghez (ghez@hec.fr)
IRSEM – HEC Paris
June 2nd, 2025, École Militaire, Paris
8:30-18:30
Motivation
Businesses and the private sector are increasingly embroiled in national security issues in a world that is transitioning away from the heyday of happy globalization. While the economy remains globalized, all actors are now aware that the interdependence it creates can be leveraged to exert power. Firms are key actors as the networks and supply chain they established are a terrain on which states are waging their rivalries through, for example, the imposition of economic sanctions. The capabilities firms develop (e.g., New Space, AI, semi-conductor fabrication) have become the stakes of acute inter-state rivalries, motivating clashes between states as well as a renewal of industrial policies.
This conference will help establish a dialogue among (1) academics from business schools, (2) think tank researchers, (3) businesses, and (4) policymakers to address these issues in a multidisciplinary way. The presenters will be drawn from these four communities. Thanks to the conference’s location in central Paris, we plan to reach an audience comprised of policymakers, businesses, and academics (from business schools and from policy school).
Program
All sessions in Amphitheater de Bourcet.
8:30 – Welcome Coffee, Pavillon Joffre
9:00-9:30 Introduction and Opening
Contre-Amiral Bertrand Dumoulin, Académie de Défense de l’École Militaire
Kristine de Valck, Dean of Degree Programs, HEC Paris
9:30-10:45 Panel 1: A Fragmenting World: Are Firms Actors or Bystanders?
Moderator: Eric Mengus, HEC Paris
Célia Belin, European Council on Foreign Relations
Jacob Parakilas, RAND Europe
Brad Setser, Council on Foreign Relations
Ludovic Subran, Chief Investment Officer, Allianz
10:45-11:00 Coffee Break, Pavillon Joffre
11:00-11:15 Panel 2: Civil Society and the Crisis of “Doux commerce”
Moderator: Maud Quessard, IRSEM
Nicolas Dross, EU Commission Representation in France
Fabienne Hara, Paris Peace Forum
Maaike Okano-Heijmans, Clingendael Institute
12:15-13:00 Lunch break, Pavillon Joffre
13:00-14:15 Panel 3: Industrial Policies and Supply Chains: Can Resilience be Engineered?
Moderator: Julien Malizard, Chaire Économie de Défense, IHEDN
Susan Helper, Case Western Reserve University
Isabelle Méjean, Sciences Po Paris
Benjamin Nefussi, DG Entreprise, Ministry of the Economy and Finance
14:15-14:45 Keynote
Olivier Blum, CEO, Schneider Electric
Interviewer: Jeremy Ghez, HEC Paris
14:45-15:00 Coffee Break, Pavillon Joffre
15:00-16:15 Panel 4: Developments in AI: Convergence or Divergence?
Moderator: Henri van Soest, RAND Europe
Clotilde Bômont, EUISS
Ronnie Chatterji, Duke University and OpenAI
Vincent Rapp, Hi! Paris (IPP and HEC Paris)
16:15-17:30 Panel 5: New Dilemmas for Firms
Moderator: Olivier Chatain, HEC Paris
Guillaume Girard, JOLT capital
Patrice Kefalas, Michelin
Emlyn Korengold, Edelman
Georg Wernicke, HEC Paris
17:30-18:00 Conclusion
Olivier Chatain and Jeremy Ghez, HEC Paris
About IRSEM
IRSEM is the strategic research institute of the French Ministry of Armed Forces and operates under the supervision of the Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS). Its missions include (1) original research for the ministry and for the wider public and strategic community, including working papers, scholarly books, and peer-reviewed publications; (2) support for the next generation of strategic thinkers at the PhD level thanks to dedicated workshops and PhD supervision; (3) contribution to military education; and (4) contribution to the public debate in media and open conferences. IRSEM is home to a staff of about forty civilian and military permanent researchers as well as postdoctoral researchers and interns.
About HEC Paris
HEC Paris is one of the world’s top management education and research institutions. Founded in 1881, it is France’s premier business school, offering master’s, MBA, EMBA, and PhD degrees to an international student body. Its faculty publishes in the world’s top academic journals in management, economics, finance, marketing, operations, law, and the social sciences. HEC Paris’s mission has three pillars: producing cutting-edge knowledge, educating and helping our students realize their potential, and contributing to society and the common good.
