Jean-Marie Guéhenno

Jean-Marie Guéhenno is a high-placed diplomat and one of today’s leading thinkers on the moral implications of political decisions and (the lack of) political accountability. He is currently the inaugural Kent visiting professor in conflict resolution at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where he served as the Director of the Center of International Conflict Resolution from 2010 to 2014. He served as President and CEO of the International Crisis Group from 2014 to 2017, and until 2016, he chaired the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue: one of the few international organizations that engage in dialogue with terrorist groups, focusing on the power of diplomacy. From 2000 to 2008, he served as UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, negotiating with figures like Vladimir Putin and Sergey Lavrov. Guéhenno is currently a member of the UN’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation. He wrote several essays on international relations in addition to books like the famous The End of Democracy (1993), The Future of Freedom (1999), The Fog of Peace (2015) and Le premier XXIe siècle. De la globalisation à l’émiettement du monde (2021).