For nearly forty years now, INSEAD has been opening its lecture theatre to the people of Bellifontaine, free of charge, so they can hear from someone who knows what they’re talking about. The series began in 1987 and she has never strayed from her approach: bringing international experts to the campus on Boulevard de Constance, and inviting the town’s residents to attend the sessions. We have a world-renowned business school just a ten-minute walk from the château, and once a month it lends us its guest speakers. It’s an opportunity that few towns with a population of 15,000 can boast.
Le Wednesday 16 September at 8.30 pm, it is Pascal Lamy which kicks off the season with a question that is anything but a seminar exercise: «In the turmoil of a new world: can we talk of deglobalisation?»
The speaker is well worth the trip. Pascal Lamy was European Commissioner, then Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. He is currently vice-president and co-founder of the Jacques Delors Foundation, Friends of Europe. In other words, when he wonders aloud whether global trade is unravelling, he is talking about a system he has steered from within, not merely an academic subject.
Tariffs being reintroduced, supply chains being brought back home, blocs closing in: the term «deglobalisation» has been doing the rounds a lot in recent years. It remains to be seen whether it describes something real or whether it is mainly a convenient shorthand. This is exactly the sort of evening where you come away with a clearer idea than when you arrived.
Free entry, no booking required, at INSEAD, on Boulevard de Constance in Fontainebleau. For those who’d rather listen from the comfort of their own living room, the lecture is also broadcast live remotely. The full programme for the season can be found at the INSEAD Conferences page.
A few words are enough, I reply personally.