The task of our Institute is to conduct research on questions of conflict and cooperation of importance for international peace and security, with the aim of contributing to an understanding of the conditions for peaceful solutions of international conflicts and for a stable peace.

Le Cercle promotes active reflection on various themes related to past and current events in the Middle East by organizing forums led by expert panels. In addition, le Cercle seeks to protect democratic institutions and the fundamental liberties of the Constitution by hosting exchanges with political dignitaries, and governmental and non-governmental organizations, on a national and international level.

Our goals:

* Establish areas of discussion about the Middle East with policy makers in charge of Foreign Affairs.
* Create a dialog about the Middle East with students who will the tomorrow’s leaders of opinion and top level officers in charge of foreign affairs.
* Build action to involve, in the public debate, citizens and the medias about the different issues regarding the Middle East.

ISSC's main aim is to promote the understanding of human society in its environment through fostering social and behavioral sciences throughout the world and their application to contemporary problems. By enhancing cooperation through the auspices of a global international organization that represents social and behavioral scientists and organizations, ISSC seeks to promote multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary cooperation among its members.

TUAC, founded as a trade union advisory committee in connection with the European recovery program (Marshall Plan), is an international, nongovernmental organization having a consultative status within the OECD. TUAC groups some 56 national central organizations of trade unions, representing 70 million workers in the 30 OECD member countries. Through regular consultations with various OECD bodies, TUAC coordinates and represents the views of trade unions to the governments of industrialized countries. It seeks to ensure that economic policies focusing on growth also aim at full employment and improved social welfare, safeguarding the interests of working people in the formulation of economic strategies.

The EAC is a research center committed to implementing the vision of its founder, Henri-Claude de Bettignies: that it should be a bridge between Europe and Asia. The center's focus is to gather and disseminate knowledge on Asian businesses and business in Asia, together with knowledge on business developments in Europe with implications for Asia. It serves both its own member companies and the wider community affiliated with the INSEAD business school, functioning as the Asian dimension of the INSEAD campus in Europe.

The Group's aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the contemporary world and, using a strongly interdisciplinary and forward-looking approach, to explore possible futures. The Group comprises four main centers: the Resource Center, the Foresight Forum, the Learning Center, and the Study Center. The Resource Center monitors futures studies literature published around the world, the output of main research centers and think tanks working on contemporary issues and general and specialized press. It identifies, analyzes, and evaluates facts and ideas likely to shape the future and major and emerging trends (weak signals) that may have a significant impact over the medium- to long-term. The Foresight Forum provides a meeting place for experts from different countries, fields, and ideological standpoints and decision-makers from both the public and private sectors at local, national, and international levels. The Learning Center organizes training seminars on concepts and methods of monitoring and forecasting and on the futures studies approach applied to the geopolitical and socio-demographic fields. The Study Center comprises forward-looking working groups devoted partly to futures studies and partly to medium- and long-term issues. Every year, special futures studies working groups are set up to examine selected topics.

IFRI is a nonpartisan center with the dual purpose of studying major foreign policy issues and encouraging intellectual debate, international cooperation, and interaction in an unofficial setting. As both a research center and a forum for meetings and debate, IFRI's field of study and action comprehensively covers the political, economic, and strategic dimensions of international relations. IFRI assembles a continually updated stock of information and documentation and aims to improve people's understanding of an increasingly complex environment and provide a basis for more informed decision-making. The institute helps sensitize French society to international problems by fostering dialogue between business, political, civil service, academic, student, and media circles and presents and explains French debates and policies to interested foreigners.

E2020 has the general objective of promoting the democratization of the EU-contributing through working at the political and institutional evolution of the EU-and the production and distribution of operational strategic recommendations. E2020 is committed to cooperating with a large number of European institutions (national foreign ministries, European institutions, and research centers); being rooted in the analyses, methods, and expectations of the new generation of Europeans (born after the Treaty of Rome); turning theoretical input into actions designed to raise awareness and involve European citizens in the evolution of the EU; and developing high-profile Internet strategies in order to increase our audience. Based on its general objective, E2020 has developed a recognized expertise in the three key political themes of European governance, EU democratization, European institutional reform, and Europe's global perspectives.

Institut CEDIMES was created by Emeritus Professor Jacques Austruy as an institute within the University of Pantheon-Assas (Paris II). Since its founding, it has developed its reputation through a network of university partners on five continents; the institute unites all of these centers. The institute's expertise is based on its initial focus on countries in the developing world and involves examining these countries' policies and strategies on development, analyzing the problems of economic transition, looking at sectoral approaches (for example, to agricultural production or industrial development) and their impact on demography and social development, and studying insular economies. In recent years this approach has been modified by new global developments, in particular globalization, international trade, the emergence of regional economic zones and cooperation between North and South. Finally, in the field of entrepreneurship, the institute analyzes the way businesses are set up, how the informal sector operates and the impact on business of privatization, decentralization and strategic alliances between nations. The CEDIMES network has several unique characteristics: It acts as an effective tool for development, forms a dynamic scientific community and has an acknowledged track record of action.

CEPII is a research institute on international economy. Its independence is guaranteed by the Board, which sets out the strategic guideline for the research. Chaired by Christian Stoffaes, Director at EDF, the Board comprises government officials, business personalities, trade unionists and academics. A Scientific Committee, chaired by Olivier J. Blanchard, Professor at the MIT, also validates the work of the centre and examines its research methods, the publication of the CEPII's findings, as well as its joint projects with other institutes. Administratively linked to the French Planning Agency, CEPII was created in 1978, and has a team of about fifty, including thirty economists. The CEPII's work, in international macroeconomics, trade, foreign direct investment or in the analysis of emerging and transition economies, very much stresses global interdependencies and their consequences for France and Europe. Partnerships with other French and foreign research institutes, along with major international organizations-especially within the EU-help ensure the center's international exposure and contribute to the active involvement of French research in international debates on economic policy. CEPII provides its expertise to public and private decision-makers as well as to social partners. It has regular contacts with major French and European government organizations responsible for economic policy, with other public institutions (parliamentary assemblies, the Banque de France, etc.), and with companies.