BIOGRAPHY

Dominique de Villepin first came into the international spotlight as French Foreign Minister. He led the coalition opposed to the Iraqi invasion in a landmark speech to the United Nations, and went on to serve as Prime Minister from 2005 to 2007.

Following rioting in the Paris suburbs, de Villepin introduced the First Employment Contract. This was designed to stimulate job growth and arrest the 23% youth unemployment rate, by allowing employers to fire staff within their first two years. Protests followed but de Villepin refused to withdraw, declaring such liberalisation necessary to correct the French social model. With Sarkozy now installed in the Elysée Palace, the debate on reform continues.

In his presentations, de Villepin argues that Europe should be reinvented. To compete effectively in the future will require greater transparency and agility - as well as much deeper social consensus. Above all, the core EU nations must create the capacity to make faster decisions on trade and defence.

He believes that Western governments should take a lead from the corporate sector in the way it understands others' mindsets. This, and the ability to act largely without the weight of restraint, explains why China is forging ahead of the older economies in its investment in and relationship with the developing world.

De Villepin is an historian as well as a political heavyweight and a wonderfully engaging speaker. Born and raised in Morocco, he has an unusually broad perspective on the shifting centres of power.

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