Faced with a constantly evolving geopolitical context, the fragmentation of the global economy, fragmentation, and new systemic risks, businesses can no longer afford to ignore the major shifts in the international order. At ESSEC Business School, we have chosen to place these challenges at the heart of its mission, through our TRANSCEND strategy.
The ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business brings this ambition to life: turning geopolitics into a tool for understanding, anticipating, and taking action in the business world. Designed as a hub for academic research, high-level education, and strategic dialogue, the Institute explores how geopolitical shocks are reshaping markets, value chains, and the geo-economic role of private actors.
The fragmentation of value chains, rising trade tensions, market polarization, digital disruption, and new forms of economic sovereignty: these geopolitical shifts are no longer peripheral risks. They have become core challenges for companies.
How does a Chief Executive Officer rethink strategy in a world shaped by power dynamics? How does a Chief Financial Officer manage market exposure in the context of economic warfare? How does a Chief Operating Officer adapt operations to geopolitical instability? The Chief Technology Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, and Chief Sustainability Officer also face similar pressures.
These questions now shape every executive committee. The ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business was created in response to this reality: to train leaders who can take action in a world experiencing profound change and to produce research that supports both businesses and public discourse in the post-globalization era.
The ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business builds on ESSEC Business School’s academic excellence and global outlook. Led by Professor Aurélien Colson, Professor Cédomir Nestorovic (Academic Co-Directors), and Thomas Friang (Executive Director), the Institute brings together the complementary expertise of three well-established and respected centers. Together, they provide the Institute with a unique source of intellectual capital:
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The IRENE Center for Negotiation and Mediation, founded in 1996 and led by Professor Aurélien Colson, is a recognized leader in conflict resolution, diplomacy, and strategic negotiation.
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The Geopolitics, Defense & Leadership Center, launched in 2023 and co-directed by Professor Aurélien Colson, Dr. Frédéric Charillon, and Vice Admiral Loïc Finaz, focuses on power dynamics, security challenges, and leadership in times of global instability.
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The European Center for Law and Economics, founded in 2008 and directed by Professor Viviane de Beaufort, provides expert insight into European regulatory frameworks, governance models, and corporate responsibility.
Together, these centers form a multidisciplinary ecosystem at the crossroads of geopolitics, business, law, and leadership, offering organizations the strategic intelligence they need in a fractured world.
The ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business aims to make ESSEC a leading academic reference on the intersection between geopolitics and business by training leaders who can act in an increasingly unstable and fragmented world.
The Institute’s mission is both academic and practical. . It supports high-level research on how geopolitical shifts impact companies and markets. It also creates innovative teaching content to integrate these issues into degree programs and executive education.
The Institute advises companies and organizations that want to adapt their strategies to geopolitical shocks, starting with ESSEC itself.
It also serves as the main point of contact for institutions, businesses, media, or academic partners wishing to collaborate with ESSEC on any topic related to geopolitics & business.
The ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business is based on the Cergy campus and the Singapore campus, and also operates from the Rabat campus. In doing so, it leverages ESSEC’s unique tri-continental presence to support a key ambition of ourTRANSCEND strategy: to lead interdisciplinary and multicultural thinking on a topic that concerns all types of organizations, all executive functions, and all academic fields of a top business school.
The Institute draws on ESSEC’s unique strengths to act as an early warning system for geopolitical shocks to business models and to help shape the next generation of Chief Geopolitical Officers.
Geopolitical shocks happen every single day, disrupting. our existing economic models. Our core mission is to study this transformation in depth alongside industry partners, to enrich our programs, research, and contribution to public debate.
Academic Co-Director of the ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business
When a digital platform tries to issue its own currency, or when a company hires a private army, it’s claiming sovereign powers. This deeply transforms certain markets and rewrites the rules of competition.
Academic Co-Director of the ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business
The “Geopolitics & Business” nexus brings together many disciplines. The Institute connects both fields to build a space for study, research, and pedagogical innovation. It opens the door to exciting and meaningful questions.
Executive Director of the ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business
