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Languages: French, English, Mandarin
Areas of Expertise: Chinese and East Asian strategic and international affairs, issues of integration and conflicts
François Godement is the director of ECFR’s Asia & China programme and a senior policy fellow at ECFR. He is a non-resident senior associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., and an outside consultant for the Policy Planning Staff of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A long-time professor at France’s National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations and Sciences Po, he created Asia Centre IFRI at the Paris-based Institut Français des Relations Internationales (1985-2005). In 2005 he founded Asia Centre as an independent centre for research on Asian issues as they intersect global debates. He is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de la rue d’Ulm (Paris), where he majored in history, and he was a postgraduate student at Harvard University. In 1995 he co-founded the European committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP), which he co-chaired until 2008. He has also been a member of the advisory board for the Europe China Academic Network (ECAN).
He is the editor of China Analysis, a quarterly analytical survey of Chinese news and debate published by ECFR. His recent publications include “China at the gates: A new power audit of EU-China relations” (Co-author: Abigael Vasselier, 2017), “Expanded ambitions, shrinking achievements: How China sees the global order” (2017), “Expanded ambitions, shrinking achievements: How China sees the global order” (2017), "China’s market economy status and the European interest" (2016), "Contemporary China: between Mao and Market" (2015).
He is also a frequent contributor to media and academic debates on Asia and China.
François Godement - 03 July 2008
Nicolas Sarkozy will soon announce whether he will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics. He should definitely go.François Godement - 22 April 2008
During his upcoming visit to China, EC President Barroso will need to convince the Chinese leadership to begin talks with the Dalai Lama.François Godement - 10 April 2008
EU governments should put concrete demands to the Chinese government, including a comprehensive review of its Tibet policy.François Godement - 17 March 2008
The events shaking the wider Tibetan area should lead both the Chinese government and its international partners to a deep reconsideration of past policies.François Godement - 12 February 2008
In the past few years, almost all of East Asia's fully fledged democracies have changed leadership - but this has gone rather unnoticed by European observers who focus on China alone.François Godement - 28 November 2007
The EU delegation has prepared an unusually full agenda for the annual EU-China Summit. However, there is a real danger they will go home empty-handed, and the Chinese will hijack the event to lecture about Taiwan and the Dalai Lama.François Godement - 14 October 2007
Will the rise of China lead to inevitable conflict on the international stage? Or will China mellow and adapt to international norms as it grapples with the new requirements of its phenomenal growth?François Godement - 03 October 2007
Targeted sanctions are a good idea ? but the goal must be to convince the Junta that they are better off with a political process
by Francois Godement, Angela Stanzel, Marcin Przychodniak, Katja Drinhausen, Adam Knight, Elsa B Kania - 25th October, 2018
by Camille Boullenois, Jiakun Jack Zhang, Melanie Hart, Blaine Johnson, Earl Wang - 20th June, 2018
Four views from our authors on Chinese and Taiwanese views of the roots of Trump's strategy and trade policy, and Chinese blind spots
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by François Godement, Moritz Rudolf, Marc Julienne,
Marie-Hélène Schwoob & Kata Isenring-Szabó - 12th April, 2018
China has already brought the world “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Will its next goal be a “United Nations with Chinese characteristics”?
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by François Godement, Abigaël Vasselier - 01st December, 2017
Europeans should adopt more realist positions vis-à-vis China, to defend their own interests and urgently restore balance in the relationship.
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by Léonie Allard, Mathieu Duchâtel & François Godement - 22nd November, 2017
Pyongyang’s is prepared to carry out a pre-emptive nuclear strike against both military and civilian targets if it detects an imminent attack.
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François Godement - 21 November 2018
This week, the EU reached a political agreement on a framework for screening foreign direct investment at unprecedented speed, and took a step forward in building trust
François Godement - 12 October 2018
Italy's new coalition government is moving the country on the path to bankruptcy, causing Italy to look overseas at China for support in pressuring the EU to bail them out
François Godement - 03 October 2018
As the trade war between China and the United States heats up, Europeans should think hard about who they turn to for assistance
François Godement - 20 July 2018
The last ten days have been big for the EU and its partners in Asia, namely China and Japan. With EU-China and EU-Japan summits resulting in historic agreements, the EU is slowly strengthening its relationships with allies to the east.
François Godement - 06 July 2018
Donald Trump’s attack on the international trading system is changing the EU's relationship with China
François Godement - 13 June 2018
The agreement is a dead end sold as the road to denuclearisation and peace – and, as such, it beggars belief.
François Godement - 25 May 2018
Europe’s most useful role is to push for steady American policies. It is also to convince Iran that a compromise on missiles is in its own interest.
Asli Aydıntaşbaş & François Godement & Kadri Liik & Jeremy Shapiro - 25 May 2018
The four power audits show that Europeans, particularly when working together, retain the capacity to cooperate and compete effectively with all these powers. But they also show that, in each case, Europe is failing to do so.
Mark Leonard speaks with Francois Godement and Jeremy Shapiro about what kind of leverage Europe can have over America and other great powers. And should Europe behave differently in institutions such as G7 and UN? The podcast was recorded on 26 July 2018.
A follow-up discussion to “China at the gates: A new power audit of EU – China relations” by François Godement & Abigaël Vasselier. Speaker is François Godement and chair Mark Leonard.
Mark Leonard speaks with Asli Aydıntaşbaş, Kadri Liik, François Godement and Jeremy Shapiro about Europe’s relations with the US, China, Russia and Turkey. The podcast was recorded on the 6 March 2018.
Mark Leonard speaks to François Godement and Abigaël Vasselier from the ECFR Asia & China team to get their reactions to President Macron's recent visit to China. They discuss the relationship between Europe and China more broadly, using the findings from their recent publication "China at the gates: A power audit of EU-China relations".
Bookshelf:
François: Red Swan: How Unorthodox Policy-making Facilitated China's Rise, by Sebastien Heilman
Abigaël: The Lady and the Generals, by Peter Popham
Mark: China at the gates: A power audit of EU-China relations by François Godement and Abigaël Vasselier
Discussion avec Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, directeur du bureau de Paris de l'ECFR et François Godement, directeur du programme Asie de l'ECFR du 18/12/2017 à propos de la sortie du nouveau Power Audit sur les relations Chine-UE.
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard discusses Trump's foreign policy and its global consequences with ECFR's research director, Jeremy Shapiro, ECFR's Russia expert, Kadri Liik and ECFR's China expert, Francois Godement.
The podcast was recorded on 10th November 2017.
Bookshelf:
Stein Ringen, The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century
Vladimir Sorokin, Day of the Oprichnik
George F. Kennan, Russia Leaves the War
Jeremy Shapiro, "The transatlantic meaning of Donald Trump: a US-EU Power Audit" (2017)
Jeremy Shapiro, "Towards a post-American Europe: A Power Audit of EU-US Relations" (2009)
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard discusses the major takeways from China's 19th Party Congress with ECFR’s head of Asia & China programme François Godement and China expert Jérôme Doyon.
The podcast was recorded on 20th October 2017.
Bookshelf:
Ian Johnson, The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao
Jean-Paul Kauffmann, Outre-Terre: Le Voyage a Eylau
Angela Stanzel (ed.), Grand Designs: Does China have a ‘Grand Strategy’?
Mathieu Duchâtel, EU should host US-China contingency talks on North Korean nuclear crisis
Podcast du Black Coffee Morning "Le 19ème Congrès et la Chine de Xi Jinping" du 13/10/2017 animé par François Bougon, auteur du tout récent ouvrage « Dans la tête de Xi Jinping » (Paris, Actes Sud, octobre 2017) et par François Godement, directeur du programme Asie de l’ECFR.
Francois Godement quoted by Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias on Portugal and Spain's differences regarding the Chinese Belt & Road initiative.
François Godement is interviewed by Le Figaro regarding China-US relations.
The book written by François Godement and Abigaël Vasselier "La Chine est aujourd'hui solidement ancrée en Europe" is quoted by Les Echos.
François Godement is quoted by Les Grands Dossiers de Diplomatie regarding France's role in Asia.
Director of the Asia & China programme François Godement quoted by the South China Morning Post on the new EU infrastructure fund rivalling China's Belt and Road Initiative
Francois Godement says the United States needs China above all on the issue of North Korea's denuclearisation
François Godement is quoted by Süddeutsche Zeitung regarding the controversial infrastructure project of the EU in Central Asia.
Interview of François Godement in Le Figaro regarding Russia and China's joint military exercises.
Interview of François Godement in Les Echos about the rapprochement between China and Europe.
François Godement analyses the diplomatic challenges of the Kim-Trump meeting for Play RTS.
Email: francois.godement@ecfr.eu