The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs recently acquired an economic analysis capability for the issues of globalization, in particular of development, the environment and macroeconomic stability.

Because of its international dimension, the current economic crisis is an illustration of the major issues related to economic globalization. From tensions in raw materials markets to stock market fluctuations, the globalization of economies has magnified the effects of the crisis. It has especially shown the complexity of economic globalization and its numerous and asymmetrical effects between, for example, developed and emerging countries. Defining French strategies in favour of development and towards emerging countries also requires in-depth analyses of globalization and its interaction with development policies.

Another example: global public goods, established progressively as an objective of international cooperation and development assistance policies. The environmental aspect of global public goods, from the fight against climate change to the protection of forests and biodiversity, is the archetype of global public goods. Yet, while the principle and the need to fight climate change seem to be shared globally, the difficult Copenhagen agreement demonstrates the need to reconcile and understand the economic imperatives of the different stakeholders.

The economic analysis centre for globalization was created to carry out this analytical work at the interface of economic research and economic policy advice. It involves, on one hand, clarifying the economic and geopolitical issues of the various international economic issues. On the other hand, it entails listening to new ideas and original analyses to make them available to the posts and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

An illustration of the centre’s activity is the regular updating of the Atlas of the crisis. Presented at the conference of ambassadors in August 2009, the Atlas of the crisis is a tool used to diagnose countries’ vulnerability and resiliency in view of the crisis. Its major innovation is combining the economic, social and political dimensions of the crisis and providing an up-to-date image of the development of the crisis and its consequences.

^{Updated on 16.11.10}