The Cercle des économistes has published the first report from the Global Economic Dialogue, an international think tank that emerged from the Rencontres Économiques d’Aix-en-Provence. Thirty-five think tanks from around the world have pooled their analyses and perspectives. Together, they have created a unique space for global, egalitarian, and pluralistic dialogue. The aim is to understand, shed light on, and anticipate the divisions in an unstable world.
Bringing rationality back to economic debate in a fragmented world
Everywhere, public debate is deteriorating. Discussions are becoming polarized. Positions clash without in-depth analysis. As recent debates on customs duties have shown, the economy is becoming a battleground rather than a forum for reflection. Regulators, public decision-makers, and even academics are struggling to make nuanced diagnoses heard. In this context, think tanks play a crucial role. They move quickly, synthesize issues, and offer operational readings of crises. However, their growing influence comes with a risk: that of a saturated, fragmented intellectual world, where certain voices—particularly those from the Global South—remain less audible.
Giving think tanks back a shared space
For the first time, 35 major international think tanks from Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States agreed to engage in dialogue on an equal footing. Their participation enriched the debates in Aix, diversified the approaches, and provided valuable insight into a rapidly changing world. Contrary to the logic of homogeneity, this coalition draws on the diversity of its diagnoses to better understand the major contemporary issues: economic security, the reshaping of international relations, the rise of empires, North-South cooperation, the future of welfare states, and energy and technological transitions.
An unprecedented coalition of 35 international think tanks
Launched in 2025, this initiative brings together 35 research centers from all regions of the world. Together, they have agreed on one essential rule: to engage in dialogue on an equal footing, without hierarchy or ideological filters. This dual North-South approach makes it possible to overcome the usual blind spots and develop truly global diagnoses. This dialogue is a long-term endeavor. No one-off summits. No diplomatic showcases. On the contrary: patient, continuous work, where trust is built through exchanges. A form of “intellectual diplomacy” that is essential in a world marked by mistrust and polarization.
Aix-en-Provence, future European think tank
This publication marks the beginning of a new phase. The ambition is now clear: to build a laboratory of ideas on a European scale. The Global Economic Dialogue will play a central role in achieving this goal. It extends collective work to all regions of the world and, in doing so, recreates a space where nuance, listening, and comparing points of view regain their rightful place.
