Hubert Védrine is the founder of Hubert Védrine Conseil, a consulting firm specializing in issues related to economic, international and geopolitical issues. He is currently President of the François Mitterrand Institute.
Prior to that, Hubert Védrine served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the government of Lionel Jospin, from June 1997 to May 2002. From 1996 to 1997, he was a partner at the law firm of Jeantet et Associés. He was a member of the Council of State for a year in 1995, and since 2003 has been leading a seminar on foreign policy issues at Sciences Po Paris.
After serving as spokesman for the Presidency of the French Republic for three years, Hubert Védrine was appointed Secretary General of the Elysée Palace in 1991. Previously, he was Civil Administrator to the Minister of Culture from 1974 to 1981, as well as Diplomatic Advisor to François Mitterrand from 1981 to 1986.
In 2020, he is the high-level personality designated by France to participate in the NATO think tank.
He is the author of numerous books, including Face à l’Hyperpuissance (2003, Fayard), Continuing History (2007, Fayard), updated in October 2008 and translated into English under the title History Strikes Back. In 2009, he published Le Temps des Chimères (Fayard), in 2012 Dans la mêlée mondiale (Fayard), in 2014 La France au défi (Fayard) and in 2016 Sauve l’Europe (Editions Liana Levi). In 2018, he published Comptes à rebours (Fayard). In March 2019, a new edition of Save Europe was published; the essay was then rewritten and updated, its title Facing Chaos, Saving Europe. In October 2019, he published with his son Laurent Védrine Olrik, the unauthorized biography (Fayard). In June 2020, he published an essay, “Et après?”, (Fayard). In February 2021, he published his Dictionnaire amoureux de la géopolitique (Plon, Fayard). Mr. Védrine also has a bachelor’s degree in history, and is an alumnus of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA).