Jean-Francois Seznec

Jean-François Seznec "has been an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University for four years. He also teaches at Columbia University. His research centers on the influence of the Arab-Persian Gulf political and social variables on the financial and oil markets in the region. He is Senior Advisor to PFC Energy in Washington, DC. He holds a MIA from Columbia University [1963], a MA and his Ph.D. from Yale University [1994]. He has published and lectured extensively and is interviewed regularly on national TV, radio and newspapers, as well as by the foreign media.

"Dr. Seznec has 25 years experience in international banking and finance of which ten years were spent in the Middle East, including six years in Bahrain as a banker. Dr. Seznec is a founding member and Managing Partner of the Lafayette Group LLC, a US based private investment company. He uses his knowledge of business in the Middle East and the United States to further his analysis of the Arab-Persian Gulf.“

"Jean-François Seznec has been at the Middle East Institute at SIPA since 1986 as an adjunct professor, teaching two courses: Oil and Politics in the Gulf and Finance in the Gulf.

"A recognized authority on Middle Eastern affairs, Professor Seznec has written extensively on the topic. Among his publications are "WTO and the Perils of Privatization: A Case Analysis of Saudi Arabia", in Institutions, Globalization and Empowerment edited by Kartik Roy and Joern Sideras (Edward Elgar Publishing 2002); "The Saudi Arabian Military Forces Under King Fahad bin Abdel Aziz", in Magreb-Mashreq (Winter 2001–2002); "Chapter 5: Oil and Gas: Fuel for Caspian's Economic Development," in The Caspian Region at a Crossroad edited by Hooshang Amirahmadi (St. Martin's 2000); "Ethics, Islamic Banking and the Global Financial Market," in Fletcher Forum of World Affairs (Winter 1998/1999); "The Gulf Markets at the Crossroads," in Columbia Journal of World Business (1996); and others. He has also written book reviews for the Middle East Journal in Summer 2001 and Winter 1995. In addition, he has published 25 articles for the Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East, (Macmillan Publishing Company 1996). He has also appeared on CNN Saturday Morning Politics as a guest on April 27, 2002.

"Today he is the managing director of The Lafayette Group, in Annapolis, MD, of which he was the founder in 1991. Prior to that he was a senior vice president and general manager at the Bahrain Middle East Bank, New York Agency (1986–90). He worked as senior VP and general manager both at the Bahrain Offshore Unit and the New York Agency of the Saudi European Bank (1979–85). He worked for Chase Manhattan Bank in the Bank's offices in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and New York (1973–78). He has been a member of Human Rights Watch, Board of Advisers for the Middle East, Council On Foreign Relations since 1999, 2000, and 2001, respectively. He is also a member of two study groups, US Policy in the Arab-Persian Gulf, Middle East Trade and Investment, and was a participant and rapporteur to the UNESCO-Amar standing conference on relations between Islam and the West (1995–99)." 


 * Member, Human Rights Watch Middle East Advisory Committee
 * Executive Committee, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies