Carmen likes to paint...
...to meet people...
French and foreign parliamentarians meet
In July 2023, 17 representatives from 12 different countries met to discover French institutions : the Senate, the National Assembly and the National Institute of Public Service (INSP, former ENA).
Great opportunity to learn logistical skills by contributing to the organisation, and to get introduced to foreign political systems by meeting new people !
Trip to Israel
“Now let’s go to the Benedictine monastery in the Arab village next to Jerusalem“.
Here, in essence, is the memorable week that our group of 35 Sciences Po associative representatives experienced in Israel.
🏛️ From Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv, from Masada fortress to the Dead Sea, from pita to knafeh, from Tel-Aviv art museum to Jerusalem archaeological digs via Yad Vashem, from Shabbat to Purim, the UEJF helped us discover many wonders…
🤝… and the world too, from all horizons!
🎓We had the honor of meeting French Ambassador to Israel Eric Danon, and exchanging views with Bahraini Ambassador Khaled Yousif Al Jalahma.
💧Steve Elbaz introduced us to Watergen Ltd.
🛟We met volunteers from United Hatzalah of Israel, the world’s fastest medical emergency unit.
📻 Hugo Babay gave us a tour of the i24NEWS radio station premises.
🇮🇱Nous talked to the eloquent Denis Charbit about Israel’s history and current political situation.
🧑⚖️Former minister Yossi Beilin and lawyer Hiba Husseini explained their role in the peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine since the Oslo Accords.
👫The founders of the NGO Friends of Roots shared their commitment to promoting dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian locals.
– et caetera –
📸We experienced this adventure guided by Yossi Touitou, whose talent for storytelling enlivened our visits and whose knowledge taught me greatly.
🔔I’ll remember one motto from this trip, echoed by all the men and women, Jews, Christians and Muslims, Israelis, Arabs and Palestinians we met: “here, it’s complicated”.
🇮🇱 At a time when these peoples are suffering from escalations in violence, a critical look at the political situation in the region is certainly necessary.
But this trip was also an opportunity to marvel at the riches of this land, the cradle of humanity and the religions of our civilization… and to practice my Hebrew!
! שלום על ישראל
International Half-Marathon of Nice
One random day, my running peer Mathéo proposed me to sign up for the Nice half-marathon. None of us had ever competitively ran 21 km but the experience sounded fun.
We thus participated on April 30, 2023 and the Nice run was nice :
Mathéo went ahead in 1:42 and I joined him one minute later. We both finished 5th of our category !
The Global Diwan
On 9 September 2022 was convened in Nice for the Global Diwan, an annual forum on Blue and Green Security.
It was organised by Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, Eric Schell and their dedicated team, and hosted by the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi.
HH Sheikha Intisar AlSabah, was awarded the Légion d’honneur decoration, and gave us a precious lesson : “One does not empower women, but give them the tools to self-empower.”
This forum was a memorable opportunity to discuss with a panel of 180 attendees. It was a unique opportunity to learn from diplomats, engineers, lawyers, bankers, business leaders, coming from France, Maghreb, Middle East, Gulf countries, Egypt and Turkey, with some Indian, Japanese and African guests.
Rotary Leadership Award
From April 27 to 30, 2022, I had the chance to participate in the RYLA – Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. Through this program, I was able to learn more about the elements of leadership: Vision, Charisma, Empathy and Courage.
The seminar combined intellectual debate, friendly encounters and practical discoveries : discussing the concept of a European Federation with Ambassador Michel Caillouët ; role-playing the war in Ukraine with Frédéric Goibeault ; learning about Egypt Nile‘s story and stakes behind its dam with Jean-Marie Karpooral ; hearing Serge Sardella’s testimony about Provence back in the days through his struggles to find water to the construction of the Serre-Ponçon dam.
Two memorable visits rounded off the program : the energy projects ITER, among the most ambitious, led China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States, which is an experimental fusion power plant ; and the Sainte-Tulle hydroelectric power station.
...and to think.
CeSPI article
“Habibi, come to Dubai!”
If money can buy happiness, can technological investments also offer the UAE a greener future?
Thanks to my Political Science professor Enrico Campelli for giving me the opportunity to write this article for CeSPI – Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale.
You can read it here.
TEDX speech
On April 9, 2022, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ferida at TEDX-SciencesPoMentonCampus.
Our idea? “One is not born French, but rather becomes French”.
Invited by the Sciences Po student association Agora, six experts from around the world and seven Sciences Po students shared what this year’s theme means to them: “3D Vision: Divisions, Dilemmas and Dialogue”.
From the death penalty to French rap, from Islamic finance to brain drain, from cult experiences to racial experiments, we came away with a head full of ideas and theories.
The Harvard Crimson global essay competition
Participating to the Harvard Crimson contest in 2022 was exciting.
I chose to argue on the following prompt : Should the law be broken if you believe the law is unjust?
My thesis? I should break the law if I have the courage to justify my action to others in order to legitimize it.
Here is a short essay on the topic.
Contribution on behalf of the Philosophical Society
In December 2021, young Carmen vulgarized a complex concept : Power. Was this a good idea ? At the time, the article contributed to establish the Philosophical Society, which she founded with friends to revive philosophical minds on campus. Today, there may still be some interesting concepts to think about and debate…
You may read it here.