Jean-François Seznec

Jean-François Seznec is a distinguished scholar and financial expert specializing in Middle Eastern business and energy markets. After earning his PhD in Political Science from Yale University, MA in International Affairs from Columbia University, and BA from Washington College, he combined academic expertise with extensive practical experience in international banking. His 25-year career includes significant time in the Middle East, with positions at Chase Manhattan Bank, Saudi Industrial Development Fund in Riyadh, and six years in Bahrain's banking sector. As founder of Lafayette Group LLC and former Visiting Associate Professor at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, he has shaped understanding of Gulf region industrialization, particularly in petrochemicals and energy-based industries. His influential works include "The Financial Markets of the Arab Gulf: Power, Politics and Money" (2018) and "Industrialization in the Gulf: A Socioeconomic Revolution" (2010). Currently serving as a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center, he continues to provide expert analysis on Middle Eastern financial markets and industrial development