Agathe Demarais
I am a senior policy fellow on geoeconomics & tech at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). My areas of interest include the global economy, the geopolitics of AI, trade wars, economic statecraft, and US-EU-China economic relations. In 2026 I also co-chair the Think7 (T7), the G7's official engagement group for think tanks and research centres.
Before joining ECFR, I was the global forecasting director of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research arm of The Economist. I led the EIU's global economic and geopolitical analysis, with a special interest in trade developments, developing economies and financial risk.
Outside ECFR, I am a visiting professor at the College of Europe and an advisor to the policy planning unit of the French MFA. I am a regular columnist for Foreign Policy and a frequent commentator for the media. My essays have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Times, The Journal of Democracy, Politico and Le Grand Continent.
I am also the author of Backfire, a book on the global ripple effects of sanctions and export controls. Backfire draws on my experience as an economic policy advisor for the diplomatic corps of the French Treasury in Russia and Lebanon. I also worked in investment banking in Russia and the US.
An economist by training, I have master's degrees from Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University, where I studied as a Fulbright scholar. I speak fluent French, English, Russian, Arabic (Levantine dialect and Classical) and Spanish. I am based in Paris, with frequent trips across Europe.
Recent writing
All pieces →Sanctions book
Backfire
How sanctions reshape the world against U.S. interests. Drawing on my years as an economic policy advisor for the French Treasury in Russia and Lebanon, Backfire traces the global ripple effects of sanctions and export controls.
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Columbia University Press, 2022
Backfire
How sanctions reshape the world against U.S. interests
Sanctions have become the go-to foreign policy tool for the United States. Coercive economic measures such as trade tariffs, financial penalties, and export controls affect large numbers of companies and states across the globe. Some of these penalties target nonstate actors, such as Colombian drug cartels and Islamist terror groups; others apply to entire countries, including North Korea, Iran, and Russia. U.S. policy makers see sanctions as a low-cost tactic, but these measures have potent side effects that can, in some cases, harm American interests.
Backfire explores the surprising ways sanctions affect multinational companies, governments, and ultimately millions of people around the world. Drawing on interviews with experts, policy makers, and people in sanctioned countries, Backfire examines the unintended consequences of the use of sanctions as a diplomatic weapon. The proliferation of sanctions spurs efforts to evade them, as states and firms seek ways to circumvent U.S. penalties. This is only part of the story. Sanctions also reshape relations between countries, pushing governments that are at odds with the U.S. closer to each other—or, increasingly, to Russia and China.
Full of counterintuitive insights spanning a wide range of topics, from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to Iran's COVID response and China's digital currency ambitions, Backfire reveals how sanctions are transforming geopolitics and the global economy—as well as diminishing U.S. influence. This insider's account is an eye-opening, accessible, and timely book that sheds light on the future of sanctions in an increasingly fragmented world.
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Agathe Demarais. Contact: agathe dot demarais at ecfr dot eu
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“Agathe's briefing was a great hit with everyone. Inspiring, insightful, provocative and concise. A rare combination”
Leading international bank
Media & speaking
Email is the fastest way to reach me for media interviews, keynotes and closed-door briefings: agathe dot demarais at ecfr dot eu
Social media
You can contact me either on Bluesky (where my direct messages are open) or on LinkedIn.
Backfire
Email is also the easiest way to get in touch if you would like to have a chat about my sanctions book, Backfire. To review it, please email Peter Barrett, my publicist at Columbia University Press: pb2272 at columbia dot edu.
French-language media
French-language journalists can find my profile on the Les Expertes network.