Interview with Emmanuelle Crane

When Culture Becomes a Strategic Advantage

You are a board member of the EDHEC Chair in Geopolitics and Business Strategy. Why did you accept this role, and why do you think developing this type of structure within a business school is relevant?

I accepted very naturally, because it aligns with a deep conviction: today, no manager can afford to ignore geopolitics. Whether you are in an SME or a large corporation, international events have a direct impact on business activity. Similarly, training students without giving them analytical tools in this area means leaving them unprepared for an increasingly unstable world. Having completed an MBA abroad myself, I was struck at the time by the absence of such teachings. Today, it has become self-evident.

There is also a major pedagogical challenge. Young people are exposed to an enormous volume of information, particularly through media and social networks, but they often lack analytical frameworks. A chair like this one is precisely designed to develop their capacity to decode the world around them.

Finally, the demand clearly exists, including from businesses and international organisations. Because the challenge is not only in initial education — meeting the need for executive education is equally important.

Has your career given you a particular approach to geopolitics?

My approach is deeply shaped by interculturality and by my background as an anthropologist. Geopolitics cannot be understood solely through power dynamics or objective data. It also rests on perceptions, representations, and cultural frameworks. Today, even without international mobility, we live in multicultural societies. We can no longer escape this dimension.

In my work, I place a strong emphasis on the idea of "cross perspectives." Understanding how others think, and how they perceive a situation, is essential. This applies to diplomats and businesses alike, but also to the media, which are not always sufficiently equipped to tackle international subjects.

Should companies integrate the human factor more into their international strategy?

Absolutely, and it is even a critical point. For a long time, companies prioritised the financial, legal, or technical dimensions of international projects, neglecting the human factor. Yet that is often where the main risks lie. Cultural differences influence decision-making, the relationship with time, leadership, and conflict management. Ignoring these dimensions can lead to major failures. Today, in an unstable and multicultural world, this competence is becoming central.

Can interculturality truly be learned? Are there methods for doing so?

Yes, it can be learned, and there are tools available. Analytical frameworks, comparative models, and visual representations — such as graphs and cultural maps — can help better understand differences between societies.

But these tools are not sufficient on their own. Direct encounters with others remain indispensable. The goal is to develop "cultural awareness" — a consciousness of cultural differences. This is a key competence not only for working in an international environment, but also at a more local level that is nonetheless shaped by broader international power dynamics.

Has the realisation that we are operating in an international environment with changed rules taken hold at the corporate level?

There is an awareness, but it remains incomplete. What is changing profoundly is that geopolitics is no longer perceived as a distant subject — it is becoming a direct operational constraint. But we are still in a phase of reaction rather than anticipation. Companies are beginning to integrate these issues, but the "software" has not yet been fully updated. The shift is underway, but fully internalising it takes time.

In Western Europe, we have been relatively sheltered from geopolitical turbulence over recent decades, which explains a certain lag. By contrast, Eastern European countries have developed a stronger culture of resilience, rooted in their history. The Baltic states and Poland, for instance, have long been among NATO's best pupils. And it comes as no surprise that, as a proportion of their GDP, Northern and Eastern European countries occupy nine of the top ten spots among Ukraine's largest donors (Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland).

Do you think it is relevant to create a dedicated role within companies for these issues — a Geopolitical Chief Officer?

Yes, it is relevant, especially in large international companies. This type of role helps structure thinking, raise the visibility of these issues, and provide strategic insight grounded in real-world experience. However, this model seems difficult to transpose as-is to SMEs and mid-sized companies, which simply do not have the resources. For them, the priority is rather raising awareness and training senior leadership. In the long run, if geopolitical literacy becomes sufficiently widespread, such a role may become less necessary. But in the current transitional phase, it plays a useful part.

Towards what kind of 21st-century geopolitics are we heading?

We are heading towards a world of blocs and reinforced power dynamics. We are witnessing a return of imperial logic and spheres of influence. Faced with this, more vulnerable states will seek to group together in order to carry greater weight. Being isolated is becoming a factor of vulnerability.

What role for the European Union in this geopolitical realignment?

European institutions have an important role to play, but they will probably not be the driving force for change. Their structure makes them slower and more cumbersome than private actors or individual European states. That said, they can accompany and amplify dynamics initiated elsewhere.

Throughout its history, the European Union has nonetheless produced some extremely powerful tools, such as the Erasmus programme, which is a remarkable lever for cultural transformation. These initiatives foster exchanges, cross perspectives, and contribute to building a European consciousness. But to move forward, Europe must also overcome its own intercultural challenges. Cooperation among Europeans remains more complex than one might think.

How can students and young professionals be effectively trained on these issues?

They need to be made active participants in their own learning. Young people seek meaning and want to engage actively. Rather than transmitting knowledge in a top-down manner, we must confront them with concrete challenges, encourage them to think, debate, and seek out information for themselves. Geopolitics is an excellent tool for this, as it allows historical events to be connected to very tangible contemporary issues. But we must also account for a generational challenge: post-Covid students are sometimes less accustomed to direct interaction and more dependent on social networks. It is therefore essential to recreate spaces for exchange.

What readings would you recommend to those who wish to better understand these dynamics?

I would first offer an essential methodological piece of advice: diversify your sources. Reading only analyses from your own country or intellectual environment limits understanding. It is vital to see how the same events are interpreted elsewhere, including in different cultural or political contexts.

Stepping out of one's intellectual comfort zone is fundamental. On interculturality, works such as The Culture Map by Erin Meyer are very useful. Specialist publications like the Revue Défense Nationale are also worth consulting. But the most important thing remains the ability to cross perspectives and confront different points of view.

In conclusion, what message would you address to students and businesses?

We are entering an unstable world, in permanent transformation, where nothing can be taken for granted. This demands three essential qualities: agility, boldness, and the capacity for continuous learning. Geopolitics is no longer an abstract subject — it is an indispensable tool for understanding, anticipating, and acting. Those who succeed in integrating it into their thinking and their actions will hold a decisive advantage.