“Learning Geopolitics the Hard Way” -Interview with Miltiade MEIREIS, BBA Alumni

Miltiade Meireis, is an ESSEC Alumnus and UN field leader. In 2025, he was selected to be a French Delegate to the 2025 G7 Youth Summit, the Y7 taking place in Ottawa during the Canadian Presidency of the G7.

Miltiade belongs to a generation forged in turbulence—active in refugee camps in Greece, at UN headquarters in New York, and across post-conflict zones from El Salvador to Lake Kivu.

Now Co-Team Leader and Special Assistant with MONUSCO, the UN’s most complex peacekeeping mission, he operates at the heart of geopolitical volatility in the DRC.

An ESSEC Global BBA graduate, former student union president, and founder of the Economics Club, he went on to specialize in humanitarian affairs and conflict resolution at Columbia University.

We spoke with him about what ESSEC taught him about diplomacy—and what business leaders must urgently grasp about the brutal geopolitics shaping tomorrow’s markets.

Miltiade Meireis at the G7 Youth Summit, Ottawa 2025

From Cergy to Goma — What did ESSEC teach you that you’ve found most valuable when working inside the UN system?

Miltiade Meireis - At ESSEC Business School, I developed soft skills that proved essential within the UN system - above all, leadership, adaptability, and project management.

Leading the Student Union and co-founding the Economics Club taught me to manage intercultural teams, navigate conflicting priorities, and deliver under pressure.

Organizing large-scale events further refined my project management skills. I also gave public speeches to various audiences on multiple occasions, including at the graduation ceremony, which strengthened my ability to communicate with impact.

ESSEC’s multidisciplinary and hands-on approach trained me to move seamlessly across complex topics and environments - an invaluable asset in fast-paced settings like the UN.

You’ve been deployed in conflict zones and crisis regions—Samos, El Salvador, now Eastern DRC. What kind of personal and professional resilience does this demand? How did your time at ESSEC prepare you for that?

M.M. - Being deployed to conflict zones requires empathy, adaptability, resilience, understanding and questioning your own biases.

My early field experience in Samos during my second year at ESSEC was pivotal in this sense. While not a conflict zone, the crisis there is intense and demanding, exposing me to situations where the human costs of political decisions were painfully visible.

Facing such challenges early on taught me resilience, empathy, and how to act under pressure.

ESSEC’s strong international exposure helped me grow comfortable stepping outside my comfort zone and navigating diverse, complex projects.

Overall, ESSEC fostered adaptability and a culture of continuous learning - skills essential in crisis regions like Eastern DRC.

From your perspective in the field, how has the role of the private sector evolved in the landscape of international cooperation and crisis response?

M.M. - The private sector increasingly offers tremendous opportunities in international cooperation - through logistical support, technological innovation, and funding - but it is also too often a driver of conflict, due to predatory corporate or financial interests. This growing role raises important tensions.

While public–private partnerships can accelerate impact, they must be carefully managed to avoid undermining humanitarian principles. Some initiatives prioritize visibility over long-term needs or clash with local priorities. Critical questions remain: who truly benefits, and who pays the price?

A key challenge is ensuring that private engagement aligns with conflict sensitivity, impartiality, and accountability - values that are non-negotiable in crisis response.

The world is facing overlapping geopolitical shocks—from war in Ukraine and the Middle East to rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific. What risks do you think these upheavals pose for business leaders and multinationals?

M.M. - Geopolitical shocks today extend far beyond traditional conflict or instability. They take diverse forms that business leaders and multinationals cannot ignore and must carefully analyze in every decision.

Previously, such analyses could be outsourced or reserved for specific projects, but now they must be embedded at the core of business strategy. Risks range from sudden political shifts altering entire markets, to conflicts disrupting supply chains and financial systems, or directly threatening assets and staff as well as putting local populations at risk because of unintended consequences or harmful partnerships.

Involving geopolitical experts in business processes not only helps build long-term resilience to prevent, absorb, adapt, and respond to volatility, but also ensures operations remain ethical and responsible, avoiding corruption, complicity with war criminals or abusive actors, and mitigating harm to civilians.

You represented France at the Y7 Summit in Ottawa this year. What did you take away from this multilateral youth engagement, and how do you think it can influence G7 decision-making in practice?

M.M. - In early May, in Ottawa, we worked with our peers to develop recommendations for G7 Heads of State.

If youth are often silenced or dismissed for lacking experience, this multilateral youth engagement reminded me of many official diplomatic processes I have witnessed, both in the dynamics of negotiation and in the arguments advanced.

The Y7 is not a symbolic or “mock” exercise; it is a genuine forum whose seriousness and rigor demonstrate that youth participation is both credible and legitimate.

Our generation is often dismissed as merely a demographic minority, yet we have grown up amid crisis that force us to confront the future with urgency and limited resources. If the G7 settles for empty rhetoric, it will have failed not only a generation already grappling with these challenges but also those who will ultimately have to rebuild it.

While the Y7 has opened doors and given us a seat at the table, it is still not enough. That is why we are using this platform to initiate concrete exchanges with national authorities, starting with French and Canadian decision-makers.

We continue to engage leaders, civil society, and the general public through press, conferences, and roundtables. This engagement will persist over time, with notably the organization by the Open Diplomacy Institute of the Y7 2026 under France’s G7 presidency.

Many students at ESSEC dream of working for the UN or contributing to global peace and development. What advice would you give them to turn ambition into action?

M.M. - My advice is: don’t pursue a UN career just for the title or prestige. First, reflect deeply on your purpose - what cause or belief drives you, and what are you truly ready to sacrifice?

Start small and local by working with grassroots organizations where you’ll learn the most and understand what real commitment requires. Then, depending on your goals within the vast UN system, seek positions offering exposure and responsibility. Later, if you see the UN as the best platform to achieve your desired impact, transition toward more political or diplomatic roles to better understand broader dynamics and high-level decision-making.

Like many sectors, building your network, finding mentors, and continuously learning are essential. This field is challenging and often underfunded, so be ready to seize any opportunity that broadens your experience and connections. Fieldwork, especially alongside affected communities - the true experts - teaches invaluable lessons. It bridges the gap between political decisions at headquarters and their impact on the ground, and helps you understand local dynamics deeply.

On an important note, always question your own biases, stay open-minded, and practice empathy. Listen carefully to the communities you serve and give them agency, no one understands their needs or context better than they do. Their voices must guide your decisions, because meaningful solutions come from respecting and empowering those directly affected.

Finally, remember that every political decision carries a human cost. Never lose sight of whom you serve. Avoid choices driven by personal gain or career ambitions; stay grounded in your mission and the people you’re here to support.

One final question: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned about leadership while operating in a complex UN peacekeeping environment?

M.M. - In complex UN peacekeeping environments, I’ve learned that leadership hinges on trust, credibility, and unwavering principles.

Trust is vital because you operate in highly complex settings where your team must believe in your vision, and you must empower colleagues and trust they can move mountains alongside you.

Credibility is equally crucial when leading across some of the most diverse cultures, professions, and hierarchies you’ll ever encounter, and it comes through empathy, open-mindedness, and a genuine willingness to listen and understand others.

Finally, principled leadership ensures you never lose sight of who you serve. Even amid competing agendas, protecting the dignity and needs of communities must anchor every decision and keep you grounded in your mission.

ABOUT THE ESSEC INSTITUTE FOR GEOPOLITICS & BUSINESS

The ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business was created in 2024 to help companies and leaders navigate a world of geopolitical disruption, economic fragmentation, and strategic uncertainty.

We examine how global power shifts transform business models, how firms are becoming geopolitical actors, and how corporate strategies must adapt to the end of business as usual.

Rooted in ESSEC’s academic excellence in Cergy-Paris, Rabat and Singapore, the Institute draws on three flagship centers:

• the IRENE Center for Negotiation & Mediation,

• the Center for Geopolitics, Defense & Leadership, and

• the Center for European Law & Economics.

Together, they bridge cutting-edge research, executive education, and strategic foresight.

Our ambition: to empower geopolitics-fit leaders and build resilient, vigilant organizations for an age of global brutalization.

Contact

: Thomas FRIANG, Executive Director of the ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business - friang@essec.edu