Nicolas Sarkozy served as the President of the French Republic from 2007 to 2012, a position that culminated from years spent dedicating his life to a highly esteemed and richly diverse political career. Prior to his presidency, Sarkozy occupied various ministerial posts including Minister of State, Minister of the Interior, Minister of the Economy, and Minister of Budget. From November 2014 to September 2016, he served as President of the French political party Les Républicains, a position he previously occupied from 2004 to 2007. Sarkozy retired from politics in November 2016 following the center-right presidential primary election. Sarkozy is the recipient of numerous honours, including the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Charles III (Spain), Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom) and Knight of the Golden Fleece (Spain). Mr. Sarkozy was a speaker at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Ideas Weekend, where he delivered the closing talk of Moonshot 4: “The Modern Silk Road: A new era of globalisation?”.

In March 2018, the Abu Dhabi Ideas Weekend welcomed some of the brightest and most interesting minds from the UAE and around the world to discuss four of the most important moonshot challenges facing our planet. The event was inspired by the world-famous Aspen Ideas Festival that has been taking place in Colorado since 2005, as a place for scientists, artists, politicians, business leaders, historians and educators to discuss some of the most fascinating ideas of our time. The 2018 Abu Dhabi Ideas Weekend topics included: “Polarisation: Bridging the gaps”, “Cancer: An end in sight?”, “Artificial Intelligence: Our super-intelligent friend?” and “The Modern Silk Road: A new era of globalisation”.