Professional Affiliation

Author "Jews, Muslims, and the French Republic" (Cambria: 2023)

Expert Bio

Steven Philip Kramer is a Global Fellow with the Wilson Center's Global Europe Program. Steven is a historian of modern and contemporary Europe, with emphasis on France. Having been a professor at National Defense University for 30 years and an advisor to the State Department, he focuses on the historical dimensions of policy. His research has examined how post-war France was shaped by the experience of the Resistance and Liberation, European socialism, European security and defense and how developed nations attempted to deal with low and declining birth rates. His most recent book, entitled Jews, Muslims and the French Republic, was published by Cambria Press in 2023. It examines the situation of Muslims in France today by comparing it with the development of the French Jewish community. It also analyzes the reasons for the tensions and antagonisms between French Jews and Muslims.

Wilson Center Project

France: Contemporary Issues, Historical Ghosts

Project Summary

France is both a leader in Europe and a laboratory for the many issues facing European society. Its political elite, like that of America, sees France as an exceptional nation and strives to define Europe as a France writ large. Not least of France’s problems are its historical ghosts, stemming in large measure from its unstable history and colonial past.

This project will focus on key issues facing France today, setting them in their European and historical context. These include the drift to the right and far right preceding France’s presidential elections in April 2022, the difficult position of France’s Muslim community, trapped between jihadism and the increasingly negative attitude of French politicians, effort to foster a more self-reliant European defense and “strategic autonomy” and episodic tensions with the US.

Major Publications

• France's Muslim Predicament," National Interesgt, March 2020
• "Going it Alone,"National Interest, September 2021
• The Other Population Crisis: What Governments can do about Falling Birth Rates, Johns Hopkins Press, 2014

Previous Terms

Global Fellow; 2017-2019: "Muslims, Jews and the French Republic"; Public Policy Scholar, 2003, "Britain and the Future of European Security" Public Policy Scholar, 2010-2011, "Can Governments Reverse Falling Birth Rates?" Public Policy Fellow, Jan-July 2017