On 19 October 2017 begins the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the country’s highest political instance, which is being carefully monitored at both national and international level. President Xi will outline the projects for his second term in front of the country’s main leaders. Philippe Le Corre, Research Fellow with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, analyzes the current situation.

The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), an influential European think tank, just recently published a policy brief, To end a war: Europe?s role in bringing peace to Syria, penned by Julien Barnes-Dacey. According to him, Europeans should give up demanding a "transition" in Damascus to fall back on adjustments of Assad regime plans on the basis of a dose of decentralization or at least "devolution" in certain parts of the country.

Finally ! Paris will officially host the Olympic Games in 2024 - exactly 100 years after the last edition it had organised. Competing with Los Angeles, Paris' application stood out because of the numerous infrastructures already present in the city but, also, thanks to the successive withdrawals of the other city candidates (Boston, Hamburg, Rome, Budapest). However, there are many apprehensions around this event, particularly concerning the respect of the budget. Indeed, the Euro 2016 was prone to similar concerns.

Eric Chaney is the economic advisor at Institut Montaigne

Laurent Bigorgne, Director of the Institut Montaigne, answers our questions.

Catherine Moisan, former Director of the Evaluation, Forecasting and Performance Department (DEPP) of the French Ministry of National Education, answers our questions.

Eric Charbonnier, OECD Analyst for the Education and competences' department, answers ours questions.

Ollivier Lenot (Director of the "ambitious and innovative territories" program at the Caisse des Dépôts and former Digital & innovation advisor to the former Minister of Education, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem) answers our questions.

Christophe Gomes, Deputy Director of the organization Agir pour l'école, answers our questions.