Paul Zajac is Director for Strategy and Policy at the French Atomic Energy Commission, focusing on nuclear deterrence.

From 2020 to 2024, he headed the Strategic Affairs Division of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for NATO policy and European security.

Prior to this, he served for two years (2018-2020) within the political section of the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., after having been seconded for one year as a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a DC-based think tank (2017-2018).

Between 2014 and 2017, he was Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Staff at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2010-2013, he served at the French Embassy in Berlin, focusing on Franco-German defense cooperation. He started his career within the Security Policy Department of the French MFA, dealing with NATO and Common Security and Defence Policy (2007-2010).

Paul Zajac graduated from the Ecole normale supérieure, and holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Sciences-Po Paris and a Master’s degree in History from Sorbonne University.