Mahdi Elmandjra

By
-
86

Mahdi Elmandjra : biography

March 13, 1933 –

Publications

He has published several books and over 500 articles in the fields of the human and social sciences. He is a co-author of "No Limits to Learning" (Report to the Club of Rome, 1979) and the author of several books including "The United Nations System" (1973), "Maghreb et Francophonie" (1988), "Premiere Guerre Civilisationnelle" (1991), "Retrospective des Futurs" (1992), "Nord-Sud, Prelude a l’Ere Postcoloniale" (1993), «Cultural Diversity Key to Survival» (1995),» (1996), «Decolonisation Culturelle : Defi majeur du 21e Siecle» (1996), "Reglobalization of globalization" (2000), "Communication Dialogue" (2000),“Intifadates” (2001), Humiliation à l’ère du méga-impérialisme (2003) et Ihana (2004). Many of his books have been translated to Japanese such as “The First Civilizational War” (1999) and “The Afghan War : The Second Civilizational War, The End of an Empire”.

Professor Elmandjra received the Prix de la Vie Economique 1981 (France), the Grand Medal of the French Academy of Architecture (1984), the distinctions of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (France, 1985) and of the Order of The Rising Sun (Japan, 1986). He also received the Peace Medal of the Albert Einstein International Academy and the Award of the World Future Studies Federation (WFSF) in 1995. In 2002 he was made the first honorary member of the Moroccan Association of Researchers and Scientists (MARS).

Major television programmes

  • Maroc 2000 (6 hours), RTM, Rabat (1978);
  • Les Dossiers de l’Ecran, "La Prochaine Decennie", TF 1, Paris (1980);
  • Dossier, "Le Grand Maghreb", RTT, Tunis (1980);
  • Lendemains pour l’Homme, "En finir avec la Faim", Antenne 2, Paris (1981);
  • Le Tiers Monde et Nous, Antenne 2, Paris (1981);
  • Rencontre Avec …, RTS, Dakar (1981);
  • L’Avenir du Futur, "An 2020 Surpopulation ?", Antenne 2, Paris (1981);
  • "Informatics & Development", U.N. TV, New York (1982);
  • L’Avenir du Futur, "La Revolution Vegetale", Antenne 2, Paris (1983);
  • From 1984 to 2000, WDR 3, Cologne (1985);
  • La Clave, "Death in Abundance", Madrid (1985);
  • Morocco and Latin America, RTM, Rabat (1985);
  • Document, RTM, Rabat (1985);
  • "The Child and the Computer", RTM, Rabat (1986);
  • "The Future of International Cooperation", with J.J. Servan-Schreiber & Isomura, NHK 3, Tokyo (1986);
  • "Architecture Islamique", Prix de l’Aga Khan 1986, Emission "Mosaique", FR3, Paris (1986);
  • "Architectures Dynastiques", Dossier du Mois, RTM, Rabat (1987);
  • "L’Avenir du Monde Arabe", FR 3, Paris (1988);
  • "Rencontre", Immigration, FR 3, Paris (1989);
  • "The Gulf War", WDR, Frankfurt (1991);
  • "Les Nations Unies et la Guerre du Golfe", TV Tunis (1991).

Career

Mahdi Elmandjra graduated from Cornell (USA) and obtained his PhD from the London School of Economics. He has taught international relations at the University of Rabat since 1958.

Elmandjra has held many occupations throughout his career. After finishing his studies, ElMandjra started his career as Director General of the Moroccan Broadcasting Service (RTM) and as a Counselor of the Moroccan Mission to the UN. He occupied various functions in the UN body from 1961 to 1981 including that of Assistant Director General of UNESCO for Social Sciences, Human Sciences and Culture as well as Coordinator of the Conference on Technical Cooperation between Developing countries at the UNDP.

He was President of the World Futures Studies Federation and of Futuribles International as well as the founding President of the Moroccan Association of Future Studies and the Moroccan Organization of Human Rights.

He is a member of the African Academy of Sciences and of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco. He has been a Visiting Professor to Tokyo University (1998) and a Visiting Scholar of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at the Tokyo Keizai University (1999).