U.S. Air Force Colonel and French Diplomat Join The Washington Institute as Visiting Fellows

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Pierre-Arnaud Blanchard, a diplomat in the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Lt. Col. Patricia Brennan of the U.S. Air Force have joined The Washington Institute as visiting fellows for the 2026-2027 year. The Institute has welcomed fellows from the French foreign ministry for the past decade and from the U.S. Air Force for the past 30 years.

“We are delighted to host these outstanding visiting fellows at the Institute,” said Segal Executive Director Robert Satloff, the Howard P. Berkowitz Chair in U.S. Middle East Policy. “Their extensive experience in Washington, Paris, and the Middle East will bring fresh insights and perspectives to our policy research at this critical time.”

A career diplomat, Blanchard is an expert on Middle Eastern affairs. From 2022 to 2026, he worked on Israeli-Palestinian affairs at the French general consulate in Jerusalem. From 2020-2022, he served as deputy head of the Near East Department at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, coordinating policy teams responsible for Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He has also been posted to the French embassy in Tehran, Iran. In addition to his diplomatic service, Blanchard has taught international relations and international law at École Militaire, the leading French military academy, and the Sorbonne. He graduated from the École Nationale d’Administration, and he holds a master's in public administration from Sciences Po and a BA in philosophy from the Sorbonne. He has also studied at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon.

Before joining The Washington Institute, Lt. Col. Patricia Brennan commanded the 303rd Intelligence Squadron, leading 250 airmen across combined U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) units in support of the ROK's Combined Joint Chiefs of Staff, United States Forces Korea, and the U.S. Seventh Air Force. She has served in a range of operational, command, and staff assignments, including Distributed Ground Station-1; the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing; Headquarters Air Combat Command’s Directorate of Intelligence; the Combined Air Operations Center in Qatar; the 1st Special Operations Wing; and the National Security Agency. She also served at Headquarters Air Force in Washington, D.C., as the Secretary of the Air Force Team Chief, Executive Action Group.

Media Contact: Rehana Paul, 202-230-9550, email.

About The Washington Institute: The Institute is an independent, nonpartisan research institution funded exclusively by U.S. citizens that seeks to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them. Drawing on the research of its fellows and the experience of its policy practitioners, the Institute promotes informed debate and scholarly research on U.S. policy in the region.