Marco Simoni is the new Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali
Rome, 4 May 2026 – Marco Simoni today takes up his role as Director of the Institute of International Affairs (IAI), an independent think tank founded in 1965 by Altiero Spinelli to promote understanding of foreign policy, European integration and international cooperation.
A political economist and professor at Luiss Guido Carli University, Simoni brings to the IAI extensive experience gained in academia, public institutions, and in leading research, economic and financial organisations.
In a message to staff on his first day as Director, Simoni stressed that “never has Spinelli’s vision been more relevant than today. He founded this Institute to promote informed Europeanism, sustainable economic growth based on international cooperation, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. We will continue with determination along a path that feels so timely it could have been drawn today.”
Biography
Marco Simoni is Director of the Institute of International Affairs and Professor of Practice in European Political Economy at Luiss University in Rome.
He holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and a PhD in Political Economy from the London School of Economics, where he began his academic career and was awarded tenure in 2014. His research focuses on European and comparative economic governance, economic policy, comparative models of capitalism, and industrial policy.
From 2014 to 2018, he served as economic adviser to Prime Ministers Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gentiloni, dealing with international economic relations, trade and investment, as well as industrial policy issues of international relevance.
From 2018 to 2022, he was Founding President of the Human Technopole Foundation, Italy’s leading life sciences research centre. Under his leadership, the institute moved from the planning phase to full operation: from zero staff and no facilities to a fully functioning research campus equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories and staffed by researchers and personnel from 25 countries.
Simoni has also held other senior positions, including Chairman of the Board of Directors of EUR S.p.A., a publicly owned real estate management company, and member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Scenarios and Sustainability Committee of SACE S.p.A., Italy’s export credit agency. He currently sits on the boards of public and private institutions in the finance, technology and research sectors, and advises private companies in the fields of finance, artificial intelligence, energy and proptech. His opinion pieces regularly appear in Italian media, and he frequently features in leading international outlets.