Joseph Maïla is a professor of geopolitics and international relations at ESSEC Business School. He is also the Director of the Mediation Program at the Institute for Research and Education on Negotiation (IRENE) at ESSEC. 

He was the first lay Rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris. 

He served as the Director of the Center for Analysis and Strategic Forecasting (CAPS) at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (2010-2012). In 2008, he was a member of the White Paper Commission on France’s Foreign and European Policy (2008-2020). He was also a member of the White Paper Commission on Defense and National Security (2013). 

Joseph Maïla is a member of the Strategic Council of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). He has been a member of the editorial board of the journal Esprit. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Études.