Summary of the Course on Current Issues in Spain Foreign Policy

Do you want to have an idea of ​​the main lines of Spanish Foreign Policy today? Don’t miss this summary of each of the round tables that took place in the Course on Current Issues in Spain Foreign Policy, talking about future challenges, the Brexit, emerging actors and the Sustainable Development Agenda.

Challenges of Spanish foreign policy

The first conference of the Course was about the “challenges of Spanish foreign policy”, by Ambassador Beatriz Larrotcha. It was commented that with respect to the current challenges of Spanish foreign policy we must differentiate between the challenges with essential geographic components and those challenges that make up sectoral vectors. In the geographical area, they stand out for Spain due to their importance: the Maghreb and the Sahel, Ibero-America, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific. If we describe the priority social vectors for Spain we find: Human Rights.

Spain and the European Union: special reference to Brexit

The second part of the session consisted of a round table and debate on Spain and the EU with special reference to Brexit. Dr. Castellá gave a detailed description of the Brexit political and social process, while the Diplomat Fuentes Milani highlighted the relevance of Brexit to the EU and described the withdrawal process of the United Kingdom from the EU. Several questions were raised and one of the most recurrent issues was the future position of Gibraltar with respect to the EU. To this, it is answered that Gibraltar will leave the EU together with the United Kingdom, but that any future agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU will only be applicable to Gibraltar if Spain has so agreed.

Relations of Spain with East Asia with special attention to India as an emerging global player

 

Professor Nicolás de Pedro, highlighted the interest of India for its fast rise in the region, we are facing the 7th economy of the World that aspires to become the 3rd. Currently the country has systemic strengths and structural weaknesses. According to the same, India currently needs many resources that Spain can offer, such as infrastructure, tourism or construction. But, in order to take advantage of it, it is necessary that bilateral relations reach a greater intensity.

The Diplomat Fidel Sendagorta told us about his foreign policy, noting that since the 1990s there has been a rapprochement between India and the US, which considers India a counterweight to China. In short, the present and future of the Asian region will be marked mainly by the Chinese boom and the struggle of the rest of emerging countries for not being engulfed by the Asian giant.

Terrorism as a threat to international peace and security

 

In the round table: “Terrorism as a threat to international peace and security” was attended by two expert personalities from both the academic and diplomatic fields, with the assistance of speakers Mr. Javier García-Larrache from MAEC and Dr. Sonia Andolz, Professor of International Policy at the University of Barcelona.

In the face of decentralized terrorism and composed of “unorganized” individuals, in the whole of international society, new scenarios and challenges are proposed to fight against this scourge. In order to defeat this new form of terrorism, the proposed solutions are always framed within the rule of law. There is no talk of defeating them in the open, but by suffocation, looking for ways to reach prevention and reintegration. The role of large technology companies in the fight against terrorism was also raised, focusing the subsequent debate on the dichotomy between privacy or privacy VS. security.

Spain’s relations with Africa: the challenges of the Sahel

 

Dr. Oscar Mateos shared with the audience his conviction that Spain must adapt its foreign policy to Africa, to ensure a better balance between the notions of development and security that inform it. For this, the notion of ownership of African partners is essential and the best way to ensure this way of working is by collaborating with the African Union or with ECOWAS, among other regional integration organizations, so that they can solve African problems on their own.

Mr. Robredo Rubio explained with reference to the Strategic Framework for Sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing that it foresees that five times more resources will be allocated to development than to security. According to the speaker, this new Spanish approach to the continent is based on an essential observation: Africa represents a challenge and an opportunity for Spain. To extend this prosperity to the entire continent, the diplomat defended the creation and strengthening of anchor countries: States that, like South Africa, have an ability to attract organized immigration and provide new economic opportunities for Africans.

Spain and the Sustainable Development Agenda

 

In the last round table, composed by the speakers D. Juan Francisco Montalbán Carrasco, Ambassador in Special Mission for the Agenda 2030 and Dr. Angel Rodrigo, Professor of Public International Law, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, the question of the Agenda was discussed 2030 which is approved in 2015, the so-called year of the triumph and consolidation of multilateralism, thanks to the approval of the “Addis Ababa Action Agenda” and the “Paris Climate Agreement”.

The 2030 Agenda is presented with all its slogans: “leave no one behind”, integrating and mainstreaming the “5P”: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership (alliances). With these elements we try to give coherence to public policies in line with the international policy to which we have committed ourselves, conditioning and helping each other, to respond to the problems of our planet, promoting joint work. The complexity of the challenge is high; we need a universal, multi-stakeholder and multi-level effort, with a high level of accountability.

Summaries extracted from the reports prepared by the students of the Preparation Course to Join the Diplomatic Corps.

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