The geopolitics of technology
The EU is often described as a “regulatory superpower” benefitting from the so-called “Brussels effect.” But is the bloc also able to set its own rules and standards when it comes to new technologies?
Experts & Staff
José Ignacio Torreblanca
Head, ECFR Madrid
Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Populism and euroscepticism in Europe; Common Foreign Security and Defence Policy; EU domestic politics; institutional reforms
Languages
Spanish, English
Biography
José Ignacio Torreblanca is a senior policy fellow and head of the Madrid office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since the launch of ECFR across Europe in 2007. His topics of focus include populism and euroscepticism in Europe, common foreign security and defence policy, and EU domestic politics and institutional reforms
Torreblanca was previously editorial director of the Spanish daily El Pais. His list of publications, articles, multimedia content and press interviews with ECFR is available below.
Geo-tech politics: Why technology shapes European power
New technologies are a significant force shaping international relations. If the EU wants to be more than a mediator between the US and China, it will need to change its mindset.
7 Jun
La Crisis Hispano-Marroquí
Con motivo de la escalada de tensión en las relaciones bilaterales entre España y Marruecos, y ante la previsible duración de la presente crisis, ECFR…
Understanding the conflict in Western Sahara
What is the Western Sahara conflict is all about, and how will the most recent developments between Morocco and Spain influence this conflict?
This time is different: Spain, Morocco, and weaponised migration
By weaponising migration in Ceuta to advance its Western Sahara claim, Morocco has made several major mistakes. Spain is part of an EU that is not in a joking mood on irregular migration blackmail.
Home alone: The UK’s foreign policy after Brexit
The UK appears to have gone full circle in its approach to the rest of the world – and to have found no answers along the way
“Spain is back”: An interview with Arancha González Laya
In an interview with the head of ECFR’s Madrid office, the Spanish foreign minister discusses how her country is adapting to the global challenges of the twenty-first century
Stranger in Moscow: Borrell’s unwelcome visit
What lessons can be drawn from Josep Borrell’s controversial visit to Moscow?
Referees don’t win games: Europe and the digital great game
The challenge for the EU is to match the innovation levels of the US and China and to defend its interests and principles against the American tech giants
The other contagion: Why the US Capitol attack is a warning to populists
From now on, citizens will understand much more clearly why it is said that democracies die bit by bit, until they suddenly succumb and it is too late
Publications
Geo-tech politics: Why technology shapes European power
New technologies are a significant force shaping international relations. If the EU wants to be more than a mediator between the US and China, it will need to change its mindset.
Europe’s digital sovereignty: From rulemaker to superpower in the age of US-China rivalry
The EU cannot continue to rely on its regulatory power but must become a tech superpower in its own right. Referees do not win the game.
Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
Together in trauma: Europeans and the world after covid-19
A new survey shows that, after the onset of the covid-19 crisis, there has been a rise in public support for unified EU action to tackle global threats
Border games: Has Spain found an answer to the populist challenge on migration?
Spain, and Europe, need a new story about migration – it remains to be seen how the country will put this into practice
How to govern a fragmented EU: What Europeans said at the ballot box
The results of the European election confront EU leaders with a considerable challenge: navigating a new, more fragmented, and polarised political environment
The Eurosceptic surge and how to respond to it
Pro-Europeans should create space for battles between competing visions of Europe
The continent-wide rise of Euroscepticism
Europeans are losing faith in the EU
What is political union?
Three choices for a more integrated Europe
The euro crisis: a Spanish perspective
How does the euro crisis look from Madrid?
Articles
This time is different: Spain, Morocco, and weaponised migration
By weaponising migration in Ceuta to advance its Western Sahara claim, Morocco has made several major mistakes. Spain is part of an EU that is not in a joking mood on irregular migration blackmail.
Home alone: The UK’s foreign policy after Brexit
The UK appears to have gone full circle in its approach to the rest of the world – and to have found no answers along the way
“Spain is back”: An interview with Arancha González Laya
In an interview with the head of ECFR’s Madrid office, the Spanish foreign minister discusses how her country is adapting to the global challenges of the twenty-first century
Referees don’t win games: Europe and the digital great game
The challenge for the EU is to match the innovation levels of the US and China and to defend its interests and principles against the American tech giants
The other contagion: Why the US Capitol attack is a warning to populists
From now on, citizens will understand much more clearly why it is said that democracies die bit by bit, until they suddenly succumb and it is too late
Views from the Capitals: What Biden’s victory means for Europe
What will a Biden administration herald for Europe? The heads of ECFR’s seven offices report on the mood in the capitals
Trump can’t tell the difference between dictatorship and democracy: An interview with Anne Applebaum and José Ignacio Torreblanca
ECFR’s José Ignacio Torreblanca in conversation with Applebaum about her latest book, The Twilight of Democracy
Views from the capitals: Gas conflict in the eastern Mediterranean
Experts from ECFR’s national offices address the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over gas reserves
George Soros: “I am proud of the enemies I have”
From Putin to Trump, to Viktor Orban and Xi Jinping, several world leaders accuse the Hungarian magnate of wanting to bring them down. In Spain, his main enemy is Vox.
“Strength has to start at home”: Interview with Borrell on the EU’s response to the coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic started as a health crisis, but it will have long-term political, economic, and social implications. In an exclusive interview with the head of ECFR’s Madrid office, José Ignacio Torreblanca, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell assesses the European response to the crisis, its geopolitical consequences, and its effects on conflicts in Europe’s neighbourhood.
Podcasts
The geopolitics of technology
The EU is often described as a “regulatory superpower” benefitting from the so-called “Brussels effect.” But is the bloc also able to set its own rules and standards when it comes to new technologies?
Understanding the conflict in Western Sahara
What is the Western Sahara conflict is all about, and how will the most recent developments between Morocco and Spain influence this conflict?
Stranger in Moscow: Borrell’s unwelcome visit
What lessons can be drawn from Josep Borrell’s controversial visit to Moscow?
An interview with Anne Applebaum and José Ignacio Torreblanca
Head of ECFR’s Madrid Office, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca talks to the American historian, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Gulag, and expert on authoritarian populism about…
Anxious allies: European sovereignty after the US election
How much impact does the future US president have on the very concept of European sovereignty? Will the idea and initiatives to build more strategic autonomy in Europe be put back to bed with Joe Biden in the White House?
Conquering the cyber sphere: How the EU can build digital sovereignty
Europe’s digital transformation and sovereignty has become a question of existential importance. But what does it actually mean to be digital sovereign? Host Mark Leonard…
The EU’s budget and recovery fund deal – a historic moment for Europe?
The over 90-hour European Council summit in Brussels ended with a deal on a €1.82 trillion financial package. What does…
Europe’s way out of the coronavirus crisis: from self-interest to solidarity?
The coronavirus crisis brought about financial hardship for the European Union, and many agree that a recovery fund would be needed to overcome it. In…
Bonding over coronabonds? How the financial question divides Europe
The EU members states have been caught up in a heated discussion on possible European ‘coronabonds’, a joint debt assistance by the Union to help…
Corona Angst – How the virus puts the European Project and globalisation at risk
Recently declared a global pandemic, it is undeniable that the coronavirus will be a global political, social, financial and economic crisis – requiring actions that…
In the media
Gayeuropa, the derogatory term used by Russian elites and Putin to portray to their population a decadent, exhausted and, of course, unmanly Europe
José Ignacio Torreblanca writes about the moral foundations of the Russian regime
What we did not expect was that software developers based in democratic countries, such as Israel’s NSO, would make it easier for all kinds of regimes to demolish rights
José Ignacio Torreblanca writes about how ICT are reinforcing dictatorships and debilitating democracies around the world
The presidents of the German Länder are the most frequent visitors to Brussels due to their population, economic importance, the federal structure of the country and the Europeanization of society
José Ignacio Torreblanca comments on the EU’s regional governments relations with the EU Commission
When the State only offers you faith or fear, you are likely, as is happening in Cuba, to lose both
José Ignacio Torreblanca talks about Cuba’s lack of freedom of expression and its consecuences
The truth is that, for many reasons, Spain is not a top-tier partner of the US, like the UK, Germany, Japan or South Korea
José Ignacio Torreblanca makes a quick update on the bilateral relation between Spain and USA