Debate on Spain’s Foreign Policy
A piece in Spanish, giving a bipartisan assessment of Zapatero’s foreign and European policy and the challenges for the Spanish presidency
Experts & Staff
José Ignacio Torreblanca
Head, ECFR Madrid
Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Technology and geopolitics, EU strategic autonomy; disinformation and influence operations
Languages
Spanish, English
Biography
Dr José Ignacio Torreblanca is the head of the Madrid office and senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
He holds a PhD in political science from the Complutense University of Madrid and is a senior lecturer at the National Distance Education University in Madrid where he teaches graduate and postgraduate courses on the European Union. He was a Fulbright Scholar at George Washington University in Washington DC and a postdoctoral fellow at the European University Institute in Florence.
As an expert on disinformation, he has worked with Spain’s National Security Directorate Taskforce on Disinformation Campaigns at the prime minister’s office and submitted evidence on disinformation and foreign interference in the Joint Congress-Senate National Security Committee of the Spanish parliament.
He runs a weekly column in El Mundo called “Café Steiner” and is a weekly contributor on Spanish National Public Radio. Prior to joining ECFR, Torreblanca was the editorial director of El Pais where he authored a weekly column and a blog for 10 years.
His writing on EU politics and EU foreign policy has been published widely, including a 2001 book on eastern enlargement, The Reuniting of Europe: Promises, Negotiations and Compromises, one on the EU and the 2008-2011 financial crisis, ¿Quién gobierna en Europa?: reconstruir la democracia, recuperar a la ciudadanía?, and another in 2011 on EU foreign and security policy, La fragmentación del poder europeo. He has also published on the politics of populism, including a book on the rise of Podemos party in Spain in 2015, Asaltar los cielos: Podemos o la política después de la crisis, and the rise of the Spanish far-right in 2019, ¿Ha llegado Vox para quedarse?: la sorpresa Vox.
In his latest work, he has concentrated on the geopolitics of technology, where he has led various research projects focusing on EU external digital policies, including the EU-Latin America and the Caribbean Digital Alliance. In 2020, he published a book with Carla Hobbs on Europe’s digital sovereignty, La soberanía digital de Europa, and in 2023 published a journal article on “Social networks and democracy: problems and dilemmas of regulating the digital ecosystem”.
Theocracy dot com
Events in Iran show just to what extent the new technologies can affect the political landscape
Rescue plans
The economic crisis has highlighted the lack of respect member states have for the European Commission
Three sad songs
Europe needs to take decisive action on three Portuguese fronts: the Lisbon Agenda, the Lisbon Treaty and Barroso
Democracy without adjectives
Events in Iran look set to have significant repercussions on the rest of the world
European drama
We are victims of a political system designed to be boring
Voting for Europe
Low turnout levels in the EU elections will only be reversed by greater transparency
Bittersweet anniversary
As Europe celebrates the 5th anniversary of enlargement, the concept of Eastern Europe is unfortunately still alive and well
Europe?s social deficit and the next European elections
Elections to the European Parliament offer an opportunity to discuss Europe?s left-right dimension
Spain?s place at the table
Spain has managed to obtain a seat at the G-20, but it still has to figure out what it wants to stand for
Publications
Brazil: Europe’s bridge to the global south
Brazil and Europe share many similarities: both seek autonomy amid escalating US-China tensions – while championing multilateralism and navigating democratic pressures for a values-based foreign policy. However, their potential for collaboration remains largely untapped
Control-Alt-Deliver: A digital grand strategy for the European Union
The EU is falling behind the US and China in the digital realm. It urgently needs a new agenda combining innovation, security, and influence for an age of geopoliticised technology
Strategic interdependence: Europe’s new approach in a world of middle powers
Middle powers are shaping a fragmented world for which Europe is ill prepared. To protect its interests and values, the EU needs a foreign policy strategy that emphasises its wide range of interdependencies
Byting back: The EU’s digital alliance with Latin America and the Caribbean
The EU can counter Chinese and Russian influence through a digital alliance with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
The geopolitics of technology: How the EU can become a global player
The digital space is a key battleground in today’s global power struggles. For the EU to become a global player in the geopolitics of technology, it needs an ambitious external digital strategy – one that allows it to secure its interests, values, and standing in a world of intensifying geo-technological competition
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
Articles
Glitch in the matrix: How Europeans should respond to the Trump-Musk tech agenda
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are setting out America’s new approach to digital technology—including social media and AI. The EU must understand their motivations and work with willing partners to curb negative influence in the global digital sphere
Innovate, protect, and influence: The EU’s technology trilemma and how to solve it
As technological competition between the US and China grows, the EU’s next technology agenda needs to be more assertive to maximise its global influence
Critical material: The EU’s and Chile’s new relationship in the multipolar world
The EU’s and Chile’s enhanced association agreement will strengthen Europeans’ place in the “à la carte” world. The bloc should continue to tackle its dependencies and build mutually beneficial relations with countries across the globe
Onwards and outwards: Why the EU needs to move from strategic autonomy to strategic interdependence
Strategic autonomy is a defensive strategy that sends the wrong message to the world. The EU should instead accept that interdependencies are not only inevitable but desirable, and cultivate them with its allies and partners
Showdown: What to expect from Spain’s general election
While Spain’s People’s Party leads the polls, obscure alliances and voter concerns leave the country’s future direction – and its impact on next year’s European Parliament elections – uncertain
Digital diplomacy: How to unlock the Global Gateway’s potential in Latin America and the Caribbean
If the Global Gateway is to compete with the Belt and Road Initiative, it must go big, green, digital, and ethical. And it can prove it in Latin America
Ukraine one year on: When tech companies go to war
The war in Ukraine has reinforced the strategic role of global tech giants in defence and security policy. NATO and the EU should learn from this as they try to deter future aggressors
Insights from an AI author: The geopolitical consequences of ChatGPT
ChatGPT seems set to shake up the technology industry, but its implications for geopolitics are less clear. We asked ChatGPT what these might be
Ukraine, Europe, and the power of association: A new way to help aspiring EU states
A new compact could allow Ukraine, Balkans states and others to move closer to the EU and drive reform more powerfully than the current rigid rules
Why Ukraine has won the right to join NATO
The new European security order should be based on Ukraine’s security, not Russia’s. This will require Ukraine to join NATO and the EU
Podcasts
Brazil’s role in a changing world order
Mark Leonard welcomes José Ignacio Torreblanca and Pawel Zerka to discuss Brazil’s role in a changing world order
Europe is shifting: EU election results could divide Europe
In this new episode, Vessela Tcherneva welcomes head of ECFR offices to discuss national implications of the EU elections
The European pulse: the election and beyond
Mark Leonard welcomes Célia Belin, Piotr Buras, Jana Puglierin, Maria Simeonova, José Ignacio Torreblanca, and Arturo Varvelli to discuss the European Parliament elections and the future of European politics
Spain and Poland at the ballot box: what’s next for Europe?
Mark Leonard welcomes José Ignacio Torreblanca and Piotr Buras to discuss recent developments in Spanish and Polish politics and their impact on Europe
The future of European politics
Mark Leonard welcomes the heads of ECFR’s national offices to discuss key players outside the traditional halls of European power
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?
Events
22 Nov
Samba Steps: Understanding Brazil’s global role and what it means for Europe
As global power dynamics shift amid intensifying US-China rivalry, the rise of assertive middle powers, and increased scepticism toward the international rules-based order, Europe finds…
20 Jul
La Cumbre UE-CELAC y la Presidencia Española: Próximos pasos
El 20 de julio ECFR celebró una reunión virtual a puerta cerrada para intercambiar perspectivas sobre los resultados alcanzados en la Cumbre UE-CELAC del 17-18 julio y la posterior hoja de ruta durante la Presidencia española del Consejo de la UE
28 Oct
Debate público sobre la Alianza Digital entre la Unión Europea y América Latina y el Caribe
En su reunión (virtual) del 2 de diciembre de 2021, los jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de la UE y América Latina y el Caribe…
29 Mar
The birth of geopolitical Europe: In conversation with Josep Borrell
With the EU’s High Representative as our honoured guest, the panel will explore the birth of a geopolitical Europe and the new dimensions of European power with a focus on the tech, economic, and security terrains
22 Mar
La Hora de la Sociedad Civil: Un Diálogo Transatlántico sobre Venezuela
Este debate fue una iniciativa del Foro Cívico, de la Oficina en Washington para Asuntos Latinoamericanos (WOLA), el Open Society Foundations (OSF) y el European…
10 Mar
The EU and Japan: Strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific
In collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Madrid, ECFR has organised a public virtual debate to explore how the EU and the Indo-Pacific can build a strategic alliance and how the EU-Japan relationship can drive this process
14 Dec
Cooperación Tecnológica Transatlántica: Cómo hacer que el Consejo de Comercio y Tecnología sea un éxito
Esta es la primera reunión de nuestra iniciativa en ECFR diseñada para acompañar a las negociaciones oficiales del Consejo de Comercio y Tecnología (TTC) entre…
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…
9 Dec
Una amistad llamada Europa. Recoger el testigo
No hay aspiraciones colectivas sin inspiración, ni futuro sin memoria. Seguir construyendo Europa sobre relaciones de confianza es hoy más necesario que nunca
25 Nov
In the media
He sees himself as a savior of U.S. democracy from the progressives
José Ignacio Torreblanca on Musk’s interference in European politics
Giorgos Verdi and José Ignacio Torreblanca on the possibility of Musk utilizing X to stir popular backlash against EU governments in case he gets fined
The 7 October attacks are to Israel as the Twin Towers are to the United States
José Ignacio Torreblanca analyses current international affairs
José Ignacio Torreblanca on internal relations in Spain
José Ignacio Torreblanca on why Puigdemont’s exile in Belgium is advantageous for Sánchez