Another year over. As a Non-Resident Fellow at the Real Instituto Elcano, I have had the great pleasure of working closely with my colleagues in the Brussels office and at our headquarters in Madrid. I want to thank all of my colleagues and the Institute’s leadership. It has been a productive and stimulating year, not least because Spain held the Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2023. In what follows, I outline the highlights of my year at the Institute. 

I started the year by representing the Real Instituto Elcano at an EU Satellite Centre seminar. I was asked to share my views on the European Union and its approach to space. My contribution set the groundwork for a paper I would publish with the Real Instituto Elcano in February 2023 entitled: “A Stellar Moment? Spain, Strategy and European Space”. The exchange with colleagues from the EU Satellite Centre was characteristically rich and I had the opportunity to share my reflections on the future of the Centre and its important role in EU security and defence. 

In February, it was my pleasure to be in Madrid for an event on “Semiconductors Chips and US-China Competition: Implications for Europe”. I was asked to provide my views and feedback on an excellent presentation delivered by Professor Sarah Kreps. 

In June, I was very pleased to be part of two events organised in conjunction with Adigital and Digital Europe. Our two events focused on the Data and AI Acts, and we sought to bring together key partners and stakeholders for a discussion about the opportunities and challenges associated with EU legislation for the digital economy. The fruit of our two events was a report, which reflects the main issues raised at our two events. 

On 30 August, I had the privilege of moderating a high-level panel on the development of the EU’s Strategic Compass for security and defence, as part of a seminar entitled “Implementing the Strategic Compass: Challenges and Opportunities”. I was joined by a stellar panel of João Gomes Cravinho, Kajsa Ollongren, Sven Biscop, Christine Nissen and Pol Morillas. The event was organised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, the Spanish Ministry of Defence and the Real Instituto Elcano. We ended the event with a clarion call from Charles Powell on the need for greater European efforts on defence. 

In September, I published another piece of analysis for the Institute entitled “Investing and Innovating? Spain and the European Defence Fund”. The paper looked at how Spain was benefitting from the European Defence Fund and it gained media attention too. The paper was quoted at length by media pieces by El Confidencial and Science Business. The Institute published my paper in Spanish here.

In November, the NATO Expert Group on the South met in Madrid and I was asked to join my Real Instituto Elcano colleagues in a discussion about multitude of security threats facing the alliance from the South. In particular, I was asked to provide input on the growing role of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies in the South and I focused my remarks on the role of proliferation, military modernisation and economic statecraft. 

I ended the year with an event in Madrid, which was organised by my good colleague Ignacio Molina. The event marked the end of the 2023 Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU. I was invited to share my views on the relevance of EU enlargement and reform in the context of EU foreign, security and defence policy. The event led to an extremely rich discussion and there were many individuals in the audience that engaged with questions and comments. It was the perfect way to end the year and it helped highlight Real Instituto Elcano’s continued relevance in European debates. You can watch the video recording of the event here.

Overall, my work also focused on the tragic and brutal war in Ukraine. As part of my work on Russia’s war, I was very pleased to contribute my thoughts on potential scenarios for the war with Politica Exterior. I was extremely pleased to be part of a collaborative effort at the Institute led by José Juan Ruiz and Ignacio Molina on a publication entitled “La guerra en Urcania un año después. Impacto global, europea y español”. My own contribution to the edited collection of essays focused on EU approaches to the war. 

I would like to once again thank all of my great Real Instituto Elcano colleagues for their warm cooperation throughout the year! I thank the leadership José Juan Ruiz and Charles Powell for their guidance, and for Luis Simón’s leadership of the Brussels office. I have countless colleagues in Madrid to thank: they have enriched my own thinking and helped me with my efforts. We will be busy in 2024 and I cannot wait to get to it.