CUNEF Universidad stresses the importance of studying geopolitics in a new complementary activity

On Monday, 24 November, the School of Business, Economics and Law of CUNEF Universidad organised “Europe in the face of Global Disorder: geopolitical and security challenges”, a complementary activity for undergraduate students. Held in the Auditorium of the Almansa Campus, the session featured speakers Gustavo Palomares, Director of the General Gutiérrez Mellado University Institute and Jean Monnet Professor in Europe, and Federico Aznar Fernández-Montesinos, Principal Analyst at the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies and Professor at the Centre for National Defence Studies (CESEDEN).

During the activity, chaired by Alberto Iglesias Garzón, Professor of the Department of Law at CUNEF Universidad, the experts agreed on the importance of learning about international relations to understand our daily lives in an increasingly interconnected world. In this sense, they urged students to “go beyond mere facts” and develop their critical thinking.

The speakers analysed Europe’s current role in global geopolitics and stressed that the European Union needs, in their opinion, “to recover the prominence it lost after the Second World War” and take control of its own security. They also pointed out that the US still needs the EU, and that their “policy of withdrawal”, implemented after the attacks on September 11, 2001, is not benefitting them, because other powers, such as China, are filling the gap they are leaving by stepping back.

At the end of the session, Gustavo Palomares and Federico Aznar answered multiple questions from students interested in international policy issues, from the position of the United States in the Israel-Palestine conflict, to a possible reform of the UN Security Council.