Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, yesterday, at Ceseden headquarters./ Photo: La Razón.
The Diplomat. Madrid
The president of the Government gave a speech at the Spanish Centre for National Defence Studies (Ceseden in its Spanish acronym) in an auditorium full of Spanish soldiers who are finishing the course of General Staff of the Armed Forces. An unusual practice, since the only precedent dates back to 2002 with José María Aznar.
From the beginning, Rajoy decided to talk “with the head but from the heart” about the leadership demanded to officials of the General Staff and he used the opportunity to make a geostrategic analysis of the international scene, “invaded by multiples types of power, in many cases negative power”.
These new actors, who have “as objective refusing the power to those exercising it by orders”, quoting “terrorists, smugglers or human traders”, are content “with little power” were they go, being “an unknown, vague, untraceable and unpredictable opponent”.
The head of the Executive estimated that the world nowadays has “fewer threats” like the end of the Cold War, but it also offers “less peace” to live. In his opinion, even though the strategic floodlight is pointed at the theatre Asia-Pacific, “the 21st century will not belong to the United States, to China, to Asia or to any other”.
“The world will not belong to anyone and for the first time in history – Rajoy warned- it will be interdependent, but without a centre of gravity or a world guardian. All of us will contribute to that security or, on the contrary, will ask for it”.
The president underlined that the Mediterranean is an area of “potential conflicts” for Spain
Afterwards, the president of the Government talked about the reality of the western Mediterranean, an area “of intense relations, of rivalries, of potential conflicts” for Spain, because there are “very different” mixed interests. In his opinion, a “more stable and democratic” Mediterranean is the best guarantee of security for all the countries of the region.
However, the political instability and the lack of economic perspectives for most of the population in this region are factors affecting the Sahel’s security directly and, by extension, Spain’s and Europe’s. That is why the influence exercised by Spain within the NATO stands out, so that it does not lose sight of what happens in the south coast of the Mediterranean –through the so called Dialogue for the Mediterranean with the Arab allies- or the attention given to the EU through the Initiative 5+5, where Spain presides at the moment the forum on defence. The third factor mentioned by Rajoy was the bilateral relations “more and more intense” with Algeria and Morocco.
Finally, he emphasized that the United States is for Spain “the reference partner” when getting a greater view of the transatlantic relations, both with the rest of the American continent and with the future of Africa.
