Author: Charles Powell.
The book El rey Juan Carlos I y la proyección exterior de España (King Juan Carlos I and the external projection of Spain), by Charles Powell, historian and president of the Real Instituto Elcano, was presented at the Fundación Ortega-Marañón on 3 February.
Relying on documents from archives in several countries and dozens of written and oral testimonies of Spanish and foreign politicians, diplomats and journalists who dealt with him, This book explores in depth the contribution of King Juan Carlos to the gradual normalization and subsequent external projection of Spain from his appointment as successor of Franco in 1969 until his abdication in 2014.
Powell argues that the monarch made a decisive contribution to the foreign recognition of the new democratic Spain, facilitating its entry into NATO (1982) and the European Community (1986). It also helped to rebalance the relationship with the United States, promoted the reunion with Hispanic America and the creation of the Ibero-American Community of Nations, and cultivated the Arab world without this being an obstacle to the recognition of Israel, enabling the Madrid Conference on the Middle East to be held in 1991. Powell also studies his remarkable contribution to the so-called ‘public diplomacy’, which was mainly reflected in the Barcelona Olympics and the Seville Expo’92, and his efforts to mitigate the impact of the financial crisis of 2008.
The book closes with an analysis of the scandals that led to his abdication, and concludes that, despite the mistakes he undoubtedly made, King Juan Carlos performed a remarkable diplomatic task, which deserves to be (re)known by the Spaniards.
Pages: 632
Publisher: Galaxia Gutenberg, S.L.
Binding: Hard cover
ISBN: 9788410317291
RPP: 32,30 euros