Several members of the Observatory participated in the IBEI-GIGA workshop on Security, Conflict, and Peace that took place at IBEI on the 22-23 February. Martijn Vlaskamp (IBEI), Elena Simanschi (UAB/IBEI), Adrià Rivera (IBEI), Juan Pablo Soriano (UAB), Aitor Bonsoms (UAB/IBEI), and the Observatory’s PI Esther Barbé (UAB/IBEI) acted as presenters and discussants, as well as co-hosting the event and chairing various panels of the workshop co-organised by IBEI and the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA).
As co-host, Martijn Vlaskamp opened the workshop alongside Christian von Soest from GIGA. Martijn also presented a paper titled “Pathways to Political Instability: Explaining the Varying Consequences of Oil Price Shocks” on the panel about regime stability in the MENA region. Additionally, he acted as a discussant for Eckart Woertz’s presentation from GIGA and chaired another panel on sanctions regimes.
Esther Barbé, the Observatori PI, chaired the panel on the EU in the world where Adrià also presented a paper, which was discussed by Juan Pablo Soriano. Finally, Juan Pablo Soriano presented his ideas, which were discussed by Zhanpeng Wang from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Adrià’s presentation was titled “The Hydrocarbons-Stability Nexus in Algeria in the Light of EU’s Green Transition,” and Juan Pablo’s “EU-Latin America Security Cooperation in Times of Complex Threats.”
Juan Pablo Soriano chaired the panel “The European Union’s Southern Neighbourhood,” where Adrià presented a second paper, “Recalibrating the Local Lens: Drivers and Transformations of the EU’s Territorial Agenda in the Southern Neighbourhood,” alongside co-author Fátima Fernández Fernández (Universitat Oberta Catalunya).
Finally, Aitor Bonsoms presented his paper “Power, Governance, and Coordination in the Prevention of Violent Extremism and Terrorism: The Cases of France and Spain,” which was discussed by Désirée Reder (GIGA). Aitor also discussed Désirée’s paper in the same panel.