Yakovleva Nailya Magitovna – Ph.D. in History, Leading Researcher, ILAS RAS Yakovlev Petr Pavlovich – Sc.D. in Economics, Chief Researcher, INION RAS
In the area of North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East (collectively, the Greater Middle East), the historical «ballast» of the Kingdom of Spain in the form of its colonial past is relatively small in comparison, for example, with such European powers as Great Britain and France. At the same time, Spain’s growing trade and economic potential contributes to the growth of its international political authority, making it a prominent player and an attractive business partner in various parts of the world. The combination of these circumstances allowed Madrid to build strong channels of diplomatic ties in the countries of the Greater Middle East and consistently promote its foreign policy narrative, according to which Spain is a staunch supporter of the development of mutually beneficial cooperation and a firm opponent of aggressive forceful methods of solving interstate problems. The vast and resource-rich region stretching from Mauritania to Pakistan is within the sphere of strategic interests of the Spanish state and business community, which is why official Madrid seeks to act here in a pragmatic manner, constantly taking into account global geoeconomic changes and multi-vector trajectories of international political dynamics in the countries of the Greater Middle East.
Greater Middle East, Spain, trade, economic ties, cooperation in the field of defense and security, crisis situations.
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