The global geopolitical landscape is undergoing major changes, most notably the holistic struggle between the United States and China and the growing prominence of the Indo-Pacific over the Atlantic. The aim is to debate these issues from an Iberian, European and Ibero-American perspective, in order to make progress in defining a relevant role for Europe and Latin America.

Europe has just launched its European Digital Strategy, an ambitious project to regulate essential aspects of the digital economy and put it at the service of the people, European competitiveness and its environmental priorities. Having always opted for abstentionism in the face of Big Tech, the USA is now discovering in Europe's regulatory spirit an effective tool for controlling the political neutrality of the big platforms while providing a joint and democratic response to China's technological hegemony.

The economy that emerges from the pandemic will be much more technological than it was pre-COVID. The rate of digitisation and automation has accelerated without us being able to anticipate the full implications of this process for the labour market. According to WEF data, in 2022, 42% of all working hours will be carried out by machines, compared to the 29% recorded in 2018. The same study also claims that automation could be responsible for the loss of 75 million jobs worldwide in the coming years. Although new technologies may bring more growth and more and better quality jobs, they will also require a huge effort in terms of adapting workers and companies to avoid creating new inequalities and social exclusion.

The adaptation of the Spanish economy to the post-COVID world is one of the great challenges of the next decade. Not only because it is necessary to recover the dislocated welfare levels and macro-balances, but because it is essential to demonstrate that Spain has a solid, realistic and coherent Country Plan that is aligned with European rules and is capable of driving the sustainable, digital and inclusive growth that is needed to ensure the welfare of future generations. We will discuss which policies, instruments and types of governance can make this possible, with speakers from the world of institutions, markets and academia.

The planned withdrawal of the United States and their NATO allies from Afghanistan has caused a great impact on Western societies. Twenty years of military and humanitarian efforts in the area collapsed in a matter of hours, causing the chaotic mass departure of Western troops and thousands of refugees who hoped to flee the country. What happened in Afghanistan will have undeniable consequences in the international liberal order. The trusted relationships between the US and the members of NATO have been affected by the unilateral decision of President Biden. The US abandons a strategic position in Asia which other powers will try to occupy in order to extend their dominance in the area. Europeans are wondering where their institutions have been in this crisis and the Western block, as a whole, is seen to be in retreat. The failure of Afghanistan once more shapes the path to pragmatism in international relations, against the idealists who believed it possible to impose democracy in the area.

If a year ago we recognised the impressive ability of the Autonomous Regions to curb the Covid-19 health emergency across Spain, we are now witnessing the exemplary way in which they are implementing the vaccine roll-out. Over the course of this lengthy crisis, the autonomous regions have been vindicated as an essential and efficient administration model. However, the differences in demographics, income and activity between the autonomous regions threaten the principle of equality among Spaniards and add further strain the ever-complicated debate on regional financing.

The pandemic has cast doubt on many of the certainties that had defined our societies except one: the fight against climate change. Environmental commitment has been reinvigorated with the return of the USA to the Paris Agreement and the Green Deal proposed by the EU as one of its strategic priorities. People are more concerned than ever about the environment, companies about adapting their processes to sustainability commitments and public authorities about establishing the necessary policies to promote the required transformation fairly and inclusively.

The EU Next Generation funds are an unprecedented tool that will help to truly modernise the Spanish economy, pursuing full digitalisation and planning an orderly and fair transition towards decarbonisation. However, we are not starting from scratch. Spanish companies have done their homework, showing indisputable leadership in facing these unavoidable challenges. European funds can be the lever for our future development, but they need to be accompanied by other actors such as businesses and economic reforms to ensure that the post-pandemic upturn is sustained over time and becomes a genuine recovery.