The motto of this new edition, “A World in Disorder”, may appear to be a sombre expression, but it simply reflects the intensity of the transformations we are witnessing. A World in Disorder refers to the rapid changes taking place, but it also points to the absence of moral certainties that might help us navigate this situation.
Wherever we turn our attention, we encounter a worrying reality; this is evident in the rise of illiberal policies and parties that reject the broad consensus on which our prosperity was built over decades, as well as in the limitations faced by governments when addressing the reforms required to ensure stable growth or to respond to increasingly pressing social challenges. Concern is also generated by the disregard shown by major powers towards the old rules-based international order, as well as by technological development that remains insensitive to the fundamental values of human dignity.
The world today is in disorder, yes. But this does not mean that we are inevitably condemned to a worse future. Our commitment and the dialogue that we promote from Foro La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico aim to contribute to laying the foundations of a new order that represents another step forward in humanity’s history of progress.
Our first focus is the situation of the Atlantic Link, a historic alliance that is a central part of our vision, although it is currently not experiencing its strongest moment. Beyond changing political circumstances, we continue to believe in the relevance and validity of this bond. Europe and America share far more than a common defence framework or privileged trade relations. The foundations and principles of this Western alliance must be preserved as the best guarantee for addressing the challenges we face.
Among these challenges, above all, stands the war in Ukraine, an existential issue for the invaded country and for European democracies as a whole. In a battered yet heroic Ukraine, and through the use of entirely revolutionary military technologies, a conflict is being fought that will largely determine the future security of the European continent and its defence model. European countries, so often criticised under different circumstances, have managed to assume the leading role that Washington stepped away from in the necessary solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Despite this, Ukraine is no longer perceived as a burden for the European Union, but rather as the most agile and effective military power on the continent, an indispensable partner in any future vision of European defence.
Meanwhile, the United States is moving towards midterm elections that are expected to be among the most decisive of recent years. The hyperbolic rhetoric of the Trump model and its adventurous approach to foreign policy face the unavoidable challenge of confronting propaganda with real results in governance. The Trump administration, like many others across the developed world, is facing the burden of the word “affordability”: the ongoing loss of real purchasing power among the middle classes.
The global economic debate is once again turning towards industrial policies as the main driver of the quality jobs that are so urgently sought today. The new industrial policy goes beyond the traditional scope to include new sectors such as construction, agriculture, tourism and cities, and is emerging as a powerful tool for territorial cohesion. Today, all regional administrations are competing to create new innovation and competitiveness ecosystems within their territories based on this new concept of industrial policy.
All these debates are also shaped by the development of Artificial Intelligence, a global phenomenon whose full dimensions are still unknown. The application of the almost unlimited capabilities of this technological development raises ethical, economic, social and strategic challenges. It is essential to ask, as Pope Leo XIV has done in his encyclical Magnífica Humanitas, about the moral and humanistic boundaries that should define the deployment of an Artificial Intelligence that is reaching maturity. A large part of this enormous global conversation can be reduced to a major unanswered question: who should safeguard the ethical limits of these extraordinary capabilities: public authorities with increasingly autocratic tendencies, or private initiative, which ultimately follows only the rules of the market?
While these debates accumulate across Western societies, Spain is experiencing a situation of political deadlock that appears impossible to resolve. The majority that supported the President’s investiture refuses to renew the confidence required to advance his government initiatives, while at the same time refusing to withdraw that confidence through the constitutional mechanisms available. Whatever the date of the next general elections, the next edition of Foro La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico will take place in a new political scenario. We therefore face an opportunity to reflect on the particular circumstances that have defined this atypical legislature.
This World in Disorder, which we identify as the starting point for the debates at Foro La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico, is not an invitation to pessimism but to determination. It will not be today’s doubts and fears that define our future, but rather the clarity and effectiveness of the solutions we are capable of designing and implementing. Solutions that can only emerge from dialogue and the willingness to seek understanding — something that has always been one of the defining features of Foro La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico.
First confirmed speakers
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Alberto Núñez Feijóo
President of the Partido Popular and leader of the opposition
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Alex Romero
Founder and CEO of Alto Intelligence
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Alfonso Rueda
President of the Xunta de Galicia
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Amancio López Seijas
President of the Fundación la Toja
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Antón Costas
President of the Spanish Economic and Social Council (CES)
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Arancha González Laya
Minister for Foreign Affairs (2020–21). Dean of Sciences Po
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Carlos López Blanco
President of the Organizing Committee of the Foro La Toja
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Carme Artigas
Senior Fellow at Harvard Belfer Center. Co-Chair UN AI Advisory Body (2023-2024)
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Dean Ball
Author of Hyperdimensional, Head of Strategic Futures at OpenAI and current Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation
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Diane Coyle
Bennett Professor of Public Policy at Cambridge University
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Enrique Goñi
President at Instituto Hermes
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Felipe González
President of the Spanish Government (1982-1996)
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Imanol Pradales
President of Gobierno vasco
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Jamil Anderlini
Editor at Europa Politico
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Javier Colomina
NATO Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood
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José Ignacio Latorre
Director at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, Singapur
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Juan Manuel Vega
Vice-Chair and Member of the Executive Board at AMLA
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Louis Mosley
Vicepresident at Palantir Europa
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Mariano Rajoy
President of the Spanish Government (2011-2018)
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Mateo Valero
Director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre
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Nuria Oliver
Co-founder and vice-president of ELLIS (European Laboratory of Learning and Intelligent Systems).
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Óscar López
Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service
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Óscar Naranjo
Former Vice-President of Colombia and former Director-General of the National Police
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Robert D. Kaplan
Author, senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin.
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Rosa Ana Morán
Chief Prosecutor of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office at the National High Court
2026 Agenda
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- Thursday, October 1st
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16.30 h
Official opening
Welcome from: Amancio López. President of Fundación La Toja
Welcome from: Alfonso Rueda. President of Xunta de Galicia
Foro La Toja - Josep Piqué Award Ceremony
• Award-winning speech -
18.00 h
Spanish Wine
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18.30 h
Atlantic dialogue
Robert D. Kaplan. Author, senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin
Arancha González Laya. Minister for Foreign Affairs (2020–21). Dean of Sciences Po
MODERATOR: Jamil Anderlini. Editor at Europa Politico
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20.30 h
Dinner
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- Friday, October 2nd
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9.00 h
Round table
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9.45 h
The economics of Artificial Intelligence
Diane Coyle. Bennett Professor of Public Policy at Cambridge University
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10.30 h
Technology and democracy
Dean Ball. Author of Hyperdimensional, Head of Strategic Futures at OpenAI and current Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation
Carmen Artigas. Senior Fellow at Harvard Belfer Center. Co-Chair UN AI Advisory Body (2023-2024)
MODERATOR: Alex Romero. Founder and CEO of Alto Intelligence
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11.30 h
Keynote speech
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12.00 h
Coffee break
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12.30 h
The return of industrial policy: a regional perspective
Alfonso Rueda. President of the Xunta de Galicia
Imanol Pradales. President of Gobierno vasco
MODERATOR: Antón Costas. President of the Spanish Economic and Social Council (CES)
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13.30 h
Review of a parliamentary term
Felipe Gonzalez. President of the Spanish Government (2011-2018)
Mariano Rajoy. President of the Spanish Government (1982-1996)
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14.30 h
Lunch
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16.30 h
The age of majority of AI
Oscar López. Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service
José Ignacio Latorre. Director at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, Singapur
Mateo Valero. Director at Barcelona Supercomputing Center
Nuria Oliver. Co-founder and vicepresident of ELLIS (European Laboratory of Learning and Intelligent Systems).
MODERATOR: Enrique Goñi. President at Instituto Hermes
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17.45 h
The geopolitics of energy
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18.30 h
Coffee break
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19.00 h
Keynote speech
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19.30 h
Ukraine and the future of the war
Louis Mosley. Vicepresident at Palantir Europa
Javier Colomina. NATO Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood
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20.30 h
Dinner
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- Saturday, October 3rd
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9.00 h
Round table
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9.45 h
Organized Crime: A Silenced Plague
Óscar Naranjo. Former Vice-President of Colombia and former Director-General of the National Police
Juan Manuel Vega. Vice-Chair and Member of the Executive Board at AMLA
Rosa Ana Morán. Chief Prosecutor of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office at the National High Court -
10.45 h
Ibero-America facing a new political and economic cycle
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11.45 h
Keynote speech
Alberto Núñez Feijóo. President of the Partido Popular and leader of the opposition -
12.30 h
Coffee break
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13.00 h
Official Closure
Carlos López Blanco. President of the Organising Committee Foro La Toja
Closing keynote speech
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14.00 h
Closure lunch
Press room