Aspen Ideas «Why this refugee crisis is different»
Aspen Institute España will host next June 21 from 9.30 to 11.00 am a new session within the Aspen Ideas Espresso Program on “The Future of European Security” with Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas, Senior Research Fellow and Research Coordinator at CIDOB. The session will be moderated by José M. de Areilza, Secretary General of Aspen Institute España. During the session, the speaker will address the humanitarian consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the reasons why this crisis is different from other refugee crises. Geographical and cultural proximity, the history of migration over recent years, the open borders policy, and the geo-politicisation of asylum are some of the reasons that Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas will present in the debate.
BLANCA GARCÉS-MASCAREÑAS
Is a Senior Research Fellow in the area of Migrations and Research Coordinator at CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs). PhD cum laude in Social Sciences from the University of Amsterdam and BA in History and Anthropology from the University of Barcelona. Her Ph.D. thesis was awarded the Dutch Sociological Association (NSV) prize for the best sociological dissertation defended in the Netherlands in 2009 and 2010. For more than 15 years she has studied immigration and asylum policies from a comparative perspective. In her book Markets, citizenship and rights (2012), she analyzed to what extent different political contexts (Spain and Malaysia) lead to different immigration policies. In the book Integration, processes and policies in Europe (2014), written together with Rinus Penninx, she proposes a heuristic model to study integration processes and policies. In the last five years, she has studied policies and political discourses on asylum in Europe, with special attention to border policies and state reception systems. Since 2021, she coordinates an H2020 project to understand the causes and consequences of migration narratives in a context of increasing politicisation and polarisation in Europe. She is a member of the European network IMISCOE and of the editorial college of the recently created Migration Politics Journal.
JOSÉ M. DE AREILZA
Is Secretary General of Aspen Institute España and has a dual appointment as Professor at the Law Department and at the General Management and Strategy Department of ESADE Business School. He is the holder of the Jean Monnet Chair-ESADE and a Senior Research Fellow, Elcano Royal Institute. He has been Visiting Professor at INSEAD Business School, Fontainebleau, France and has worked as Advisor to the Spanish Prime Minister on European and North American affairs. José M. de Areilza received an LL.B. degree with Special Graduation Prize from Universidad Complutense de Madrid and holds a Masters degree (LL.M.) and Doctorate degree (S.J.D.) from Harvard University and an M.A. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Aspen Ideas Program
The Aspen Ideas Program includes Aspen Espresso sessions – face-to-face debates from 9 to 11 am-, Aspen Ideas @ Lunch – face-to-face debates from 2 to 4 pm- and Aspen Ideas -online debates- and Aspen Ideas Alumni, dinner debates from 8.30 to 10.30 pm with Aspen España Alumni that have participated in Aspen Seminars. The program aims to constitute a forum for debate on current issues for emerging leaders from different sectors of society, many of whom have already participated in Aspen España programs. On the occasion of the publication of books or in the thread of news, we bring together groups of up to 30 participants, experts on geopolitics, new technologies, leadership, energy, and international economics, among others.
