First roundtable of the “Geopolitics, Leadership and Values” Aspen Public Lecture

Aspen Institute España will host, in collaboration with the Deusto University, the first edition of the “Geopolitics, Leadership and Values” Aspen Program in Bilbao, Spain. The program consists of a seminar and a public lecture on February 19. The first roundtable will be about “The Birth of a Geopolitical Europe“. The complete schedule of the event is available here.

4:35 to 5:50 pm – First Roundtable: The Birth of a Geopolitical Europe

Hugo Dixon, Journalist, Entrepreneur and Commentator-at-large for Reuters

Natalie Jaresko, Former Minister of Finance of Ukraine, Managing Director at EY Parthenon and Chairperson of Aspen Institute Kyiv

David Rennie, Geopolitics Editor of The Economist

Moderated by: Fiona Maharg-Bravo, Aspen España Fellow and Partner at Brunswick Group

Hugo Dixon

Hugo Dixon is commentator-at-large for Reuters and a political entrepreneur. As a journalist, he writes a regular column on geopolitics and geoeconomics. His most recent political campaign has been to channel Russia’s $300 billion frozen sovereign assets to Ukraine via a reparations loan. Dixon was prominent in the campaign to stop Brexit as editor-in-chief of InFacts and one of the founders and leaders of the People’s Vote campaign. He was also one of the initiators of the Group of Seven’s partnership for global infrastructure and investment, a $600 billion plan to help the Global South accelerate its transition to net zero.

Dixon was previously editor-in-chief and chairman of the financial commentary website Breakingviews which he co-founded, later selling it to Thomson Reuters. During that period, he played an influential role in the Greek financial crisis, arguing strongly against the country’s withdrawal from the eurozone. Before that, he was the editor of the Financial Times’ Lex Column. He has dual British and Greek citizenship.

Natalie Jaresko

David Rennie

David Rennie is Geopolitics Editor of The Economist and author of The Telegram column. He joined The Economist in 2007. From 2007-10 he was the EU correspondent and “Charlemagne” columnist, based in Brussels. From 2010-12 he was British political editor and “Bagehot” columnist, in London. In the summer of 2012 he moved to Washington DC. He was “Lexington” columnist 2012-17, and Washington bureau chief 2013-18. From 2018 to September 2024 he was Beijing bureau chief and “Chaguan” columnist. Previously, he was on the foreign staff of the Daily Telegraph, with postings in Sydney, Beijing, Washington DC and Brussels. He won the 2010 UACES/Thomson Reuters “Reporting Europe” award. The Asia Society awarded the 2023 Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia to David Rennie and Sue-Lin Wong for their coverage of China.

Fiona Maharg-Bravo

Fiona is a Partner in Brunswick’s Madrid office, where she advises major corporations on financial and corporate communications, including corporate positioning, M&A and crises.   She spent her early career in London in investment banking, followed by over 13 years as a financial journalist with Reuters Breakingviews in London and Madrid and as a regular contributor on Spanish business for the Economist. She later moved in-house to Telefónica where she spent four years as Director of International and Financial Communications before joining Brunswick.

Fiona holds a BA/MA in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Chicago and a diploma in Economics from the University of Cambridge. She is part of the Chicago alumni board in Spain and a fellow of Aspen Institute España.