Ideas Festival
The Festival of Ideas is a forum for thought organized by the Círculo de Bellas Artes and La Fábrica, in collaboration with Aspen Institute España, taking place from September 18 to 21. On September 20, the festival will feature José M. de Areilza, Secretary General of Aspen Institute España, as a speaker in a panel discussion titled “The Geopolitical Labyrinth: Europe and Its Search for Meaning.” The event will take place at 6:30 PM at the Círculo de Bellas Artes (C. Alcalá, 42, Centro, 28014 Madrid).
For more information and subscription view the Festival de las Ideas official page.
“The Geopolitical Labyrinth: Europe and Its Search for Meaning”
We have entered a new era of rivalries, still ill-defined in shape. This marks the shift from a world organized through multilateral norms and institutions—with all their imperfections and limitations—to one that is fragmented and riddled with uncertainty.
This new scenario is shaped by the rise of China, the retreat of the United States (which coexists with imperial impulses), the growing threats of cyber warfare and climate emergency, and the persistence of long-standing challenges such as nuclear proliferation, international terrorism, and uncontrolled migration.
The goal of global prosperity that inspired the post–World War II reconstruction and was maintained after the fall of the Berlin Wall has given way to the imperative of security—understood in national or regional terms. Security is now seen as encompassing energy, trade and investment, technology, health, and migration. Interdependencies, once considered alliances, are increasingly viewed as vulnerabilities.
The remainder of the 21st century will be marked by an escalating rivalry between China—a rising power seeking global hegemony—and the United States, determined to preserve its dominance. In this new era, we must ask what role the European Union and its member states can play, as they remain largely unprepared for a world in which security is the prevailing imperative—one that spans so many areas: the economy, energy, technology, migration, and health.
In this new geopolitical world, where realism dominates international relations, we must not allow the use of force to become the first principle in global affairs.
José M. de Areilza
Secretary General of the Aspen Institute España and Professor at ESADE Business School and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair-ESADE. He is also a Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and Vicepresident of the Spain-USA Council Foundation. He has been Visiting Professor at INSEAD Business School, Fontainebleau, London Business School and WIlliam and Mary School of Law, Virginia. He has worked as Advisor to the Spanish Prime Minister on European and North American affairs. He writes a weekly column on international affairs at the ABC newspaper and is a Trustee of the Spanish Navy Museum. 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
In times of uncertainty, we need to activate thought. We need a meeting point—a space for dialogue and listening. We need a Festival of Ideas.
Following the success of its first edition, which brought together around 10,000 people over four days, the Festival of Ideas will celebrate its second edition in 2025, once again pursuing its mission to put ideas at the center of public conversation, filling the city’s streets, squares, and cultural venues with thought-provoking content.
Once again, the Festival will gather in Madrid some of the most prominent figures in contemporary thought, while also opening up to other forms of intellectual and creative expression such as music, poetry, and theater.
The heart of the Festival will again be Plaza de España, where the Allianz Stage—a large, street-level stage—will be located. The Círculo de Bellas Artes will serve as the other main venue, with events extending to many other locations, including major cultural institutions across the city such as the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía Museum, the Thyssen Museum, the Ortega Marañón Foundation, Fundación Telefónica, and CaixaForum, among many others.
This year, the central theme of the Festival will be “Labyrinths”—meanings, contradictions, paradoxes—in a wide-ranging program curated by philosophers Javier Moscoso and Marcela Vélez.
