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Conference on Geopolitics and International Security in the Maghreb, Sahel and Middle East 

On Monday, April 19, the event "Geopolitics and International Security in the Maghreb, Sahel and Middle East" was held as part go the second edition of the Master’s Degree in Senior Management in International Security of the Spanish Civil Guard University Center (CUGC), at Casa Árabe’s headquarters in Madrid.  

April 19, 2021
MADRID 

The event was officially opened by the General Director of Casa Árabe, Pedro Martínez-Avial and the lieutenant general of the Civil Guard and director of the CUGC, Fernando Santafé Soler. The event consisted of two conferences, the first on “Geopolitics and Security: Maghreb, Sahel and Middle East,” given by Jesús Núñez Valverde, co-director of the Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH), and the second on “Strategic and Operational Activities of Spain’s Civil Guard in the Maghreb and the Middle East,” given by Leonardo Sánchez Peláez, a colonel in Spain’s Civil Guard.

Jesús Núñez Valverde analyzed the consequences of articulating the relations between the West (and Spain as part of the West) and each of the three regions from the perspective of security. He pointed out that, in his opinion, this approach is insufficient because it fails to provide a response to the structural problems of states, making it advisable to broaden this viewpoint to include issues such as governance, human rights and development.

As for Colonel Leonardo Sánchez Peláez, he gave a presentation on the Civil Guard’s operations in the Maghreb and Sahel countries, in the context of cooperation with those countries to defend common security interests.

Both conferences were closed with a debate session between the speakers and those attending.