Events

Sergio Altuna, Associate Analyst, Elcano Royal Institute

Sergio Altuna Galán is an Associate Analyst in the Programme on Violent Radicalisation and Global Terrorism at the Elcano Royal Institute. He holds a BA in Translation and Interpreting from the University of Valladolid, an MA in Arabic Language, Literature and History from the University of Tunis al-Manar and a further MA in Terrorism Studies from the International University of La Rioja. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in International Security with a thesis on the determining factors of the jihadist narrative. He has developed a career as an international consultant between Spain and Tunisia, where he has been based since 2010, focusing on security in North Africa and the Sahel. He specialises in the creation of monitoring and evaluation tools to measure impacts in unstable environments. He has also taught Applied Rhetoric and Discourse Techniques at the University of Jendouba (Tunisia) and at the University of the Ionian Islands (Greece).

Haizam Amirah-Fernández, Senior Analyst, Elcano Royal Institute

Haizam Amirah-Fernández is Senior Analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute and Associate Professor at the Instituto de Empresa (IE). BA from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and an MA in Arab Studies on a Fulbright scholarship from Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. He completed his studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He has lectured at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Georgetown University, Saint Louis University, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, and the Universitat de Barcelona. He has also worked for the United Nations in New York and for Human Rights Watch in Washington DC. He is a frequent commentator in the Spanish and international media.

Nouzha Chekrouni, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Dr. Nouzha Chekrouni is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South. She has extensive experience in academia, diplomacy and political leadership. She has served as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Canada (2009-2016), and Dean of the Council of Arab League Ambassadors to Canada (2015-2016). Dr. Chekrouni was Minister for the Moroccan Community Living Abroad (2002-2007), a Member of Parliament (2002-2007), and the Minister for Women and Social Issues (1998-2002). She holds a Bachelor Degree from the Philological Faculty at the University of Fez, a Post-Graduate Diploma and a PhD in Linguistics from the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. Dr. Chekrouni has also completed a Certificate in Ethics and International Relations at Harvard University. She is a 2016 Senior Fellow in Advanced Leadership at Harvard University and has taught linguistics at the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at the University of Meknes.

Karim El Aynaoui, President, Policy Center for the New South

Karim El Aynaoui is Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He is also President of the Policy Center for the New South, previously known as OCP Policy Center, a think tank based in Rabat and serves as advisor to the CEO and Chairman of OCP Group, a global leader in the phosphate sector. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at Bank Al-Maghrib, the Central Bank of Morocco. He was the Director of Economics and International Relations, where he provided strategic leadership in defining and supporting monetary policy analysis and strategy. He was also in charge of the Statistical and International Relations Divisions of the Central Bank, led the research division and was a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Before joining Bank Al-Maghrib, Karim El Aynaoui worked for eight years at the World Bank, both in its Middle Eastern and North Africa, and Africa regions as an economist. He has published papers, books and articles in scientific journals on macroeconomic issues in developing countries. Recently, he co-authored a book outlining a growth strategy for Morocco and was the guest editor of a special issue on food price volatility in Oxford Economic Papers.

Karim El Aynaoui is a board member of the OCP Foundation and serves as a member in the Strategic Advisory Board of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), the COP22 Scientific Committee, the Malabo-Montpellier Panel, the Scientific Council of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC), and the Trilateral Commission. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bordeaux, where he taught for three years courses in statistics and economics.

Rachid El Houdaigui, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Mr. Rachid EL Houdaïgui is professor of International Relations at Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tangier's Law Faculty and Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, previously known as OCP Policy Center who focuses on International relations, geopolitics, Mediterranean region, North Africa and the Arab world.. He is also professor at Royal College of Advanced Military Studies (Kenitra) and professor invited at Cergy-Pontoise University (Paris), Cadix University (Spain) and at La Sagesse University (Beirut, Lebanon). Mr. EL Houdaïgui is the author of numerous books and articles dealing with International relations and geopolitics: the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Arab world. Also, he is co-director of the Moroccan-Spanish review “Peace and International Security” and in charge of the Observatory of Mediterranean Studies (Abdelmalek Essaadi University).

Karim Hauser, Coordinator of International Relations, Casa Árabe

Karim Hauser works as Coordinator of International Relations at Casa Árabe, where his areas of expertise include the socio-political transformations occurring in the Arab world. He previously led at Casa Árabe the Arabia Americana Program, designed to create a space for triangulation between the Americas, Spain and the Arab world, for which he edited three books on the Arab presence in the Americas. He has worked as a journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), where he worked on the flagship program Newshour and as a Middle East correspondent for BBC Mundo. He studied International Relations at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and earned a Master’s degree in Journalism at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

María Jesús Herrera, Head of Mission, International Organization for Migrations

She has a Law degree from the Autonomous University of Madrid. Currently she is the Head of Mission in the International Organization for Migrations (IOM). She was General Coordinator of the Movement for Peace (MPDL) between 2004 and 2010. Previously she worked as Assistant to the Diplomatic Advisor of Latin America in the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Belgium, for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2002.

Len Ishmael, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Dr. Len Ishmael is the former Ambassador of the Eastern Caribbean States to the Kingdom of Belgium and European Union, and past President of the seventy-nine-member African, Caribbean & Pacific (ACP) Committee of Ambassadors in Brussels. She is a former Director for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean; Director General for the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, Alternate Governor for the World Bank and Director for the Foundation - Leadership for Environment & Development of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City. She is a German Marshall Fund Fellow (GMF) and Distinguished Visiting Scholar, and a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (Morocco). Dr. Ishmael is also The Fletcher School Tufts University GMAP Endowment Fellow and is a member of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy GMAP Advisory Council. Dr. Ishmael was conferred a Doctoral Degree in Development Planning/Development Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, in 1988 and Global Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University in 2018. Dr. Ishmael operates her practice from Brussels specializing in European affairs, the EU-ACP partnership, EU-Africa relations, EU-USA Trans-Atlantic relations, China in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, political and corporate diplomacy, and international development corporation.

Pedro Martínez-Avial, Director-General, Casa Árabe

A civil servant in the diplomatic corps since 1987, he has been stationed at the Embassies of Spain in Iraq, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Chile and Mexico, and until July 2017, he held the position of Consul General in Hamburg, Germany. When working in Spain, he has held various positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, where he was the Sub-Director General of the Institute of Cooperation with the Arab World and Sub-Director General for Cooperation with the Arab and Mediterranean Countries at the Spanish International Cooperation Agency from 1992 through 1997. From 2006 to 2008, he held the position of advising member of the Directorate General for the Mediterranean, Near East and Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Since August 1, 2017, he has held his current position as General Director of Casa Árabe.

Eva Martínez, Director-General for Maghreb, Mediterranean and Middle East, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation

career diplomat since 1991, before her current position, Eva Martínez was deputy Director for the Maghreb (2013-2017) at the same Ministry. Previously, she worked as Counselor for African affairs in the Spanish Representation before the EU (2008-2013) and Counselor at the Spanish embassy in Mexico (2003-2005). She has also seved as Counselor to the Spanish Embassy in Egypt, Deputy Director-General for the Middle East, and president of the African Cooperation Group of the Council of the European Union during Spanish presidency in 2010.

Martín Ortega Carcelén, Senior Lecturer in International Law and International Relations at the Complutense University of Madrid

Martin Ortega Carcelén was Head of Policy Planning at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and Senior Research Fellow at the EU Institute for Security Studies in Paris. He is Senior Lecturer in International Law and International Relations at the Complutense University of Madrid, and teaches at IE University and Deusto Business School. He also contributes with op-ed articles in El Pais newspaper and with commentaries at TV Canal 24h (Spanish public TV). Martin Ortega conducted research at St. Antony’s College (Oxford University) and the Max Planck Institute of International Law in Heidelberg. He also participated in the International Visitors Programme of the United States Government, as well as in the International Law Seminar organised by the United Nations office in Geneva.

José Luis Pardo, Ambassador in Special Mission for Migration Issues, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.

José Luis Pardo is a career diplomat, joining the Spanish diplomatic service in 1993. His professional career has focused on three areas: the Arab world and the Mediterranean (Second Headquarters at the embassies in Libya 1996-1999 and Jordan 1999-2002 and Counselor for Euromed-Processes of Barcelona-UPM 2005-2007), the European Union (Counselor for Community Affairs at the embassy in Berlin between 2002 and 2005 and Deputy Director General for Foreign Affairs and Commercial Affairs of the EU between 2007 and 2014) and Global approaches to migration since 2014 with his appointment as Ambassador of Spain in Niger, and since 2017 as Ambassador in Special Mission for Migration Issues.

Javier Puig, Deputy Director-General for the Maghreb, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.

Javier Puig is Deputy Director-General for the Magreb at the Spanish Foreign Minister since May 2017. A career diplomat since 2002 he has served at the Spanish Embassies in Tunisia (2003-2007), Morocco (2007-2010), Guatemala (2010-2012) and Vietnam (2014-2017). From 2012 to 2014 he was assistant deputy director for the Magreb at the Foreign Minister.

Angel Losada, Ambassador, EU Special Representative for the Sahel

Angel Losada (Bern, 1953) is a Spanish diplomat who serves as EU Special Representative for the Sahel. He graduated in Law at the University of Navarre with Honours. He started his career at NATO when Spain joined the organisation and has a wide experience in multilateral affairs after his relevant posts in the Spanish Mission to the UN (1990-93) and NATO itself (1996-2000). He has also worked in conflict situations after serving as Spanish Ambassador to the ISAF Command Chain in Afghanistan after the end of the war (2004-2005). Mr Losada occupied other significant

post in the Spanish Diplomatic Service such as Ambassador in Nigeria (2006-11) and Kuwait (2011-14). After working as Spanish Ambassador at Large for Libya and the Sahel, he was named EU Special Representative for the Sahel in December 2015.

El Mostafa Rezrazi, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Dr El Mostafa Rezrazi is a professor of Crisis Management, and Security Studies and a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, previously known as OCP Policy Center, who focuses on Terrorism, Security and East Asia studies. His area of Expertise covers Afro-Asian Affairs, Strategic & Security Studies, Terrorism, Extremism and Deradicalization, mainly from the view of Criminal; Legal and Forensic Psychology. He got his Ph.D. in Regional & International Affairs from the University of Tokyo in 1998, and later a Doctorate from the University of Mohammed V on the Psychological dynamisms of Suicide Bombers (2014). He is the executive director of the Moroccan Observatory on Extremism and Violence, Director of the African Center for Asian Studies, Rabat. Currently, he is Visiting Professor at the University Mohammed V Rabat. 

In 2017, was appointed a Co-coordinator of the OBOR China-Morocco Research Group, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Euro-African Studies Institute, Hanyang University Seoul, South Korea. Rezrazi is the president for the second term of the Moroccan Association for Asian Studies. Dr Rezrazi has served in the past as a distinguished professor in the school of law of Sapporo Gakuin University (Japan), a professor & Deputy Director of the Institute of International Relations in Hagoromo University in Osaka (Japan). A political Analyst at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi, and was also a Visiting Fellow in Princeton University, USA.

Leila Zniber, Research Analyst in Economic Competitiveness, Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance and Administration Reform

Mrs Leila Zniber is a Research Analyst in Economic Competitiveness Department of the Directorate of Studies and Financial Forcasting, within the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Administration Reform. She is active in a number of fields related to imports, current account, exchange rate and outward FDI. She got her Master in Economics from the ESCP-EAP Business School in Paris in 2008.