21 Jul THE SPANISH MIRACLE: REGIME CHANGE IN IRAQ, VENEZUELA AND IRAN TROUGH THE LENS OF THE “TRANSICIÓN”.
The “Transición” (1975-1981), in Spanish and capital letter, refers to a most successful political model that bridged the path from an authoritarian regime (40 years under General Franco) to a democratic State through negotiated reform.
The course starts with the uniqueness of this paradigm: agreements between regime insiders and the opposition, institutional continuity and the monarchy as a stabilizing agent. A secondary protagonist, a 33-year-old woman called Carmen Díez de Rivera, the PM´s chief of staff, epitomizes the excitement and the fragility of the time. Dr. Romero Galán is her authorized biographer.
The key aspects of the course are based on comparative politics: Iraq, the inverse of the Spanish model with the collapse of the State; Venezuela, a case of stalled “Transición”- neither collapse nor democratization-, and Iran, the hardest case, a military theocracy resistant to change. Dr. Romero Galán will blend her personal experience as a veteran foreign correspondent on the ground with her academic expertise in history.
ANA ROMERO GALÁN
ANA ROMERO GALÁN (PhD Complutense University, MS Columbia University) has 30 years of experience in Journalism. She has been a Foreign Correspondent around 4 continents and has lived and worked abroad for more than a decade (New York City, London, Abu Dhabi). Currently based in Madrid, she is working on her sixth book.
Skills
1. The students will learn about the success story behind today´s Spain and reflect about its possible application in parts of the world that are closer to them.
2. By the end of the course, the students will have travelled from the world of yesterday and the end of history to today´s world, with a decline of global freedom that leaves only 7 percent of the population living in traditional liberal democracies.
3. On parallel, they will be able to grasp the power shift that has taken place in journalism: news has become ubiquitous, but it is harder than ever to find trustworthy information or a financial model that will support it.
Schedule
Which dates?
02-mar
09-mar
16-mar
30-mar
06-apr
13-apr
What day?
TUESDAYS
What time?
10.00-11.30