From Seville to Brussels: the architecture of global presence

The Elcano Royal Institute is a think-tank for international and strategic studies that analyses world events and trends from a Spanish, European and global perspective.

The Analyses of the Elcano Royal Institute (ARI)are short pieces - of around 3,000 words - on aspects of current international affairs considered to be of relevance to Spain, its foreign policy or its security. In broad terms ARIs are intended to have a predictive bearing on events.Previous analyses by the Elcano Royal Institute emphasise the link between the domestic sphere of a country’s economic, political and social systems and its international projection, as well as the relationship between internal and foreign policies. One way to assess the extent and shape of this complex link is by means of the Elcano Global Presence Index.

The index value of the European Union can be disaggregated into economic, military and soft dimensions and variables or from a geographical focus, taking into account the relative contribution of each member state to the Union’s total projection. As for member states, their global presence is the result of the external projection of their regions and communities.