Repairing the Relationship Between Spain and the United States

On October 13th, Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will meet with President Barack Obama at the White House to celebrate the first official meeting between the two leaders. The objective will be to rekindle the relationship between Spain and the United States, which has been tense since Zapatero announced the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq in 2004.

The most visible sign of deterioration in bilateral relations–the personal chemistry between the two leaders of executive powers–was almost inevitable given the close ties forged between José María Aznar and President Bush and other high-ranking officials of the Bush administration. Despite the permanent and tangible aspects of the relationship remaining firm, they have continuously sent officials to both sides of the Atlantic during the last five years. The perception that both countries maintained contact with one another has been based on Spain’s withdrawal from Iraq and the angry reaction it caused from the Bush administration.

In any case, Obama’s election has been able to greatly improve European opinion regarding the United States, and therefore possibly renewing transatlantic relations. The recent annual report on transatlantic tendencies in the German Marshall Fund reveal a notable uptick in favorable European opinion toward the United States since Obama’s victory over McCain last November, especially in all of the larger countries of Western Europe, including Spain. Although any good will has since been depleted by Obama and Zapatero and their teams have been palpable, both leaders still have not sat down together to clear the path of their countries’ relations.

The meeting between Zapatero and Obama arrives at a crucial time. With the implosion of the Spanish real estate sector after twenty years of spectacular growth, the rise in unemployment, which has doubled in one year and the international economic crisis has inevitably meant a serious decline in the Spanish leader’s popularity. It will be a boost to his image to attend a highly covered media visit to the White House. However, and this is truly important, this meeting comes at an opportune moment to renew the relations between Spain and the United States.

In January 2010, Spain will assume the presidency of the European Union in a critical moment of transatlantic relations. One of the priorities of its agenda will be to try to give a new disposition in relations between the European Union and the United States. Zapatero hopes to a maintain close link with Obama, reviving the spirit of 1995 where the mutual feeling of sympathy between former Spanish president Felipe González and U.S. President Bill Clinton facilitated the signing of the New Transatlantic Agenda in Seville. President Rodríguez Zapatero aspires to resuscitate the transatlantic entente, channeling the best of relations between the United States and the European Union through an adjustment in his country’s relationship with the United States and capitalizing on the good vibe Obama has generated from their encounters at international forums.

The majority of the Spanish presidency’s objectives dovetails with the relationship between the United States and the European Union, as well as the one between the United States and Spain, including a stronger collaboration on energy policy, climate change, a new understanding with respect to Latin America and Afghanistan and deepening transatlantic cooperation in the anti-terrorism fight.

This understanding between Zapatero and Obama will also contribute also to the legacy–simplified but still crucial–that represents the long-standing agreement on the North American bases in Spain, brought up last in 2002. The United States’ extensive air and naval complexes are mainly located on the bases at Morón and Rota next to the Strait of Gibraltar, which continue to provide key logistic support to the North American military projection in Eurasia.

The withdrawal of the small amount of Spanish soldiers from Iraq lacks strategic importance compared to the contribution that these bases have in supporting the global influence of the United States. Despite what the public opinion has come to misunderstand, Spain’s loyalty and commitment with NATO has never flagged in this sense, or during the two very unpopular wars in Iraq. However, Rodríguez Zapatero has gone even further. “Do not ask what Obama can do for us, but what we can do for Obama,” he declared last spring, before sending another 200 Spanish soldiers to the military contingent in Afghanistan.

The key to the future of the relationship between the two countries lies in several new areas through which Spain has developed an international leadership position, an example being the global anti-terrorist fight. After Obama announced the closing of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, the Europeans are better positioned to go even further than merely exchanging information. With Spain’s long history of fighting terrorism domestically and the considerable experience gained internationally since March 11, Spain could lead Europe towards a deeper integration of transatlantic anti-terrorist strategies.

Spain is also a world leader in renewable energies, displaying their enthusiastic support of post-Kyoto talks under the current government. It competes with Germany and the United States in wind power technology and solar energy, and has progressed greatly towards their European Union goal of receiving 20 percent of their energy needs from renewable sources. Some months ago, the North American secretary of Energy and the Spanish Ministry of Industry initiated conversations that could bring about the creation of a Spanish-American Association of Renewable Energies. The Spanish solar and wind power businesses have been investing in the United States for years, and it is for this reason that a good moment to have more in-depth collaborations between both governments in the field of energy and the battle against climatic change is now.

In the last fifteen years, Spain has greatly increased their presence in Latin America, rivaling the traditional North American hegemony. There exists many possibilities for strengthening bilateral collaboration in this region, among them is Spain and the United States jointly promoting renewable energies. It would be similar to Brazil and Washington’s effort to realize the effort in developing bio fuels in a few small countries in Central America and the Caribbean. Moreover, Spain could suggest the creation of a tripartite strategic alliance regarding energy and climate change.

In short, although the formal bilateral relationship will continue to be based on the Framework for Defense Corporation, in effect since 1988, its future dynamism will depend on all of Spain’s ability to put value on its innovative ability before its American partner, its soft power and its usefulness as an ally. Upon fortifying the bilateral relationship, Zapatero and Obama will also contribute to the strengthening of the old but no less important transatlantic relationship, which will play a central role in the coming multipolar world.