The Valencian Community hosted the presentation of Spain's first Public Diplomacy Strategy for the 2026-2028 period. The event, driven by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, was attended by authorities including the Director General of Casa Mediterráneo, Andrés Perelló, and his deputy director, Ignacio de Julián.
Alicante-based engineer Nuria Oliver, internationally recognized for her work in artificial intelligence, delivered an inspiring speech. Oliver championed the role of science, innovation, and knowledge as fundamental tools for strengthening Spain's international projection, arguing that science is a universal language capable of building bridges between societies.
Oliver emphasized that in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, true value lies in the ability to ask good questions, maintain curiosity, listen with humility, and cooperate to find shared solutions. She reflected on how knowledge can become one of a country's strongest assets on the global stage.
Knowledge, trust, and cooperation: Science as the infrastructure of 21st-century diplomacy
During her presentation, Oliver used the International Space Station as an example, born from a collaboration between former rivals, to illustrate how shared curiosity can sustain cooperation even when politics fails. She highlighted that science projects a country's image, builds reputation, and generates trust, acting as a foreign policy tool that can open communication channels.
Spain currently ranks ninth globally in scientific production, contributing to an image of talent attraction, long-term thinking, and cooperation. Science also has the extraordinary capacity to bring countries closer, as demonstrated by examples like CERN and the Antarctic Treaty.
Oliver stressed that science builds sophisticated institutions for managing disagreement, where scientific evidence prevails over the intensity of debate. This ability to change one's mind in the face of new evidence is crucial for building trust, an essential ingredient in international relations.
In the era of the 'geopolitics of knowledge,' open science and open source software multiply the value of shared knowledge. The tension between openness and protection is a key challenge, and Europe, with its proven capacity for cooperation in projects like CERN and the European Space Agency, holds an advantageous position.
Spain, with its role as a bridge between Europe and Latin America, and the Mediterranean, has an extraordinary opportunity. Projects like the CYTED program, coordinating research with over twenty Latin American countries, or the contribution to the European Framework for Science Diplomacy, showcase this connective capacity.
The scientist mentioned ELLIS Alicante, the European center of excellence in AI that she leads, as an example of how European collaboration can achieve global leadership in strategic fields. She posed the fundamental question: not just how to make AI better, but for what purpose and for whom.
In conclusion, Oliver stated that public diplomacy is about projecting who we are, and science is perhaps the most credible way to do so, as it reflects not only what we know but how we think, how we cooperate, and, above all, how we handle disagreement. Curiosity, the willingness to listen, and the humility to change one's mind are key strategic qualities for the 21st century.
