España | Florida - Foundation 500 Años

			Once again William Chislett, has published a marvellously informative and insightful book with the Elcano Royal Institute for International and Strategic Studies. As with Mr. Chislett’s previous Elcano books (The Internationalization of the Spanish Economy, and Spanish Direct Investment in Latin America), he has tackled an important and timely theme in the broad panorama of Spanish interests – relations between Spain and the United States – in his Spain and the United States: The Quest for Mutual Rediscovery. Spanish relations with the United States have been increasingly important for decades now, and all signs point to their continuing significance. The United States remains the most significant economic, political and cultural presence in an international arena in which Spain has also rapidly become an important player. Indeed, while the Spanish-US economic relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships for Spain (the US is often characterized, depending on the year, as the number one national investor in this country), it is also the source of significant untapped potential. Although the bulk of Chislett’s analysis focuses on the evolution – past and present – of the economic relationship between our two countries (covered extensively in Chapters Two, Three and Four), he has not forgotten the essential political, cultural and linguistic components. Chapter One (the book’s longest) presents a magnificent historical tour of the Spanish-US relationship, beginning with Columbus’ late 15th century exploratory voyages, passing through the oscillations in the relationship between the War of 1898 and the 1953 bases agreement, and concluding with an analysis of the contours of the present relationship, as established first by former President José María Aznar, and as recently rearticulated by President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Chapters Five and Six explore the significance of the Hispanic Community in the United States (along with potential implications for Spain of the growing political and economic importance of this varied minority group) and the realm of cultural relations, including the increasing influence of the Spanish language in North America and the mutual interplay of images and perceptions that Spain and the US hold of one another. Much of this latter analysis is in large part grounded upon the ongoing work of another of our Institute’s important research projects: the Elcano Royal Institute Barometer (or the BRIE, as it is known here in Spain). The quarterly BRIE continues to track the state of Spanish public opinion with respect to a wide range of Spanish foreign policy issues and Spanish interests in the world.
	Spain and the United States, the Quest for Mutual Rediscovery Source: date: 02-23-2009