International Relations Students of IE University collaborate with The World Leadership Alliance - Club de Madrid

11 selected Students were tasked with writing short reports on the various sessions of the “MADRID +10: Policy Dialogue on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism" conference organized by Club de Madrid and had the opportunity to meet with leaders such as H.M. King Felipe VI of Spain and Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations.

On Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 October, 11 specially selected students from the IE Master in International Relations, IE Bachelor in International Relations and the IE Dual Bachelor Degree in International Relations and Business Administration were invited by the Club de Madrid to participate as scribes in the 2-day “MADRID +10: Policy Dialogue on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism". Students were tasked with writing short reports on the various sessions they attended that would then be used as content by the Club de Madrid. The conference gathered over 200 leading experts, opinion shapers, former heads of state, academics, civil society and NGOs around the themes of prevention of violent extremism and radicalization. The symposium was opened by H.M. King Felipe VI of Spain and closed with a keynote address by Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations.

Other noted speakers included Habib Essid, Prime Minister, Government of Tunisia and José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs. The exclusive participation of the IE International Relations students in the conference further consolidated a growing collaboration between the Club de Madrid and the IE School of International Relations. Just last week, on Oct. 22nd, the principal content coordinator of the event, Prof. Peter Neumann, Director, International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR), King's College, came to IE along with other Club de Madrid members for a seminar with IE Master in International Relations students. The talk was a preview of the Madrid+10 Policy Dialogue in which Prof. Neumann answered questions on the threat of terrorism, violent extremism and ISIS in a very interesting exchange with the students.

The World Leadership Alliance - Club de Madrid is an independent and non-profit organization comprised of 102 former heads of democratic states and governments from 67 countries.  It is the world’s largest forum of its kind, made up of former presidents and prime ministers from democratic countries who have come together to provide a response to growing demand among leaders for support in two key areas – leadership for democratic governance and solutions for crisis and post-crisis situations.