ARA celebrates a new Enfoquem to identify who has the command of the future

BarcelonaIn a few years, the international order has become more unstable and multifaceted. Not only have the poles of power multiplied, but technology has also ceased to be fundamentally a vehicle for innovation and progress to become, in addition, a fundamental actor, crucial for understanding what war or communication is like in the 21st century, if they are even two different things. To map out this new landscape, ARA is organizing a new edition of Enfoquem: the Solutions Forum, aimed at pointing out viable paths for the future based on a firm but calm assessment of current problems and offering readers and subscribers keys to decode the current moment.

On this occasion, defense is the main theme of the first day, which will be held at the Sant Pau Modernist Precinct, in Barcelona, on Monday, October 26th, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The next day, at the same location and from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., there will also be Enfoquem, but in this case from a perspective more focused on science and caring for the planet. The activities will open with Roberta Pinotti, the first woman to be Minister of Defense in Italy, between 2014 and 2018 under the governments of Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gentiloni. An expert on the Middle East and a convinced Atlanticist, she currently chairs the Foundation of the National Underwater Dimension Pole (PNS), an organization that manages civil and military research applied to the seabed. Interviewed by the head of the newspaper's International section, Francesc Millan, she is one of the defenders of meeting the investment commitments proposed by NATO.

At the other end of this position is Sami Naïr, who will close the presentations on the first day. This French political scientist, philosopher, sociologist, and professor is considered one of the most powerful and influential intellectual voices among progressivism and humanism in Europe. Interviewed by the director of ARA, Esther Vera, he will explain his position, which is critical of contemporary international relations and military escalation.

In between, the contributions of Sònia Andolz (security analyst) and Guillem Colom Piella (member of the Academy of Military Sciences and Arts, who worked at the defense staff in military transformation processes) will also be followed, moderated by the newspaper's deputy director Carla Turró. Dual-use technology will be the focus of another of the talks, in this case with Roger Torrent (coordinator of a report on this matter for the Chamber of Commerce) and Òscar Pallarols (head of strategic marketing at Cellnex), moderated by ARA journalist Núria Rius. The newspaper's technology expert, Albert Cuesta, will share a reflection on whether technology makes us safer or more vulnerable.

The future perspectives of new technologies will feature an internationally renowned speaker: Therese Jamaa, vice president of strategic alliances at Openchip and a leader in the technological and social sectors. And the afternoon will also include a speech by Albert Dalmau, Minister of the Presidency, to detail what Catalonia contributes to European security.

The next day, Friday, has a more marked cultural accent. The Italian writer Stefano Mancuso will present his book El càntic de la terra (Galàxia Gutenberg), in an interview moderated by ARA's deputy director Ignasi Aragay. In the book, this renowned plant neurobiologist reinterprets the Canticle of the Creatures, written by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1224, and transforms it into an extraordinary treatise on ecology. Where spirituality and scientific rigor meet, the work is a vibrant defense of life and the need to safeguard the planet. This presentation will have a musical finale: it will be provided by singer and pianist Belén Bandera, with jazz airs, author of an album, Bamboo, which is precisely inspired by Mancuso's work and which will be played during this second day.

The second Enfoquem arrives eight months after a first edition that featured the participation of, among others, Valentí Fuster, Sylvie Kauffmann, John Carlin, and Mark Bray, in addition to a dialogue from antagonistic positions between Ada Colau and Miquel Puig. All information and ticket purchases can be found on the Enfoquem website.