Axis 5 seminar: Asensio Robles LOPEZ, «Uncharted Mediterranean: Southern Europe and the Mediterranean at the dawn of globalisation».»

Thursday 13 November 2025 | 2 - 4 pm | Espace Philippe Séguin, room 003

In collaboration with the GDSI Masters at Sciences Po Aix (war seminar).

Presentation by ASENSIO ROBLES LOPEZ (Universidad de Comillas), currently on a scientific visit to the’Iméra : «Uncharted Mediterranean: Southern Europe and the Mediterranean at the dawn of globalisation»

---

How does globalisation influence international security? How have societies reacted to past crises of global interdependence? And what lessons can we learn from them to meet the challenges of our time?

Uncharted Mediterranean will explore all these issues by looking at the economic crisis of the 1970s, a pivotal moment in the rise of globalisation and the shaping of the contemporary world. Focusing on the dictatorships of Greece, Portugal and Spain and their crisis in the mid-1970s, the conference will show how these countries were drawn into a Mediterranean experiment at the crossroads of decolonisation, globalisation and democratisation. From changes in North-South economic relations to the rise of international finance, it will examine how global forces confronted these countries with dilemmas that eventually transformed them.
But this is not a celebration of democracy or globalisation. The authoritarian regimes of southern Europe are often seen as marginal to the narratives of the Cold War and European integration, yet they were no strangers to the world (or the sea) around them. To revisit their fall in the light of the economic crisis of the 1970s is to show that these dictatorships were part of much wider networks - and that they, in turn, were transformed by them. Understanding the lack of contradiction between authoritarianism and globalisation is essential today if we are to assess the resilience of this relationship in our own time.

---

How does globalization influence international security? How have societies responded to past crises of global interdependence? And what lessons can we extract from them to help us navigate the challenges of our time?

Uncharted Mediterranean will explore all these questions by delving into the 1970s economic crisis, a pivotal moment in the rise of globalization and the forging of our times. Focusing on the dictatorships of Greece, Portugal and Spain and their crisis in the mid-1970s, the lecture traces how these countries were drawn into a Mediterranean experience at the intersection of decolonization, globalization and democratization. From shifting North-South economic relations to the rise of international finance, it will examine how global forces confronted these countries with dilemmas that ultimately transformed them.
Yet this is no celebration of democracy or globalization. Often treated as marginal accounts of the Cold War and European integration, Southern Europe's authoritarian regimes were no stranger to the world (and the sea) around them. Looking at their downfall in the light of the 1970s economic crisis is to show that these dictatorships were part of much broader networks - and were, in turn, transformed by them. Understanding this lack of contradiction between authoritarianism and globalization is a necessity if we are to assess the resilience of this relationship in our time.

---

Asensio Robles is the holder of the Sciences Po Aix-Iméra Albert Hirschman Chair: «Les passions identitaires entre Europe et Méditerranée». An interdisciplinary historian, he specialises in Franco's dictatorship, the Cold War and globalisation. He holds a doctorate in history from the European University Institute in Florence and currently teaches at the Universidad Comillas in Madrid. He has also conducted research at Columbia University (New York) and the London School of Economics. His work has been supported by a number of international institutions, including the History and Political Economy Project (2024 Summer Research Grant), the Business History Conference (2024 Henry Kaufman Financial History Research Fellowship) and the Transatlantic Studies Association (2021 DC Watt Prize).