Former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar gave a packed City View Room audience of George Washington community members a look into his leadership principles and political beliefs Wednesday night, addressing issues including Iraq and terrorism.
Mr. Aznar, who led Spain for two terms from 1996 to 2004 under the conservative People’s Party, said he believes politics is about making decisions and taking action. “It’s not about sitting unsure, waiting for solutions to emerge,” Mr. Aznar said.
Often, making those decisions isn’t easy or clear-cut, he added.
“Unfortunately, as you know very well, the world is not a perfect place where we have all the elements at hand to make an informed decision. On the contrary, in real life, information comes in disparate pieces, full of noise, of distractions,” said Mr. Aznar. It is thus essential leaders have clear principles they believe in, he added.
“If the question is whether it is possible to make decisions based on incomplete or imperfect information, the answer can only be a resounding yes. This is because exercising power means exactly that: exercising authority, making decisions and taking action.”
That means leadership and popularity rarely go hand-in-hand, Mr. Aznar said, adding it’s possible that’s because great leaders are often ahead of their time.
Mr. Aznar also defended his support of Spain’s involvement in the Iraq war. Calling Iraq a “difficult challenge,” Mr. Aznar said the nation is now self-sufficient and has a “promising” outlook. He added that his successor’s decision to pull Spanish troops from Iraq was a mistake.
In ending his speech, Mr. Aznar addressed terrorism, an issue that largely defined his time as leader of Spain. Just before the end of his second and final term, terrorists bombed trains in Madrid, killing nearly 200 people. It was the “most devastating and cruel terrorist attack in our history,” Mr. Aznar said.
“Don’t believe that terrorism has been defeated,” Mr. Aznar said. The will to defeat it must persist, he urged, as terrorism is an issue that must be fought on all fronts.
The opportunity to host Mr. Aznar was an honor, Visiting Fulbright Scholar Francisco Javier Rodriguez Jimenez said in his introduction. “It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to interact with one of the most prominent political leaders of this period in Spain.”
Wednesday’s event was co-sponsored by the International Affairs Society and the Elliott School’s Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies.