Manuel Muñiz


Manuel Muñiz Villa is a Spanish lawyer, academic administrator, and International Relations scholar and is currently the Rector of IE University and Chair of the Board of the IE New York College
From 2017 to 2020 and from 2021 to 2024 he served as Dean of the IE School of Global and Public Affairs in Madrid, Spain, and was elected President of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs. Muñiz served as the second Secretary of State for Global Spain in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation from 2020 to 2021.
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Education

Manuel Muñiz began his studies at Runnymede College in Madrid. He then completed a Juris Doctor and was accepted into the Madrid Bar.
Muñiz furthered his studies with a Master of Science in Financial Markets from the Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles in Madrid and a Master in Public Administration at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In addition, he joined the Centre d'études et de recherches internationales of Sciences Po in Paris, France, as a research fellow in 2012 before completing a DPhil in International Relations at the University of Oxford, with a particular focus on European foreign and security policy.

Career

In 2014, Muñiz joined the Fundación Rafael del Pino in Madrid, Spain as Director of the Foundation's Global Leadership Program with the goal of training Spanish leaders in the field of global affairs. In 2015, he worked as a consultant for the UN Support Mission in Libya and provided advice on security matters.
From 2015 to 2017, Muñiz was the Director of the Program on Transatlantic Relations at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and, between 2016 and 2017, he was also a lecturer on the geopolitical consequences of the rise of populism at Tufts University. During this time, he was selected by Esglobal as one of the 25 intellectuals redefining Iberoamerican thought.
Muñiz was subsequently appointed a Senior Associate at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs., where he was one of the promoters of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, aimed at strengthening the university's capacities for teaching, research, and policy on the relationship between the United States and Europe.
In 2017, Dr. Muñiz became the Dean of the School of Global and Public Affairs and founded the IE Centre for the Governance of Change to examine the challenges exerted by accelerated societal and technological transformation on both the public and private sectors.
In January, 2020, the Council of Ministers of the Government of Spain approved Muñiz's designation as Secretary of State for Global Spain, replacing Irene Lozano. The powers of the State Secretariat were extended to include economic diplomacy with a marked emphasis on fighting the impact of COVID-19 on the Spanish economy. He assumed office on 7 February. Once in office, became part of the Committee of Experts advising the Spanish government on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Muñiz coordinated the crafting, and led the efforts for the composition of the first National Strategy on Technology and Global Order, a document which aims to launch Spain's Technology Diplomacy. He has also led work at the OECD on the approval of a global mobility framework aimed at minimizing the economic impact of COVID-19, and was the coordinator of Spain's OECD Ministerial Presidency during 2020. Muñiz was also a member of the Prime Minister's COVID-19 task force. As the Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, he has held a weekly appointment with the media through briefings with the Spanish and international press and has led the Ministry's communication efforts, including those aimed at improving Spain's image abroad.
On July 11, 2021, he voluntarily resigned from the post of Secretary of State for Global Spain, following the announcement of the dismissal of the hitherto minister, Arancha González Laya.
He then returned to IE University as Provost of the institution and Dean of its School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs, a position he held until 2024 when we was succeeded by former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta
Muñiz is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and a Permanent Member of the Royal European Academy of Doctors.
In 2024, he was awarded the Spanish Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit.

Research

Dr. Muñiz started his academic career working on European integration, with a particular focus on transatlantic relations, security and . He has also studied what he terms the "Anti-Elite Era", the rise of populism, and the implosion of the International Liberal Order. As part of that process of changes in the International Order he has looked at the role of China, and the Technological Cold War emerging between China and the United States.
Muñiz's work has focused extensively on the impact of technology on the social contract and on the global order. His fundamental thesis is that rapid technological change has led to a fracturing of the social contract through the hollowing out of the Western middle class and, ultimately, the rise of populist politics. He has openly called for the crafting of a new Social Contract for the Digital Era in which inequities are addressed and technological change is governed through foresight and the development of a science of anticipation.
In 2023 he was appointed a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Essays

  • Muñiz, M.. "N°90 - La Era de la Inteligencia Artificial - 14 de diciembre de 2023 - Vanguardia Dossier - Dossier".
  • Muñiz, M.. “Dancing with separatists: Can Spain’s new government last?,” The Brookings Institution
  • Muñiz, M.. “Diplomacia tecnológica para la era digital”, Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, n.º 134, p. 91-10
  • Muñiz, M.. “AI, Democracy and the Global Order,”, Project Syndicate
  • Muñiz, M.. “Perspectives transatlantiques sur un ordre mondial fracture,”, Politique étrangère, vol. 88, n° 1, printemps 2023
  • Muñiz, M.. “La desintermediación de la diplomacia,”, Estudios de Política Exterior, Issue 208, July/August, pp. 2–13
  • Muñiz, M.. “Technology and the Global Struggle for Democracy,” Project Syndicate
  • Muñiz, M.. “Por una España más global,”, Estudios de Política Exterior, Issue 200, Marzo/Abril, pp. 90–103
  • Muñiz, M.. “Diplomacia económica para un nuevo Contrato Social,”, El País
  • Muñiz, M.. “Tecnología y orden global,”, Estudios de Politica Exterior, Issue 193, Enero/Febrero, pp. 2–14
  • Muñiz, M.. “Orden Global, Tecnología y la Geopolítica del Cambio,”, Anuario Internacional CIDOB, pp. 16–24
  • Muñiz, M.. “The Coming Technological Cold War,”, Project Syndicate
  • Muñiz, M.. "Technology for better governance"., The education times, Times of India
  • Muñiz, M.. "Tecnología y Orden Global"., El país
  • Muñiz, M.. "El retorno de la Historia"., ABC
  • Muñiz, M.. "Domestic enemies and the Collapse of the Transatlantic Order". Atlantic Community
  • Muñiz, M.. “Le triangle de distribution emplois-productivité-revenu ne fonctionne plus,”, Le Monde
  • Muñiz, M.. “Economic Growth is No Longer Enough,”, Project Syndicate
  • Muñiz, M., Kaiser, K., Lastra, C., Meyer, H., and Torres, M.. “Technological Change, Inequality and the Collapse of the Liberal Order,” G20 Insights, Policy Brief
  • Muñiz, M.. "El Futuro del Gobierno y de la Acción Pública en el Siglo XXI,", Revista Información Comercial Económica, Issue 891, pp 7–19.
  • Muñiz, M.. “El colapso del orden liberal,”, Estudios de Politica Exterior, Issue 175, Enero/Febrero, pp. 2–13
  • Muñiz, M.. “Could Spain help fix Europe?,” The Washington Post
  • Muñiz, M.. “Populism and the Need for a New Social Contract,”, Social Europe
  • Muñiz, M.. "La era anti-elites",, Estudios de Política Exterior, Issue 172, Julio/Agosto, pp. 46–52
  • Muñiz, M.. "La confusión de EEUU en un mundo desordenado.". Estudios de Política Exterior, Issue 170, Marzo/Abril 2016, pp 139–143
  • Muñiz, M.. "Progreso Tecnológico y Orden Internacional: hacia una nueva economía y una mejor gobernanza."., Revista Información Comercial Económica , Issue 880, pp 39–55
  • Muñiz, M.. "Redefining the Transatlantic Security Relationship", Transworld Working Paper 38, pp 1–39
  • Muñiz, M.. "Why Europe, too, needs an Asia pivot"., Europe´s World Journal, Issue 24, pp - 92–96

Monographs and book chapters

  • Muniz, M. "A New Social Contract for the Digital Age," in The Work Revolution, BBVA Open Mind, Turner, pp. 106–118
  • Muniz, M. "La Implosión del Orden Liberal,", in "Gobernanza futura: hiperglobalización, mundo multipolar y Estados menguantes," Cuaderno de Estrategia, 199, Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos
  • Muniz, M. "The Governance of Change: How Companies and Governments Should Adapt to Technological Disruption," in  Iñiguez, Santiago and Kazuo, Ichijo eds. Business Despite Borders, Palgrave McMillan, pp. 21–33
  • Muniz, M. "Explaining security and defence integration: the case of Europe," . University of Oxford

Interview

  • La nueva Estrategia de Acción Exterior aboga por una "diplomacia feminista". 26/1/21 https://elpais.com/espana/2021-01-26/la-nueva-estrategia-de-accion-exterior-aboga-por-una-diplomacia-feminista.html
  • Moncloa prepara una reforma estructural de Exteriores y de toda la carrera diplomática. 26/01/21. https://www.elconfidencial.com/mundo/europa/2021-01-26/moncloa-prepara-reforma-integral-exteriores-carrera-diplomatica_2922259/
  • El Gobierno se lanza a por fondos soberanos para transformar la economía https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2020/12/22/companias/1608664383_828462.html
  • Manuel Muñiz, secretario de Estado de España Global: "Abriremos corredores seguros para el turismo" https://www.expansion.com/economia/politica/2020/10/18/5f8cb2fc468aeb1f508b45b4.html
  • Manuel Muñiz: "El plan europeo es absolutamente vital para España" https://www.niusdiario.es/economia/macroeconomia/manuel-muniz-entrevista-secretario-estado-espana-global-plan-europeo-ayudas-vital-para-crisis-covid_18_2979120251.html
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