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Ricardo Borges de Castro
Associate Director and Head of the Europe in the World Programme
Ricardo Borges de Castro is Associate Director and Head of the Europe in the World Programme at the European Policy Centre.

Ricardo served as Adviser for Foreign Affairs and then as Adviser on Strategic Foresight to the European Political Strategy Centre, the European Commission’s in-house think tank, reporting directly to President Jean-Claude Juncker. Ricardo led the EPSC’s work on foresight, focusing mainly on global trends, ‘anticipatory democracy,’ and policymaking. During his tenure, he spearheaded efforts to mainstream anticipation and foresight across Commission services. He was also the European Commission’s project leader for the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), an EU inter-institutional collaboration on global trends and strategic foresight.

Before joining the EPSC, Ricardo served as Member of Cabinet and Personal Assistant to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, as well as spokesperson for ‘Europe and the World’ at the Commission’s Spokespersons’ Planning and Coordination Unit. In these roles, Ricardo regularly accompanied and assisted President Barroso in his meetings with heads of state and government of EU Member States, in summits with third countries and Strategic Partners (USA, Japan, China, Russia, Brazil, Korea, South Africa, etc.) and in international fora, including the G20, G8/G7, NATO, ASEM, and the UN.

In Portugal, Ricardo served in the Prime Minister’s Office as Political Adviser to the Prime Minister after spending four years in the Portuguese Parliament as Policy Advisor for foreign affairs, national defence policy, and East Timor.

Ricardo taught international relations at Lusíada University in Lisbon, was a Course Assistant at Harvard Kennedy School, and a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Political Studies at the Catholic University in Portugal. He also contributes to executive trainings on ‘strategic foresight’ and ‘evidence-based policymaking’ at the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

Ricardo is currently an Associate Fellow, Global Fellowship Initiative, at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

Ricardo holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a DPhil (PhD) in International Relations from the University of Oxford (St Antony’s College).

Besides Portugal, he has lived in the US, UK, Turkey, and lately in Belgium.

Ricardo enjoys running and the outdoors.

PROGRAMME

Europe in the World

PROJECTs

Strategic Compass Initiative; Advancing military mobility in Europe: A multisectoral approach; EPC Talks Geopolitics; EU-China think tank exchanges;

Areas of expertise

EU’s international role, future of Europe, global trends, transatlantic relations, multilateralism, democratisation, strategic foresight, scenarios, enlargement

Current positions

Associate Fellow, Global Fellowship Initiative, Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Member of the OECD Government Foresight Community
Member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transatlantic Foresight Expert Group

Education

DPhil in International Relations, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD), The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Languages

Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Turkish (basic)

DOWNLOAD

Publications

Transatlantic affairs / EXTERNAL PUBLICATION
Transatlantic Guardrails: Fostering sustainable EU-US relations
By Ricardo Borges de Castro - 17/11/2023
Economic governance / COMMENTARY
Smart diversification: Economic security through diplomacy
By Ricardo Borges de Castro , Raúl Villegas - 21/09/2023
Security & defence / EPC ROUND-UP
Countdown until the NATO Vilnius Summit: Priorities and expectations in 2023
By Amanda Paul , Jamie Shea , Ivano di Carlo , Mihai Sebastian Chihaia , Ricardo Borges de Castro , Ionela Ciolan , Iana Maisuradze , Federica Zizzi , Benedetta Berti - 22/06/2023
Strategic foresight / COMMENTARY
From foresight to forethought: No longer lost in translation?
By Fabian Zuleeg , Ricardo Borges de Castro - 15/06/2023
Security & defence / OP-ED
Memo to NATO’s future Secretary General
By Ricardo Borges de Castro - 09/06/2023


Contributions

Middle East / QUOTE
EU struggles to bridge its Middle East divide
Ricardo Borges de Castro's Op-Ed "From a geopolitical to a ‘geo-damaged’ Commission" was quoted in an article by Euractiv on the situation in the Middle East and the role of the EU. 

Read the article here.

EU struggles to bridge its Middle East divide
16 October 2023 - ,
Euractiv
EU enlargement / INTERVIEW
Interview with CNN
Ricardo Borges de Castro was interviewed by CNN Portugal on need that the European Commission felt to correct the position taken by the President of the European Council regarding EU enlargement by 2030.

Watch the interview here. (In Portuguese)

Interview with CNN
29 August 2023 - ,
CNN Portugal
European Union / PANEL DISCUSSION
Brussels, my love? What Brussels think about the Turkish elections and the EU flag debate
Ricardo Borges de Castro participated in Euronews' talk show, "Brussels, my love?". The episode focused on EU/Turkish relations in light of Türkiye's recent elections and the EU's Spring Economic Forecast.

Watch the full episode here.

Brussels, my love? What Brussels think about the Turkish elections and the EU flag debate
20 May 2023 - ,
Euronews



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