Rafael Luis Bardají López (born

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

, 1959) is a Spanish author, sociologist and former national security advisor to the Spanish government who researches the fields of

neoconservatism Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...

and international politics. He was the founder of the ''Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos'' (Strategic Studies Group) think-tank.

Biography

Bardaji graduated with degrees in political science and sociology from the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

(UCM). He became a researcher into American

neoconservative Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...

politics under the

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

administration and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Along with other academics, military figures and politicians, he founded the centre-right Strategic Studies Group which aims to provide research on defense and security. The group maintains informal ties to the Spanish People's Party. Bardaji also worked as a policy advisor to People's Party defense ministers

Eduardo Serra Rexach Eduardo Serra Rexach is a Spanish politician and businessman, who served as the Minister of Defence from 1996 to 2000 during the government of José María Aznar. He is the only person to have held public office with all three governing parties ...

and

Federico Trillo Federico Trillo-Figueroa Martínez-Conde (; born 23 May 1952) is a former Spanish Politician of the People's Party, who has served as President of the Congress of Deputies, Minister of Defense and Ambassador of Spain to the United Kingdom. T ...

. Bardaji has also written in support of Israel and is a member of the Friends of Israel Initiative in Spain. In 2018, Bardaji announced he had ended his longstanding affiliation to the People's Party and had joined Vox. Italian journalist Steven Forti argued that Bardaji's role in Vox as being "the main channel that has put the Vox leaders in contact with the American neocon world."

Views

Bardaji has described himself as a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and a supporter of Israel. He is critical of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and has argued that Islamic teachings have been responsible for terrorism and that non-violent passages in Islam still encourage intolerance. In 2015, he claimed that contrary to other opinions,

Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

could not be defined as a typical terrorist outfit as it was a generating support via an apparatus of security and order in comparison to the government of Syria.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bardaji, Rafael 1959 births Spanish writers Spanish sociologists Conservatism in Spain Vox (political party) politicians People's Party (Spain) politicians Anti-Islam sentiment in Spain Spanish critics of Islam Spanish Zionists Living people Complutense University of Madrid alumni Politicians from Extremadura People from Badajoz