Charles Powell is Director of the Real Instituto Elcano, the leading centre for studies on international relations in Spain, and Associate Professor of Contemporary History at Universidad CEU San Pablo. Before settling in Spain in 1997, he was a professor of history at Corpus Christi College (Oxford), a J. A. Pye Fellow at University College (Oxford) and a Junior Research Fellow at St. Antony’s College (Oxford). Charles Powell is a Bachelor of History and Modern Languages from the University of Oxford, where he obtained his PhD with a thesis on the Spanish transition to democracy overseen by Sir Raymond Carr.

During the course of his academic career, he has been mainly dedicated to studying the political history of modern Spain, both domestic and overseas. His numerous publications include: El piloto del cambio. El rey, la monarquía y la transición a la democracia (1991), Espejo de España Prize (Planeta); Juan Carlos of Spain, self-made monarch (1995); España en Democracia, 1975-2000 (2001), Así Fue Prize (Plaza & Janes); Adolfo Suárez. El Presidente que se hizo a sí mismo (2004); and El amigo americano. España y Estados Unidos: de la dictadura a la democracia (2011).

He has taught classes and given conferences in over 40 countries on four continents.

Charles Powell is an Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy (2015), a Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George of the United Kingdom (2017) and a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Romania (2020).

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4827-8939