He is the President of EsadeGeo – Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics (Barcelona-Madrid). Chairman of the Royal Board of Trustees of the Prado Museum. Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the La Caixa Foundation.

He is a Distinguished Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and President of the Aspen Institute, Spain.  In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the European Council on Foreign Relations (London, Berlin), the International Advisory Council of the Council on Foreign Relations (New York) and the Munich Security Conference.

He was Secretary General of NATO from 1995 to 1999 and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union from 1999 to 2009.

Previously, he held several ministerial positions in the Spanish government, including Minister of Foreign Affairs.