ATHENALAB REPORT 2022

The year 2022 will be hard to forget. While the world witnessed the largest attack on the rules-based international order in three decades due to Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Chile experienced the rise of a novice leftist generation to power and the resounding rejection by society of a constitutional project that threatened to dismantle the institutional foundations of the Republic.

In both cases, AthenaLab engaged and contributed all its experience, both academic and practical, to provide technical guidance on the impacts of the events that have shaken our country from both external and internal sources. Always with the aim of building a common aspiration towards a secure, free, and prosperous Chile; a Southeast Pacific nation that is respected and contributes to addressing global challenges.

We explained the implications of Russia’s treacherous aggression against Ukraine—at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels—through our own documents, media interviews, and seminars, where we participated as speakers or interviewers of prominent experts, including historian Niall Ferguson and General David Petraeus.

In the constitutional process, we participated through hearings, where we emphasized the importance of the Armed Forces and their proper recognition in the Constitution; through the analysis of the contents presented in the draft, and with the launch of the book “Constitutional Path to Revolution,” by our advisor José Rodríguez Elizondo.

We also addressed the security crisis affecting Chile; something we had warned about in our previous years’ documents and which was confirmed by our annual surveys on Foreign Policy and National Security, with studies on illicit economies surrounding raw materials that fuel organized crime.

As part of our internationalization, we sealed a memorandum of understanding with the Royal United Services Institute in London, who have been great partners in this endeavor called AthenaLab since our founding in 2019. Additionally, we signed a cooperation agreement with the Real Instituto Elcano of Spain, in the context of our first conference held in Madrid in October. We also presented at various international conferences, from Sydney to Washington.

At the end of the year, at Exponaval 2022, we facilitated the visit of the former Chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral (ret.) Michael Noonan, and naval expert Alessio Patalano from King’s College London, who provided their keen insights into the maritime challenges of the 21st century.

For all the above reasons, we believe that 2022 was a year that will mark an era both globally and in Chile. It is undoubtedly a clear testament that our focus on security was timely, accurate, and more necessary than ever.