Dr. Ignacio Bonasa
Ignacio Bonasa, President and Founder of Liderarte Talent Management and Corresponding Member of the Real Academia Europea de Doctores (RAED), shares with the academic community the article “A New Soulless World Order: Technocracy, Democratic Fracture, and the Urgency of Political Humanism”, in which he advocates rebuilding international cooperation based on trust, placing people at the very center of politics. Bonasa was inducted into the Academy on January 14 with the inaugural address “Organizations with Soul: The New Paradigm of Humanistic Leadership in the 21st Century”, where he likewise proposes a radical shift in how leadership and business management are conceived—placing human teams at the heart of strategy and replacing the bottom line as the primary corporate focus.
According to the author, the emerging world order—shaped by an increasingly fragmented globalization, a technocratic model of governance, and accelerated digitalization driven by artificial intelligence—shows clear signs of failure when assessed by its ability to protect life, human dignity, and democratic legitimacy. Although technical frameworks for risk management and stability abound, the system prioritizes control and efficiency over human care, resulting in persistent inequality, growing autocratization, political polarization, and a profound crisis of social trust.
“The problem is not the existence of order itself, but its orientation: when order becomes an end rather than a means, the result is control without care. In response, what is proposed is an agenda of leadership with soul—an operational political humanism—that repositions the individual person at the center of cooperation, technology, and the economy, through well-being metrics, deliberative institutions, and an ethic of responsibility that places limits on power, including one’s own,” the academic argues.
Bonasa identifies five major turning points of this new era: stagnation in human development, democratic erosion, emotional precariousness, the climate crisis, and the use of technology without ethical considerations. According to the author, technocracy has displaced public deliberation, normalizing decisions that are procedurally correct yet harmful from a human perspective. In response to this diagnosis, he proposes leadership with soul: an operational political humanism capable of reorienting institutions, the economy, and technology toward well-being metrics, an ethic of responsibility, and clear limits on power. If the 21st century is to remain habitable, he concludes, it must be approached from a humanistic perspective.
An expert in training, motivation, and talent development, Bonasa brings extensive experience as a business executive and leader of human teams. He has served as President of BBVA Dinero Express, Chief Executive Officer of BBVA Portugal, Regional Director of BBVA in Barcelona and in Asturias and Cantabria, Regional Director of Argentaria in Castile and León and in Asturias and the Canary Islands, Regional Director of the Banco Exterior de España, President of Grupo TEOT, General Director of Caja Rural of Aragón, Associate Director of Grupo Actúa, and President and Founder of several real estate companies. He holds an MBA from ICADE and a PDG from IESE, and has received prestigious awards such as the Prize for Legal Essay and Research from the Classroom and the BEX Best Idea of the Year Award.
