He served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004, leading the Partido Popular (PP), Spain's largest conservative political party. Under his leadership, Spain adopted a neoconservative foreign policy stance, supporting the United States' invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in the years after the September 11 attacks. Additionally, under his leadership, the PP became more involved in international party groupings, with one of his former assistants, Antonio López-Istúriz White becoming the Secretary of both the Christian Democratic International and the European People’s Party. After leaving the premiership in 2004, Aznar served as a member of the Council of State from 2005 to 2006. He held the symbolic title of president of the PP until he renounced the title in 2016.
During his post-presidency, he focused on strengthening the power of the political right abroad. Aznar is a member of Club de Madrid, and he was one of the organizers of the Prague Charter, along with US President George W. Bush, former Czech President Vaclav Havel, and former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky. He is also president of the conservative Spanish think tank FAES, linked to the PP, which has advocated for a closer relationship between Europe and the United States, as well as seeking to boost right-wing political movements in South America.
Aznar helped found the Friends of Israel Initiative with John Bolton, and Pablo Casado, in addition to several former political leaders from around the world. The initiative's stated goal is “in defense of Israel’s right to exist.” and “its key aim is to counter the growing efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel and its right to live in peace within safe and defensible borders.” The initiative advocated for Israel to collaborate with the “alt-right” including Marine Le Pen, the Afd, and Gert Wilders. Rafael Bardaji, also associated with the initiative, is on the board of VOX.
Aznar also sits on the Board of Directors of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate, where he has been paid a cumulative salary of 4 million. Aznar has also expressed skepticism over the existence of global warming, calling environmentalism the “new communism.” These hard-right views lead him to be named one of the five worst ex-presidents of all time by the American magazine, foreign policy.
