The French journal IDEAS. Idées d’Amériques published in October 2026 a special dossier titled Éclairages: 250e anniversaire de la Déclaration d’Indépendance, coordinated by American History professors Bertrand van Ruymbeke and Ghislain Potriquet, looking at the events from different regional perspectives (n. 28, 2026). My article, “Increasing Entanglements: The American Revolution and its impact in the Viceroyalty of New Spain,” argues against the common interpretation that revolutionary ideas spread successfully worldwide, fostering profound sympathies for the Patriots beyond the thirteen colonies in North America. A closer examination of the thinking and actions of Spanish policymakers suggests a more qualified interpretation, noting that the key elements of Spain’s 18th-century colonial reform agenda had already been implemented before 1776 and that the Spanish empire had its own interests, strategies, and inner functioning. The dossier and the article are freely accessible online.

In March 2026, I received the excellent news that I had been selected for the 2026-27 class of fellows at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. As a three-month fellow, I will work on a side project titled “George Washington and New Spain: Diplomacy, Frontier Policy, and the Pacific Trade.”

The project examines George Washington’s interactions—both direct and indirect—with the Spanish territories of New Spain during the early Republic, focusing on diplomacy, western expansion, and economic strategy. While scholarship on Washington’s relationship with Spain has mainly focused on his relationship with the Court in Madrid, U.S. territorial pursuits in Florida, and navigation rights on the Mississippi River, my research centers on his connections to the Viceroyalty of New Spain and its colonial administration, with particular attention to U.S. trade interests in the Pacific.

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